As used in this article, the following terms shall have the following meanings:

(1) CLERK OF THE COURT. Any circuit court clerk, district court clerk or juvenile court clerk, or their employees, with responsibility for docketing or otherwise carrying out the court’s clerical duties in regard to domestic relations matters, support and nonsupport cases, including the receipt and disbursement of support payments.

Terms Used In Alabama Code 30-3-60

  • circuit: means judicial circuit. See Alabama Code 1-1-1
  • 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.
  • Entitlement: A Federal program or provision of law that requires payments to any person or unit of government that meets the eligibility criteria established by law. Entitlements constitute a binding obligation on the part of the Federal Government, and eligible recipients have legal recourse if the obligation is not fulfilled. Social Security and veterans' compensation and pensions are examples of entitlement programs.
  • following: means next after. See Alabama Code 1-1-1
  • 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.
  • 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: includes a corporation as well as a natural person. See Alabama Code 1-1-1
  • state: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the several territories of the United States. See Alabama Code 1-1-1
  • United States: includes the territories thereof and the District of Columbia. See Alabama Code 1-1-1
(2) COURT. Any juvenile or family court division of the circuit or district court in the county where the mother of the child resides or is found, in the county where the father resides or is found, or in the county where the child resides or is found and, in the case of a petition seeking a divorce or legal separation, a petition seeking a modification of support previously ordered under a divorce decree or a petition seeking a contempt citation for failure to pay support previously ordered under a divorce decree, the circuit court or the domestic relations division of the circuit court. Provided, further, in cases involving the enforcement of another state‘s order of support within this state, court may mean the courts hereinabove prescribed of the county where the employer is located or is found, and such term may also mean, when the context requires, the court or agency of another state or jurisdiction outside the State of Alabama whose functions include the issuance and enforcement of support orders.
(3) DEPARTMENT. The Department of Human Resources of the State of Alabama, including the county department of human resources.
(4) EMPLOYER. Any person, business, corporation, partnership, company, firm, or unit of municipal, county, state, or federal government.
(5) INCOME. Wages, salary, tips, commissions, bonuses, unemployment compensation, workers’ compensation, disability payments, payments pursuant to a pension or retirement program and interest, and any and all money due or payable to a person, the entitlement to which is based upon remuneration for employment, past or present, after the deduction of those amounts required to be withheld by law. Income shall also include any other continuous or periodic income from whatever source whether earned or unearned except as expressly limited by law.
(6) INCOME WITHHOLDING ORDER or NOTICE. An order or notice in the standardized format prescribed under Title IV-D of the Social Security Act, as amended, that requires an employer to deduct a portion of an employee’s income for the payment of support.
(7) OBLIGEE. Any person for whom support benefits are ordered by the court and shall specifically include the Department of Human Resources when any person has assigned their rights to support payments to the department under any provision of law or when the department is otherwise representing the obligee. Provided, when the context requires, obligee may also include an agency or department of this or another state or jurisdiction to which a person has assigned his or her rights to support.
(8) OBLIGOR. Any person ordered by the court to make periodic payments for the benefit and support of another person or minor child.
(9) STATE or JURISDICTION. Such terms shall include any state or subdivision thereof, any possession of the United States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and any foreign jurisdiction in which a similar law is in effect.
(10) SUPPORT or SUPPORT ORDER. Any order, decree, or judgment for the support of a child, or in the case of an order being enforced pursuant to the requirements of Title IV-D of the Social Security Act, a spouse or former spouse, issued by a court of this state or, where the context requires, a court or agency of another state or jurisdiction, whether interlocutory or final, including orders issued for any of the following purposes:

a. Current support of a minor child.
b. Current medical support, which includes the cost of medical insurance or unreimbursed medical expenses.
c. Arrearage that has accrued due to unpaid child or medical support during the child’s minority, including enforcement post-majority of arrearages accrued during minority and interest that has accrued or continues to accrue on that arrearage.
d. Spousal support when such spousal support is collected by the Department of Human Resources or the department’s designee pursuant to the requirements of Title IV-D of the Social Security Act.
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