Terms Used In Louisiana Revised Statutes > Title 9 > CODE TITLE V > Chapter 1 > Part I-A - Child Support

• Abortion-inducing drug: means any drug or chemical, or any combination of drugs or chemicals, or any other substance when used with the intent to cause an abortion, including but not limited to RU-486, the Mifeprex regimen, misoprostol (Cytotec), or methotrexate. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 14:87.1
• Adjourn: A motion to adjourn a legislative chamber or a committee, if passed, ends that day's session.
• Adjusted gross income: means gross income, minus:

              (a) Amounts for preexisting child support or spousal support obligations owed under an order of support to another who is not a party to the proceedings and

              (b) At the court's discretion, amounts paid on behalf of a party's minor child who is not the subject of the action of the court. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 9:315

• Administrator: means the administrator of the child support enforcement section, office of children and family services, Department of Children and Family Services. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 9:315.40
• 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.
• 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.
• Amortization: Paying off a loan by regular installments.
• 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.
• Appellate: About appeals; an appellate court has the power to review the judgement of another lower court or tribunal.
• Appraisal: A determination of property value.
• Appropriation: The provision of funds, through an annual appropriations act or a permanent law, for federal agencies to make payments out of the Treasury for specified purposes. The formal federal spending process consists of two sequential steps: authorization
• Arrest: Taking physical custody of a person by lawful authority.
• Attachment: A procedure by which a person's property is seized to pay judgments levied by the court.
• Bequest: Property gifted by will.
• Board: means any agency, board, commission, or office, public or private, that issues any license for activity specified in Paragraph (6) of this Section. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 9:315.31
• Bona fide medical reason: means a medical condition which is recognized by any medical licensing board as a standard of care, except that "bona fide medical reason" shall not include abortion, as defined in this Section. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 14:87.1
• Brand: means any name, trademark, or other designation under which an agricultural liming material is sold. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 3:1430.2
• Bulk: means in nonpackaged form. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 3:1430.2
• Burnt lime: means a material made from limestone which consists primarily of calcium oxide or a combination of calcium and magnesium oxides. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 3:1430.2
• Chalk: means a soft, friable, loosely consolidated material composed primarily of calcium carbonate. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 3:1430.2
• Civil forfeiture: The loss of ownership of property used to conduct illegal activity.
• Clerk of court: An officer appointed by the court to work with the chief judge in overseeing the court's administration, especially to assist in managing the flow of cases through the court and to maintain court records.
• Clinically diagnosable pregnancy: means a pregnancy that is capable of being verified by one of the following conventional medical testing methods, whether or not any testing was in fact performed by any person:

              (a) A blood or urine test, whether used at home or in a medical setting, that tests for the human pregnancy hormone known as human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) that medically indicates that implantation has occurred. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 14:87.1

