Terms Used In Vermont Statutes > Title 15B > Chapter 13 - Civil Provisions of General Application

• 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.
• Answer: The formal written statement by a defendant responding to a civil complaint and setting forth the grounds for defense.
• 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
• 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
• Conviction: A judgement of guilt against a criminal defendant.
• 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.
• Court: means the court with jurisdiction over the proceeding. See
• Court: means the court with jurisdiction over a child support proceeding. See
• Deploying parent: means a military parent who has been notified by military leadership that he or she will deploy or mobilize with the U. See
• 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.
• Domestic: when applied to a corporation, company, association, or copartnership shall mean organized under the laws of this State; "foreign" when so applied, shall mean organized under the laws of another state, government, or country. See
• 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
• 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.
• Fees: shall mean earnings due for official services, aside from salaries or per diem compensation. See
• Fiduciary: A trustee, executor, or administrator.
• following: when used by way of reference to a section of the law shall mean the next preceding or following section. See
• Foreign country: means a country, including a political subdivision thereof, other than the U. See
• Foreign tribunal: 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. See
• 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.
• 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
• Income withholding order: means an order or other legal process directed to an obligor's employer or other debtor, as defined by 15 Vt. See
• 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
• 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.
• Justice: when applied to a person, other than a Justice of the Supreme Court, shall mean a justice of the peace for the county for which he or she is elected or appointed. See
• Law: includes decisional and statutory law and rules and regulations having the force of law. See
• Legal responsibility: means the rights and responsibilities to determine and control various matters affecting a child's welfare and upbringing, other than routine daily care and control of the child. See
• Lien: A claim against real or personal property in satisfaction of a debt.
• Litigation: A case, controversy, or lawsuit. Participants (plaintiffs and defendants) in lawsuits are called litigants.
• Military parent: means a natural parent, adoptive parent, or legal parent of a child under the age of 18 whose parental rights have not been terminated or transferred to the state or another person through a juvenile proceeding pursuant to 33 Vt. See
• Nondeploying parent: means a parent who is either not a member of the U. See
• Obligee: means :

• Obligor: means an individual or the estate of a decedent that:

• Parent child contact: means the right of a parent who does not have physical responsibility to have visitation with the child. See
• Parental rights and responsibilities: means the rights and responsibilities related to a child's physical living arrangements, education, medical and dental care, religion, travel, and any other matter involving a child's welfare and upbringing. See
• 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
• Person: shall include any natural person, corporation, municipality, the State of Vermont or any department, agency, or subdivision of the State, and any partnership, unincorporated association, or other legal entity. See
• Personal property: All property that is not real property.
• Physical responsibility: means the rights and responsibilities to provide routine daily care and control of the child subject to the right of the other parent to have contact with the child. See
• 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.
• 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
• 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
• Registering tribunal: means a tribunal in which a support order or judgment determining parentage of a child is registered. See
• 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
• Responding tribunal: means the authorized tribunal in a responding state or foreign country. See
• State: means a state of the United States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the U. See
• State: when applied to the different parts of the United States may apply to the District of Columbia and any territory and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. See
• State active duty: means the call-up by a governor for the performance of any military duty in state status. See
• Support: means periodic payments ordered for the support of dependent children or, for the purposes of sections 783-790 of this title only, a spouse. See
• Support enforcement agency: means a public official, governmental entity, or private agency authorized to:

• 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
• Support order: means any judgment, order or contract for support enforceable in this state, including, but not limited to, orders issued pursuant to 15 Vt. See
• Temporary duty: means the transfer of a service member to a geographic location outside Vermont for a limited period of time to accomplish training or to assist in the performance of a noncombat mission. See
• 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
• Wage withholding order: means a transfer from the obligor to the obligee of the right to receive a portion of the obligor's wages directly from the obligor's employer. See
• Wages: means any compensation paid or payable for personal services, whether designated as wages, salary, commission, bonuses, or otherwise, and shall include periodic payments under pension or retirement programs, workers' compensation, or insurance policies of any type. See