Terms Used In North Carolina General Statutes > Chapter 52C > Article 4 - Establishment of Support Order or Determination of Parentage

• 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 North Carolina General Statutes 52C-1-101
• 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 North Carolina General Statutes 52C-1-101
• 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.
• following: when used by way of reference to any section of a statute, shall be construed to mean the section next preceding or next following that in which such reference is made; unless when some other section is expressly designated in such reference. See North Carolina General Statutes 12-3
• 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 North Carolina General Statutes 52C-1-101
• Obligor: means an individual who, or the estate of a decedent that:

  a. See North Carolina General Statutes 52C-1-101

• Responding tribunal: means the authorized tribunal in a responding state or a foreign country. See North Carolina General Statutes 52C-1-101
• 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 North Carolina General Statutes 52C-1-101
• Support enforcement agency: means a public official, governmental entity, or private agency authorized to:

  a. See North Carolina General Statutes 52C-1-101

• Support order: means a judgment, decree, order, decision, or directive, whether temporary, final, or subject to modification, issued in a state or a 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 North Carolina General Statutes 52C-1-101
• 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 North Carolina General Statutes 52C-1-101