• Combined adjusted gross income: means the combined adjusted gross income of both parties. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 9:315
• Complaint: A written statement by the plaintiff stating the wrongs allegedly committed by the defendant.
• Compliance with an order of support: means that the support obligor is no more than ninety days in arrears in making payments in full for current support or in making periodic payments as set forth in a court order of support, and has obtained or maintained health insurance coverage if required by an order of support. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 9:315.31
• Compliance with an order of support: means that the support obligor is no more than ninety days in arrears in making payments in full for current support, or in making periodic payments on a support arrearage pursuant to a court order or written agreement with the department, or in making periodic payments as set forth in a court order of support, and has obtained or maintained health insurance coverage if required by an order of support. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 9:315.40
• Consumer: means any person who purchases agricultural liming materials for use on fields owned or leased by that person. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 3:1430.2
• Contempt of court: means that a person has been found guilty of a direct contempt of court for a contumacious failure to comply with a subpoena, pursuant to Code of Civil Procedure Article 222(5), or a constructive contempt of court for willful disobedience of a lawful order of the court, pursuant to Code of Civil Procedure Article 224(2), in or ancillary to a child support or paternity proceeding. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 9:315.31
• Continuance: Putting off of a hearing ot trial until a later time.
• Contraceptive: means any device, measure, drug, chemical, or product, including single-ingredient levonorgestrel, that has been approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration for the purpose of preventing pregnancy and is intended to be administered prior to the time when a clinically diagnosable pregnancy can be determined, provided that the contraceptive is sold, prescribed, or administered in accordance with manufacturer's instructions. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 14:87.1
• 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 any court exercising jurisdiction over the determination of child support, paternity, or criminal neglect of family proceedings. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 9:315.31
• Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
• Decedent: A deceased person.
• Department: means the Department of Children and Family Services when rendering child support enforcement services in  TANF or non-TANF cases. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 9:315.31
• Department: means the Department of Children and Family Services, office of children and family services. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 9:315.40
• Devise: To gift property by will.
• Discovery: Lawyers' examination, before trial, of facts and documents in possession of the opponents to help the lawyers prepare for trial.
• dismemberment: means the use of a clamp, forceps, curette, suction cannula, or any other surgical tool or instrument with the intent to disarticulate the head or limbs from the body of the unborn child during an abortion, including but not limited to the common abortion methods known as suction curettage and dilation and evacuation. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 14:87.1
• Distributor: means a person who sells, offers for sale, or distributes agricultural liming materials in this state on the wholesale level. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 3:1430.2
• Docket: A log containing brief entries of court proceedings.
• Enrolled bill: The final copy of a bill or joint resolution which has passed both chambers in identical form. It is printed on parchment paper, signed by appropriate officials, and submitted to the President/Governor for signature.
• 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.
• Fair market value: The price at which an asset would change hands in a transaction between a willing, informed buyer and a willing, informed seller.
• fertilization: means the fusion of a human spermatozoon with a human ovum. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 14:87.1
• Fetal body part: means a cell, tissue, organ, or other part of an unborn child who is aborted by an induced abortion. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 14:87.1
• Fiduciary: A trustee, executor, or administrator.
• Garnishment: Generally, garnishment is a court proceeding in which a creditor asks a court to order a third party who owes money to the debtor or otherwise holds assets belonging to the debtor to turn over to the creditor any of the debtor
• Gestational age: means the age of the unborn child as measured by the time elapsed since the first day of the last menstrual period as determined by a physician and confirmed through the use of an ultrasound test of a quality generally used in existing medical practice. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 14:87.1
• Gift: A voluntary transfer or conveyance of property without consideration, or for less than full and adequate consideration based on fair market value.
• Gross income: means :

              (a) The income from any source, including but not limited to salaries, wages, commissions, bonuses, dividends, severance pay, pensions, interest, trust income, recurring monetary gifts, annuities, capital gains, social security benefits, workers' compensation benefits, basic and variable allowances for housing and subsistence from military pay and benefits, unemployment insurance benefits, disaster unemployment assistance received from the United States Department of Labor, disability insurance benefits, and spousal support received from a preexisting spousal support obligation;

              (b) Expense reimbursement or in-kind payments received by a parent in the course of employment, self-employment, or operation of a business, if the reimbursements or payments are significant and reduce the parent's personal living expenses. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 9:315

• Ground shells: means a material obtained by grinding the shells of mollusks. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 3:1430.2
• Guarantor: A party who agrees to be responsible for the payment of another party's debts should that party default. ^{Source: OCC}
• 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.
• Health insurance premiums: means the actual amount paid by a party for providing health insurance on behalf of the child. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 9:315
• Income: means :

              (a) Actual gross income of a party, if the party is employed to full capacity; or

              (b) Potential income of a party, if the party is voluntarily unemployed or underemployed. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 9:315

• 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.
• induced abortion: means the performance of any act with the intent to terminate a clinically diagnosable pregnancy with knowledge that the termination by those means will, with reasonable likelihood, cause the death of the unborn child by one or more of the following means:

              (i) Administering, prescribing, or providing any abortion-inducing drug, potion, medicine, or any other substance, device, or means to a pregnant female. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 14:87.1

• Infant: means the offspring of human parents from the moment of live birth, regardless of the duration of gestation in the womb prior to live birth. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 14:87.1
• Injunction: An order of the court prohibiting (or compelling) the performance of a specific act to prevent irreparable damage or injury.
• Inter vivos: Transfer of property from one living person to another living person.
• Intestate: Dying without leaving a will.
• Irrevocable trust: A trust arrangement that cannot be revoked, rescinded, or repealed by the grantor.
• Jobber: means a person who buys or sells agricultural liming materials in this state for another person and who is paid commissions for his services. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 3:1430.2
• 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.
• Label: means any written or printed matter on or attached to a package of materials or an invoice for a shipment of bulk materials. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 3:1430.2
• Late term abortion: means the performance of an abortion when the gestational age of the unborn child is fifteen weeks or more. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 14:87.1
• Lease: A contract transferring the use of property or occupancy of land, space, structures, or equipment in consideration of a payment (e.g., rent). ^{Source: OCC}
• Legacy: A gift of property made by will.
• Legatee: A beneficiary of a decedent
• Liabilities: The aggregate of all debts and other legal obligations of a particular person or legal entity.
• License: means any license, certification, registration, permit, approval, or other similar document evidencing admission to or granting authority for any of the following:

