                                 CODE OF VIRGINIA

DEFINITIONS (§ 63.2-1900)

As used in this chapter, unless the context requires a different meaning:
		&#8220;Administrative order&#8221; or &#8220;administrative support
order&#8221; means a noncourt-ordered legally enforceable support obligation
having the force and effect of a support order established by the court.
		&#8220;Assignment of rights&#8221; means the legal procedure whereby an
individual assigns support rights to the Commonwealth on behalf of a dependent
child or spouse and dependent child.
		&#8220;Authorization to seek or enforce a support obligation&#8221; means a
signed authorization to the Commonwealth to seek or enforce support on behalf of
a dependent child or a spouse and dependent child or on behalf of a person
deemed to have submitted an application by operation of law.
		&#8220;Cash medical support&#8221; means the proportional amount the court or
the Department shall order both parents to pay toward reasonable and necessary
unreimbursed medical or dental expenses pursuant to subsection D of § 20-108.2.
		&#8220;Court order&#8221; means any judgment or order of any court having
jurisdiction to order payment of support or an order of a court of comparable
jurisdiction of another state ordering payment of a set or determinable amount
of support moneys.
		&#8220;Custodial parent&#8221; means the natural or adoptive parent with whom
the child resides; a stepparent or other person who has physical custody of the
child and with whom the child resides; or a local board that has legal custody
of a child in foster care.
		&#8220;Debt&#8221; means the total unpaid support obligation established by
court order, administrative process or by the payment of public assistance and
owed by a noncustodial parent to either the Commonwealth or to his dependent(s).
		&#8220;Department-sponsored health care coverage&#8221; means any health care
coverage that the Department may make available through a private contractor for
children receiving child support services from the Department.
		&#8220;Dependent child&#8221; means any person who meets the eligibility
criteria set forth in § 63.2-602, whose support rights have been assigned or
whose authorization to seek or enforce a support obligation has been given to
the Commonwealth and whose support is required by Titles 16.1 and 20.
		&#8220;Electronic means&#8221; means service of a required notice by the
Department through its secure online child support portal to any person who has
agreed to accept service through the portal and has created a user account. The
portal shall record and maintain the date and time service is accepted by the
user.
		&#8220;Employee&#8221; means any individual receiving income.
		&#8220;Employer&#8221; means the source of any income.
		&#8220;Financial institution&#8221; means a depository institution, an
institution-affiliated party, any federal credit union or state credit union
including an institution-affiliated party of such a credit union, and any
benefit association, insurance company, safe deposit company, money market
mutual fund, or similar entity authorized to do business in the Commonwealth.
		&#8220;Financial records&#8221; includes, but is not limited to, records held
by employers showing income, profit sharing contributions and benefits paid or
payable and records held by financial institutions, broker-dealers and other
institutions and entities showing bank accounts, IRA and separate contributions,
gross winnings, dividends, interest, distributive share, stocks, bonds,
agricultural subsidies, royalties, prizes and awards held for or due and payable
to a responsible person.
		&#8220;Foreign support order&#8221; means any order issued outside of the
Commonwealth by a court or tribunal as defined in § 20-88.32.
		&#8220;Health care coverage&#8221; means any plan providing hospital, medical
or surgical care coverage for dependent children provided such coverage is
available and can be obtained by a parent, parents, or a parent&#8217;s spouse
at a reasonable cost.
		&#8220;Income&#8221; means any periodic or other form of payment due an
individual from any source and shall include, but not be limited to, income from
salaries, wages, commissions, royalties, bonuses, dividends, severance pay,
payments pursuant to a pension or retirement program, interest, trust income,
annuities, capital gains, social security benefits, workers&#8217; compensation
benefits, unemployment insurance benefits, disability insurance benefits,
veterans&#8217; benefits, spousal support, net rental income, gifts, prizes or
awards.
		&#8220;Independent contractor&#8221; means an individual who (i) provides any
service performed for remuneration or under any contract of hire, written or
oral, express or implied, and (ii) is not an employee pursuant to the definition
of &#8220;employment&#8221; in § 60.2-212.
		&#8220;Mistake of fact&#8221; means an error in the identity of the payor or
the amount of current support or arrearage.
		&#8220;Net income&#8221; means that income remaining after the following
deductions have been taken from gross income: federal income tax, state income
tax, federal income compensation act benefits, any union dues where collection
thereof is required under federal law, and any other amounts required by law.
		&#8220;Noncustodial parent&#8221; means a responsible person who is or may be
obligated under Virginia law for support of a dependent child or child&#8217;s
caretaker.
		&#8220;Obligee&#8221; means (i) an individual to whom a duty of support is or
is alleged to be owed or in whose favor a support order has been issued or a
judgment determining parentage has been rendered, (ii) a state or political
subdivision to which the rights under a duty of support or support order have
been assigned or that has independent claims based on financial assistance
provided to an individual obligee, or (iii) an individual seeking a judgment
determining parentage of the individual&#8217;s child.
		&#8220;Obligor&#8221; means an individual, or the estate of a decedent, who
(i) owes or is alleged to owe a duty of support, (ii) is alleged but has not
been adjudicated to be a parent of a child, or (iii) is liable under a support
order.
		&#8220;Payee&#8221; means any person to whom spousal or child support is to be
paid.
		&#8220;Reasonable cost&#8221; pertaining to health care coverage for dependent
children means available, in an amount not to exceed five percent of the gross
income of the parent responsible for providing health care coverage, and
accessible through employers, unions or other groups, or Department-sponsored
health care coverage, without regard to service delivery mechanism; unless the
court deems otherwise in the best interests of the child, including where the
only health care coverage available exceeds five percent, or by agreement of the
parties.

HISTORY: 1974, c. 413, § 63.1-250; 1975, cc. 311, 596; 1976, c. 357; 1983, c.
66; 1985, c. 488; 1986, c. 594; 1988, c. 906; 1991, cc. 651, 694; 1997, cc. 796,
895; 1998, c. 727; 2002, cc. 747, 844; 2007, c. 600; 2009, c. 713; 2010, c. 243;
2016, c. 29; 2020, cc. 213, 722.