(a) "Individual entitled to support enforcement services under the provisions of this chapter and the provisions of Title IV-D of the federal Social Security Act" means:

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Terms Used In West Virginia Code 48-1-231

  • 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.
  • 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.
  • 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.

(1) An individual who has applied for or is receiving services from the Bureau for Child Support enforcement and who is the parent of a child, or the caretaker of a child, or the guardian of the property of a child when:

(A) The child has a parent and child relationship with an obligor who is not a custodial parent, a caretaker or a guardian; and

(B) The obligor with whom the child has a parent and child relationship is not meeting an obligation to support the child, or has not met such obligation in the past; or

(2) An individual who has applied for or is receiving services from the Bureau for Child Support enforcement and who is an adult or an emancipated minor whose spouse or former spouse has been ordered by a court of competent jurisdiction to pay spousal support to the individual, whether such support is denominated spousal support or separate maintenance, or is identified by some other terminology, thus establishing a support obligation with respect to such spouse, when the obligor required to pay such spousal support is not meeting the obligation, or has not met such obligation in the past; or

(3) Any individual who is an obligee in a support order, entered by a court of competent jurisdiction after December 31, 1993.

(b) The filing of an action wherein the establishment or enforcement of child support is an issue constitutes an application to receive services from the Bureau for Child Support enforcement, if the individual filing the action is otherwise eligible for such services: Provided, That any such individual has the option to decline the receipt of such services.