  (a)  To engage in a profession, occupation, business, or industry. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 9:315.31

• License: means any license, certification, registration, permit, approval, or other similar document evidencing admission to or granting authority for any of the following:

  (a)  To engage in a profession, occupation, business, or industry. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 9:315.40

• Licensed mental health professional: as used in this Chapter means a person who possesses at least a master's degree and who is licensed in counseling, social work, psychology, marriage and family counseling, or exempt from licensing requirements pursuant to La. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 9:331
• Licensee: means any individual holding a license, certification, registration, permit, approval, or other similar document evidencing admission to or granting authority to engage in any activity specified in Paragraph (6) hereof. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 9:315.31
• Licensee: means any individual holding a license, certificate, registration, permit, approval, or other similar document evidencing admission to or granting authority to engage in any activity specified in Paragraph (4) of this Section. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 9:315.40
• Licensing authority: means any state board, commission, department, agency, officer, or other entity which issues, authorizes, or otherwise regulates licenses as defined in Paragraph (4) of this Section. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 9:315.40
• 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.
• live born human being: means a member of the species homo sapiens that is expelled or extracted from its mother, at any stage of development, who after that expulsion or extraction breathes or shows signs of life such as beating of the heart, pulsation of the umbilical cord, or definite movement of voluntary muscles, whether or not the umbilical cord has been cut or the placenta is attached, and regardless of whether the expulsion or extraction occurs as a result of natural or induced labor, cesarean section, or induced abortion. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 14:87.1
• livestock: means any animal bred, kept, maintained, raised, or used for show, profit, or for the purpose of selling or otherwise producing crops, animals, or plant or animal products for market. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 3:2651
• Lot: means the quantity of materials from which a sample has been taken and which the sample represents. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 3:1430.2
• Manufacturer: means a person who produces agricultural liming materials which are sold, offered for sale, or distributed in this state. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 3:1430.2
• Marital deduction: The deduction(s) that can be taken in the determination of gift and estate tax liabilities because of the existence of a marriage or marital relationship.
• Marl: means a granular or loosely consolidated earthy material composed primarily of seashell fragments and calcium carbonate. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 3:1430.2
• materials: means solid or liquid materials which contain calcium or magnesium and which are sold, offered for sale, or distributed for use in neutralizing acidity in agricultural soils. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 3:1430.2
• Medical support: means health insurance and the payment of the medical expenses of the child. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 9:315
• Medically futile: means that, in reasonable medical judgment as certified by two physicians, the unborn child has a profound and irremediable congenital or chromosomal anomaly that is incompatible with sustaining life after birth. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 14:87.1
• Mortgage: The written agreement pledging property to a creditor as collateral for a loan.
• mother: means a female human being, whether or not she has reached the age of majority. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 14:87.1
• Net child care costs: means the reasonable costs of child care incurred by a party due to employment or job search, minus the value of the federal income tax credit for child care. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 9:315
• Nolo contendere: No contest-has the same effect as a plea of guilty, as far as the criminal sentence is concerned, but may not be considered as an admission of guilt for any other purpose.
• Oath: A promise to tell the truth.
• Obligee: means any person to whom an award of child support is owed and may include the department. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 9:315.31
• Obligor: means any individual legally obligated to support a child or children pursuant to an order of support. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 9:315.31
• Obligor: means any individual legally obligated to support a child or children pursuant to an order of support. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 9:315.40
• Order of support: means any judgment or order for the support of dependent children issued by any court of this state or another state, including any judgment or order issued in accordance with an administrative procedure established by state law that affords substantial due process and is subject to judicial review. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 9:315.31
• Order of support: means any judgment or order for the support of dependent children issued by any court of this state or another state, including any judgment or order issued in accordance with an administrative procedure established by state law that affords substantial due process and is subject to judicial review. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 9:315.40
• Partial birth abortion: means an abortion in which:

