Terms Used In Oregon Statutes > Chapter 110 > 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.
• 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.
• Arrest: Taking physical custody of a person by lawful authority.
• Assets: (1) The property comprising the estate of a deceased person, or (2) the property in a trust account.
• Attachment: A procedure by which a person's property is seized to pay judgments levied by the court.
• 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
• 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.
• 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
• 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.
• Fiduciary: A trustee, executor, or administrator.
• 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 tribunal: includes a competent authority under the Convention. See Oregon Statutes 110.503
• 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 Oregon Statutes 110.503
• Income withholding order: means an order or other legal process directed to an obligor's employer or other debtor issued pursuant to ORS § 25. See Oregon Statutes 110.503
• 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.
• 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
• Litigation: A case, controversy, or lawsuit. Participants (plaintiffs and defendants) in lawsuits are called litigants.
• Oath: A promise to tell the truth.
• 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: means an individual, corporation, business trust, estate, trust, partnership, limited liability company, association, joint venture, public corporation, government, governmental subdivision, agency, instrumentality or any other legal or commercial entity. See Oregon Statutes 110.503
• Probable cause: A reasonable ground for belief that the offender violated a specific law.
• 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 Oregon Statutes 110.503
• 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 Oregon Statutes 110.503
• Registering tribunal: means a tribunal in which a support order or judgment determining parentage of a child is registered. 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.
• 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.
• 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 Oregon Statutes 110.503
• United States: includes territories, outlying possessions and the District of Columbia. See Oregon Statutes 174.100
• wife: means spouses or a spouse in a marriage. See Oregon Statutes 174.100
• Writ: A formal written command, issued from the court, requiring the performance of a specific act.