                                 CODE OF VIRGINIA

DEFINITIONS (§ 20-88.32)

In this chapter:		&#8220;Child&#8221; means an individual, whether over or under
the age of majority, who is or is alleged to be owed a duty of support by the
individual&#8217;s parent or who is or is alleged to be the beneficiary of a
support order directed to the parent.		&#8220;Child support order&#8221; means a
support order for a child, including a child who has attained the age of
majority under the law of the issuing state or foreign
country.		&#8220;Convention&#8221; means the Convention on the International
Recovery of Child Support and Other Forms of Family Maintenance, concluded at
The Hague on November 23, 2007.		&#8220;Duty of support&#8221; means an
obligation imposed or imposable by law to provide support for a child, spouse,
or former spouse, including an unsatisfied obligation to provide
support.		&#8220;Employer&#8221; means the source of any income as defined in §
63.2-1900.		&#8220;Foreign country&#8221; means a country, including a political
subdivision thereof, other than the United States, that authorizes the issuance
of support orders and:

1. That has been declared under the law of the United States to be a foreign
reciprocating country;

2. That has established a reciprocal arrangement for child support with the
Commonwealth as provided in &#xA7; 20-88.50;

3. That has enacted a law or established procedures for the issuance and
enforcement of support orders which are substantially similar to the procedures
under this chapter; or

4. In which the Convention is in force with respect to the United States.
			&#8220;Foreign support order&#8221; means a support order of a foreign
tribunal.			&#8220;Foreign tribunal&#8221; means a court, administrative agency,
or quasi-judicial entity of a foreign country which is authorized to establish,
enforce, or modify support orders or to determine parentage of a child. The term
includes a competent authority under the Convention.			&#8220;Home state&#8221;
means the state or foreign country in which a child lived with a parent or a
person acting as parent for at least six consecutive months immediately
preceding the time of filing of a petition or comparable pleading for support
and, if a child is less than six months old, the state or foreign country in
which the child lived from birth with any of them. A period of temporary absence
of any of them is counted as part of the six-month or other
period.			&#8220;Income&#8221; includes earnings or other periodic entitlements
to money from any source and any other property subject to withholding for
support under the law of the Commonwealth.			&#8220;Income-withholding
order&#8221; means an order or other legal process directed to an
obligor&#8217;s employer or other debtor, to withhold support from the
obligor&#8217;s income as defined in &#xA7; 63.2-1900.			&#8220;Initiating
tribunal&#8221; means the tribunal of a state or foreign country from which a
petition or comparable pleading is forwarded or in which a petition or
comparable pleading is filed for forwarding to another state or foreign
country.			&#8220;Issuing foreign country&#8221; means the foreign country in
which a tribunal issues a support order or a judgment determining parentage of a
child.			&#8220;Issuing state&#8221; means the state in which a tribunal issues
a support order or a judgment determining parentage of a child.			&#8220;Issuing
tribunal&#8221; means the tribunal of a state or foreign country that issues a
support order or a judgment determining parentage of a
child.			&#8220;Law&#8221; includes decisional and statutory law and rules and
regulations having the force of law.			&#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 or a judgment determining parentage of a child has been
issued, (ii) a foreign country, state, or political subdivision of a state to
which the rights under a duty of support or support order have been assigned or
which has independent claims based on financial assistance provided to an
individual obligee in place of child support, (iii) an individual seeking a
judgment determining parentage of the individual&#8217;s child, or (iv) a person
that is a creditor in a proceeding under Article 13 (&#xA7; 20-88.83 et
seq.).			&#8220;Obligor&#8221; means an individual, or the estate of a decedent
that (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, (iii) is liable under a support
order, or (iv) is a debtor in a proceeding under Article 13 (&#xA7; 20-88.83 et
seq.).			&#8220;Outside the Commonwealth&#8221; means a location in another
state, political subdivision of a state, or a country other than the United
States, whether or not the country is a foreign country.			&#8220;Person&#8221;
means an individual, corporation, business trust, estate, trust, partnership,
limited liability company, association, joint venture, public corporation,
government or governmental subdivision, agency, or instrumentality, or any other
legal or commercial entity.			&#8220;Record&#8221; means information that is
inscribed on a tangible medium or that is stored in an electronic or other
medium and is retrievable in perceivable form.			&#8220;Register&#8221; means to
file in a tribunal of the Commonwealth a support order or judgment determining
parentage of a child issued in another state or a foreign
country.			&#8220;Registering tribunal&#8221; means a tribunal in which a
support order or judgment determining parentage of a child is
registered.			&#8220;Responding state&#8221; means a state or a foreign country
in which a petition or comparable pleading for support or to determine parentage
of a child is filed or to which a petition or comparable pleading is forwarded
for filing from another state or a foreign country.			&#8220;Responding
tribunal&#8221; means the authorized tribunal in a responding state or foreign
country.			&#8220;Spousal-support order&#8221; means a support order for a
spouse or former spouse of the obligor.			&#8220;State&#8221; means a state of
the United States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the United States
Virgin Islands or any territory or insular possession under the jurisdiction of
the United States. The term includes an Indian nation or tribe.			&#8220;Support
enforcement agency&#8221; means a public official, governmental entity, or
private agency authorized to (i) seek enforcement of support orders or laws
relating to the duty of support, (ii) seek establishment or modification of
child support, (iii) request determination of parentage of a child, (iv) attempt
to locate obligors or their assets, or (v) request determination of the
controlling child support order. A support enforcement agency of the
Commonwealth is not authorized to establish or enforce a support order for
spousal support only.			&#8220;Support order&#8221; means a judgment, decree,
order, decision, or directive, whether temporary, final, or subject to
modification, issued in a state or foreign country for the benefit of a child, a
spouse, or a former spouse, which provides for monetary support, health care,
arrearages, retroactive support, or reimbursement for financial assistance
provided to an individual obligee in place of child support. The term may
include related costs and fees, interest, income withholding, automatic
adjustment, reasonable attorney&#8217;s fees, and other
relief.			&#8220;Tribunal&#8221; means a court, administrative agency, or
quasi-judicial entity authorized to establish, enforce, or modify support orders
or to determine parentage of a child; however, the support enforcement agency of
the Commonwealth has no authority to establish or enforce a support order for
spousal support only.

HISTORY: 1994, c. 673; 1995, c. 484; 1996, cc. 882, 925; 1997, cc. 797, 897;
1998, c. 727; 2005, c. 754; 2015, c. 727.