              (a) The person performing the abortion deliberately and intentionally vaginally delivers a living fetus until, in the case of a head-first presentation, the entire fetal head is outside the body of the mother, or, in the case of breech presentation, any part of the fetal trunk past the navel is outside the body of the mother, for the purpose of performing an overt act that the person knows will kill the partially delivered living fetus. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 14:87.1

• 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.
• past due child support: means the amount of a delinquency determined under a court order under state law for support and maintenance of a child. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 9:315.26
• Person: means any individual, partnership, corporation, association, or other legal entity. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 3:1430.2
• Person: means an individual or any legal or commercial entity, including a corporation, business trust, partnership, limited liability company, association, or joint venture. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 3:1
• Physician: means a person licensed to practice medicine in the state of Louisiana. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 14:87.1
• Plaintiff: The person who files the complaint in a civil lawsuit.
• Plea: In a criminal case, the defendant's statement pleading "guilty" or "not guilty" in answer to the charges, a declaration made in open court.
• Plea agreement: An arrangement between the prosecutor, the defense attorney, and the defendant in which the defendant agrees to plead guilty in exchange for special considerations. ^Source:
• Power of attorney: A written instrument which authorizes one person to act as another's agent or attorney. The power of attorney may be for a definite, specific act, or it may be general in nature. The terms of the written power of attorney may specify when it will expire. If not, the power of attorney usually expires when the person granting it dies. ^{Source: OCC}
• Pregnant: means that female reproductive condition of having a developing embryo or fetus in the uterus which commences at fertilization and implantation. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 14:87.1
• Preliminary hearing: A hearing where the judge decides whether there is enough evidence to make the defendant have a trial.
• Principal residence of a child: means :

  (a)  The location designated by a court to be the primary residence of the child. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 9:355.1

• Probable cause: A reasonable ground for belief that the offender violated a specific law.
• Probation: A sentencing alternative to imprisonment in which the court releases convicted defendants under supervision as long as certain conditions are observed.
• Real property: Land, and all immovable fixtures erected on, growing on, or affixed to the land.
• reasonable medical judgment: means a physician's use of reasonable care and diligence, along with his best judgment, in the application of his skill. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 14:87.1
• Recourse: An arrangement in which a bank retains, in form or in substance, any credit risk directly or indirectly associated with an asset it has sold (in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles) that exceeds a pro rata share of the bank's claim on the asset. If a bank has no claim on an asset it has sold, then the retention of any credit risk is recourse. ^{Source: FDIC}
• Relocation: means a change in the principal residence of a child for a period of sixty days or more, but does not include a temporary absence from the principal residence. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 9:355.1
• Reporter: Makes a record of court proceedings and prepares a transcript, and also publishes the court's opinions or decisions (in the courts of appeals).
• Rescission: The cancellation of budget authority previously provided by Congress. The Impoundment Control Act of 1974 specifies that the President may propose to Congress that funds be rescinded. If both Houses have not approved a rescission proposal (by passing legislation) within 45 days of continuous session, any funds being withheld must be made available for obligation.
• Restitution: The court-ordered payment of money by the defendant to the victim for damages caused by the criminal action.
• Retailer: means a person who sells agricultural liming materials to consumers in this state. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 3:1430.2
• 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.
• Statute: A law passed by a legislature.
• stillbirth: means the spontaneous or accidental death of an unborn child, whether the death occurred in the womb or in the process of birth. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 14:87.1
• Subpoena: A command to a witness to appear and give testimony.
• Suspension: means a temporary revocation of a license for an indefinite period of time or the denial of an application for issuance or renewal of a license. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 9:315.31
• suspension: includes a temporary suspension of the registration, including the seizure of the vehicle license plate, trailer license plate, or a certificate of identification or registration of a motorboat or sailboat for an indefinite period of time or the denial of an application for issuance or renewal of a registration or license plate. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 9:315.40
• Ton: means two thousand pounds avoirdupois. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 3:1430.2
• Tort: A civil wrong or breach of a duty to another person, as outlined by law. A very common tort is negligent operation of a motor vehicle that results in property damage and personal injury in an automobile accident.
• Trial: A hearing that takes place when the defendant pleads "not guilty" and witnesses are required to come to court to give evidence.
• Venue: The geographical location in which a case is tried.