Terms Used In Oregon Statutes > Chapter 419B > Juvenile Court > Generally

• Amendment: A proposal to alter the text of a pending bill or other measure by striking out some of it, by inserting new language, or both. Before an amendment becomes part of the measure, thelegislature must agree to it.
• 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.
• Bankruptcy: Refers to statutes and judicial proceedings involving persons or businesses that cannot pay their debts and seek the assistance of the court in getting a fresh start. Under the protection of the bankruptcy court, debtors may discharge their debts, perhaps by paying a portion of each debt. Bankruptcy judges preside over these proceedings.
• 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 Oregon Statutes 110.503
• 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 Oregon Statutes 110.503
• Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
• Conviction: A judgement of guilt against a criminal defendant.
• Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
• Defendant: In a civil suit, the person complained against; in a criminal case, the person accused of the crime.
• Dependent: A person dependent for support upon another.
• 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 Oregon Statutes 110.503
• Equitable: Pertaining to civil suits in "equity" rather than in "law." In English legal history, the courts of "law" could order the payment of damages and could afford no other remedy. See damages. A separate court of "equity" could order someone to do something or to cease to do something. See, e.g., injunction. In American jurisprudence, the federal courts have both legal and equitable power, but the distinction is still an important one. For example, a trial by jury is normally available in "law" cases but not in "equity" cases. ^{Source: U.S. Courts}
• 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.
• Foreign country: means a country, or a political subdivision of a country, other than the United States, that authorizes the issuance of support orders and:

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

  (b) That has established a reciprocal arrangement for child support with this state as provided in ORS § 110. See Oregon Statutes 110.503

• Foreign support order: means a support order of a foreign tribunal. See Oregon Statutes 110.503
• Foreign tribunal: includes a competent authority under the Convention. See Oregon Statutes 110.503
• 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.
• 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 the parent or person acting as parent. See Oregon Statutes 110.503
• Indictment: The formal charge issued by a grand jury stating that there is enough evidence that the defendant committed the crime to justify having a trial; it is used primarily for felonies.
• 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 Oregon Statutes 110.503
• Injunction: An order of the court prohibiting (or compelling) the performance of a specific act to prevent irreparable damage or injury.
• 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 Oregon Statutes 110.503
• judicial department: means the Supreme Court, the Court of Appeals, the Oregon Tax Court, the circuit courts and all administrative divisions of those courts, whether denominated as boards, commissions, committees or departments or by any other designation. See Oregon Statutes 174.113
• 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 Oregon Statutes 110.503
• Liabilities: The aggregate of all debts and other legal obligations of a particular person or legal entity.
• Oath: A promise to tell the truth.
• 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.
• Obligor: means an individual, or the estate of a decedent, that:

  (a) Owes or is alleged to owe a duty of support;

  (b) Is alleged but has not been adjudicated to be a parent of a child;

  (c) Is liable under a support order; or

  (d) Is a debtor in a proceeding under ORS § 110. See Oregon Statutes 110.503

• 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 Oregon Statutes 110.503
• Person: includes individuals, corporations, associations, firms, partnerships, limited liability companies and joint stock companies. See Oregon Statutes 174.100
• Pleadings: Written statements of the parties in a civil case of their positions. In the federal courts, the principal pleadings are the complaint and the answer.
• 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 Oregon Statutes 110.503
• 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 Oregon Statutes 110.503
• Responding tribunal: means the authorized tribunal in a responding state or foreign country. See Oregon Statutes 110.503
• Service of process: The service of writs or summonses to the appropriate party.
• Settlement: Parties to a lawsuit resolve their difference without having a trial. Settlements often involve the payment of compensation by one party in satisfaction of the other party's claims.
• Spousal support order: means a support order for a spouse or former spouse of the obligor. See Oregon Statutes 110.503
• State: means a state of the United States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the United States Virgin Islands, any territory or insular possession under the jurisdiction of the United States or an Indian nation or tribe. See Oregon Statutes 110.503
• Subpoena: A command to a witness to appear and give testimony.
• Support enforcement agency: means a public official, governmental entity or private agency authorized to:

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

  (b) Seek establishment or modification of child support;

  (c) Request determination of parentage of a child;

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

  (e) Request determination of the controlling child support order. See Oregon Statutes 110.503

• 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, that 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 Oregon Statutes 110.503
• Testify: Answer questions in court.
• Testimony: Evidence presented orally by witnesses during trials or before grand juries.
• 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 Oregon Statutes 110.503
• United States: includes territories, outlying possessions and the District of Columbia. See Oregon Statutes 174.100
• Writ: A formal written command, issued from the court, requiring the performance of a specific act.