§ 580-102. Definitions. In this article:

(1) "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.

(2) "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.

(3) "Convention" means the Convention on the International Recovery of
Child Support and Other Forms of Family Maintenance, concluded at The
Hague on November twenty-third, two thousand seven.

(4) "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.

(5) "Foreign country" means a country, including a political
subdivision thereof, other than the United States, that authorizes the
issuance of support orders and:

(i) which has been declared under the law of the United States to be a
foreign reciprocating country;

(ii) which has established a reciprocal arrangement for child support
with this state as provided in section 580-308 of this article;

(iii) which has enacted a law or established procedures for the
issuance and enforcement of support orders which are substantially
similar to the procedures under this article; or

(iv) in which the Convention is in force with respect to the United
States.

(6) "Foreign support order" means a support order of a foreign
tribunal.

(7) "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. The term includes a competent authority under the
Convention.

(8) "Home state" means the state or foreign country in which a child
lived with a parent or a person acting as parent for at least six
consecutive months immediately preceding the time of filing of a
petition or comparable pleading for support and, if a child is less than
six months old, the state or foreign country in which the child lived
from birth with any of them. A period of temporary absence of any of
them is counted as part of the six-month or other period.

(9) "Income" includes earnings or other periodic entitlements to money
from any source and any other property subject to withholding for
support as defined by section five thousand two hundred forty-one of the
civil practice law and rules.

(10) "Income withholding order" means an order or other legal process
directed to an obligor's employer, an income payor as defined by section
five thousand two hundred forty-one or five thousand two hundred
forty-two of the civil practice law and rules, or other debtor to
withhold support from the income of the obligor.

(11) "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.

(12) "Issuing foreign country" means the foreign country in which a
tribunal issues a support order or a judgment determining parentage of a
child.

(13) "Issuing state" means the state in which a tribunal issues a
support order or a judgment determining parentage of a child.

(14) "Issuing tribunal" means the tribunal of a state or foreign
country that issues a support order or a judgment determining parentage
of a child.

(15) "Law" includes decisional and statutory law and rules and
regulations having the force of law.

(16) "Obligee" means:

(i) an individual to whom a duty of support is or is alleged to be
owed or in whose favor a support order or a judgment determining
parentage of a child has been issued;

(ii) a foreign country, state or political subdivision of a state to
which the rights under a duty of support or support order have been
assigned or which has independent claims based on financial assistance
provided to an individual obligee in place of child support;

(iii) an individual seeking a judgment determining parentage of the
individual's child; or

(iv) a person that is a creditor in a proceeding under part seven of
this article.

(17) "Obligor" means an individual, or the estate of a decedent that:

(i) owes or is alleged to owe a duty of support;

(ii) is alleged but has not been adjudicated to be a parent of a
child;

(iii) is liable under a support order; or

(iv) is a debtor in a proceeding under part seven of this article.

(18) "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.

(19) "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.

(20) "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.

(21) "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.

(22) "Registering tribunal" means a tribunal in which a support order
or judgment determining parentage of a child is registered.

(23) "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.

(24) "Responding tribunal" means the authorized tribunal in a
responding state or foreign country.

(25) "Spousal-support order" means a support order for a spouse or
former spouse of the obligor.

(26) "State" means a state of the United States, the District of
Columbia, Puerto Rico, the United States Virgin Islands, or any
territory or insular possession under the jurisdiction of the United
States. The term includes an Indian nation or tribe.

(27) "Support enforcement agency" means a public official,
governmental entity or private agency authorized to:

(i) seek enforcement of support orders or laws relating to the duty of
support;

(ii) seek establishment or modification of child support;

(iii) request determination of parentage of a child;

(iv) attempt to locate obligors or their assets; or

(v) request determination of the controlling child support order.

(28) "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.
The term may include related costs and fees, interest, income
withholding, automatic adjustment, reasonable attorney's fees and other
relief.

(29) "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.