Terms Used In Ohio Code > Chapter 3115 - Uniform Interstate Family Support Act of 2008

• Affidavit: A written statement of facts confirmed by the oath of the party making it, before a notary or officer having authority to administer oaths.
• Allegation: something that someone says happened.
• Another: when used to designate the owner of property which is the subject of an offense, includes not only natural persons but also every other owner of property. See Ohio Code 1.02
• Answer: The formal written statement by a defendant responding to a civil complaint and setting forth the grounds for defense.
• Appeal: A request made after a trial, asking another court (usually the court of appeals) to decide whether the trial was conducted properly. To make such a request is "to appeal" or "to take an appeal." One who appeals is called the appellant.
• Assets: (1) The property comprising the estate of a deceased person, or (2) the property in a trust account.
• Beneficiary: A person who is entitled to receive the benefits or proceeds of a will, trust, insurance policy, retirement plan, annuity, or other contract. ^{Source: OCC}
• Bond: includes an undertaking. See Ohio Code 1.02
• Child: 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's parent or who is or is alleged to be the beneficiary of a support order directed to the parent. See Ohio Code 3115.102
• Child-support order: 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. See Ohio Code 3115.102
• Convention: means the convention on the international recovery of child support and other forms of family maintenance, concluded at The Hague on November 23, 2007. See Ohio Code 3115.102
• Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
• Decedent: A deceased person.
• Deposition: An oral statement made before an officer authorized by law to administer oaths. Such statements are often taken to examine potential witnesses, to obtain discovery, or to be used later in trial.
• Discovery: Lawyers' examination, before trial, of facts and documents in possession of the opponents to help the lawyers prepare for trial.
• Duty of support: 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. See Ohio Code 3115.102
• 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.
• Extradition: The formal process of delivering an accused or convicted person from authorities in one state to authorities in another state.
• Fiduciary: A trustee, executor, or administrator.
• Foreign country: means a country, including a political subdivision of the country, other than the United States, that authorizes the issuance of support orders to which at least one of the following applies:

  (1) It has been declared under the law of the United States to be a foreign reciprocating country;

  (2) It has established a reciprocal arrangement for child support with this state as provided in section 3115. See Ohio Code 3115.102

• Foreign support order: means a support order of a foreign tribunal. See Ohio Code 3115.102
• Foreign tribunal: includes a competent authority under the convention. See Ohio Code 3115.102
• Fraud: Intentional deception resulting in injury to another.
• Guardian: A person legally empowered and charged with the duty of taking care of and managing the property of another person who because of age, intellect, or health, is incapable of managing his (her) own affairs.
• Hearsay: Statements by a witness who did not see or hear the incident in question but heard about it from someone else. Hearsay is usually not admissible as evidence in court.
• Home state: 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. See Ohio Code 3115.102
• Income: includes earnings or other periodic entitlements to money from any source and any other property subject to withholding for support under the law of this state. See Ohio Code 3115.102
• Income-withholding order: means an order or other legal process directed to an obligor's employer or other payor, in accordance with Chapter 3121 of the Revised Code, to withhold support from the income of the obligor. See Ohio Code 3115.102
• Initiating tribunal: 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. See Ohio Code 3115.102
• Issuing state: means the state in which a tribunal issues a support order or a judgment determining parentage of a child. See Ohio Code 3115.102
• Issuing tribunal: means the tribunal of a state or foreign country that issues a support order or a judgment determining parentage of a child. See Ohio Code 3115.102
• 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.
• Law: includes decisional and statutory law and rules and regulations having the force of law. See Ohio Code 3115.102
• Litigation: A case, controversy, or lawsuit. Participants (plaintiffs and defendants) in lawsuits are called litigants.
• 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.
• Obligee: means any of the following:

  (1) 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;

  (2) 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 that has independent claims based on financial assistance provided to an individual obligee in place of child support;

  (3) An individual seeking a judgment determining parentage of the individual's child;

  (4) A person that is a creditor in a proceeding under sections 3115. See Ohio Code 3115.102

• Obligor: means an individual, or the estate of a decedent, to whom or to which any of the following applies:

  (1) The individual or estate owes or is alleged to owe a duty of support. See Ohio Code 3115.102

• Outside this state: means a location in another state or a country other than the United States, whether or not the country is a foreign country. See Ohio Code 3115.102
• Partnership: A voluntary contract between two or more persons to pool some or all of their assets into a business, with the agreement that there will be a proportional sharing of profits and losses.
• Person: 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. See Ohio Code 3115.102
• Property: means real and personal property. See Ohio Code 1.59
• Real property: Land, and all immovable fixtures erected on, growing on, or affixed to the land.
• 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 Ohio Code 3115.102
• Register: means to file in a tribunal of this state a support order or judgment determining parentage of a child issued in another state or a foreign country. See Ohio Code 3115.102
• Registering tribunal: means a tribunal in which a support order or judgment determining parentage of a child is registered. See Ohio Code 3115.102
• Responding state: means a state 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. See Ohio Code 3115.102
• Responding tribunal: means the authorized tribunal in a responding state or foreign country. See Ohio Code 3115.102
• Rule: includes regulation. See Ohio Code 1.59
• Spousal-support order: means a support order for a spouse or former spouse of the obligor. See Ohio Code 3115.102
• State: 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. See Ohio Code 3115.102
• Statute: A law passed by a legislature.
• Summons: Another word for subpoena used by the criminal justice system.
• Support enforcement agency: means a public official, governmental entity, or private agency authorized to do any of the following:

  (1) Seek enforcement of support orders or laws relating to the duty of support;

  (2) Seek establishment or modification of child support;

  (3) Request determination of parentage of a child;

  (4) Attempt to locate obligors or their assets; or

  (5) Request determination of the controlling child-support order. See Ohio Code 3115.102

• Support order: 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. See Ohio Code 3115.102
• Testify: Answer questions in court.
• Testimony: Evidence presented orally by witnesses during trials or before grand juries.
• Trial: A hearing that takes place when the defendant pleads "not guilty" and witnesses are required to come to court to give evidence.
• Tribunal: means a court, administrative agency, or quasi-judicial entity authorized to establish, enforce, or modify support orders or to determine parentage of a child. See Ohio Code 3115.102
• United States: includes all the states. See Ohio Code 1.59