Terms Used In South Carolina Code > Title 63 > Chapter 15 > Article 5 - Uniform Deployed Parents Custody and Visitation Act

• Adult: means an individual who is at least eighteen years of age or an emancipated minor. See South Carolina Code 63-15-502
• Caretaking authority: means the right to live with and care for a child on a day-to-day basis, including physical custody, parenting time, right to access, and visitation. See South Carolina Code 63-15-502
• Child: means :
  
  (a) an unemancipated individual who has not attained eighteen years of age; or
  
  (b) an adult son or daughter by birth or adoption or under the law of this State, other than this article, who is the subject of an existing court order concerning custodial responsibility. See South Carolina Code 63-15-502
• Close and substantial relationship: means a relationship in which a significant bond exists between a child and a nonparent. See South Carolina Code 63-15-502
• Court: means an entity authorized under the law of this State, other than this article, to establish, enforce, or modify a decision regarding custodial responsibility. See South Carolina Code 63-15-502
• Custodial responsibility: is a comprehensive term that includes any and all powers and duties relating to caretaking authority and decision-making authority for a child. See South Carolina Code 63-15-502
• Decision-making authority: means the power to make important decisions regarding a child, including decisions regarding the child's education, religious training, health care, extra-curricular activities, and travel. See South Carolina Code 63-15-502
• Dependent: A person dependent for support upon another.
• Deploying parent: means a service member, who is deployed or has been notified of impending deployment, and is:
  
  (a) a parent of a child under the law of this State other than this article; or
  
  (b) an individual other than a parent who has custodial responsibility of a child under the law of this State other than this article;
  
  (9) "Deployment" means the movement or mobilization of a service member to a location for more than ninety days but fewer than eighteen months pursuant to an official order that:
  
  (a) is designated as unaccompanied;
  
  (b) does not authorize dependent travel; or
  
  (c) otherwise does not permit the movement of family members to that location. See South Carolina Code 63-15-502
• Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
• Family member: includes a sibling, aunt, uncle, cousin, stepparent, or grandparent of a child and an individual recognized to be in a familial relationship with a child under the law of this State other than this article. See South Carolina Code 63-15-502
• Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
• Limited contact: means the opportunity for a nonparent to visit with a child for a limited period of time. See South Carolina Code 63-15-502
• Nonparent: means an individual other than a deploying parent or other parent. See South Carolina Code 63-15-502
• Obligation: An order placed, contract awarded, service received, or similar transaction during a given period that will require payments during the same or a future period.
• Other parent: means an individual who, in common with a deploying parent, is:
  
  (a) the parent of a child under the law of this State other than this article; or
  
  (b) an individual other than a parent with custodial responsibility of a child under the law of this State other than this article. See South Carolina Code 63-15-502
• Parent: means biological parent, adoptive parents, step-parent, or person with legal custody. See South Carolina Code 63-1-40
• Power of attorney: A written instrument which authorizes one person to act as another's agent or attorney. The power of attorney may be for a definite, specific act, or it may be general in nature. The terms of the written power of attorney may specify when it will expire. If not, the power of attorney usually expires when the person granting it dies. ^{Source: OCC}
• Record: 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. See South Carolina Code 63-15-502
• Return from deployment: means the conclusion of a service member's deployment as specified in uniformed service orders. See South Carolina Code 63-15-502
• Service member: means a member of a uniformed service. See South Carolina Code 63-15-502
• State: means a state of the United States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the United States Virgin Islands or any territory or insular possession subject to the jurisdiction of the United States. See South Carolina Code 63-15-502
• Testimony: Evidence presented orally by witnesses during trials or before grand juries.
• Uniformed service: means :
  
  (a) active and reserve components of the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, or Coast Guard of the United States;
  
  (b) the Merchant Marine, the commissioned corps of the Public Health Service or the commissioned corps of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration of the United States; or
  
  (c) the National Guard. See South Carolina Code 63-15-502