Adult Child – Adult child of parties who is at least age 18, but under age 21
Beneficiary – Any child for whom an obligor has been ordered (or has agreed) to pay support
Caretaker – A person who is the legal guardian of the child or has physical custody, care, control and supervision of a child
Child Attending School – A child between the ages of 18 and 21 attending school and in compliance with ORS 107.108
Child Support – Financial support paid by a parent to help support a child or children of whem they do not have custody. Child support can be entered into voluntarily or ordered by a court or a property empowered administrative agency.
Child Support Guidelines – A standard method for setting child support obligations based on the income of the parent(s) and other factors determined by State law. The Family Support Act of 1988 requires States to use guidelines to determine the amount of support for each family, unless they are rebutted by a written finding that applying the guidelines would be inappropriate to the case. Refer to OAR 137-050-0700-0765.
Child Support Program – Either District Attorney or Division of Child Support agencies
Contempt of Court – 1.) To disobey an order of the court, 2.) A process where the court may find that a person is in willful defiance or disrespect of the court or a support order of the court. If the Obligor does not appear, normally the court will issue a bench warrant for the Obligor’s arrest
Custodial Parent – The parent/party who has primary care, physical custody and control of the child(ren). The custodial parent may or may not have court ordered custody.
Custody Order – Legally binding determination that established with whom a child shall live
Discovery – The process of obtaining information and/or documents from a party in a lawsuit, including a child support legal action
Emancipated Minor – A person under the age of 18 who has been determined to be self-supporting and able to act on their own behalf by a court of law
Financial Disclosure Exam (aka Judgment Debtor Exam) – A legal procedure for examining an Obligor, under oath, for financial information, conducted either by the court or administratively
Garnishment – A legal proceeding under which a creditor acquires garnishable property of a debtor that is in the possession, control or custody of a person/institution other than the debtor, ex. a bank
Genetic Test – A biological analysis of inherited factors to determine legal fatherhood or paternity
Judgment Debtor – A person who owes another money as the result of a judgment. Obligors who owe money under an order are “judgment debtors”
Jurisdiction – The legal authority which a court or administrative agency has over particular persons and over certain types of cases, usually in a defined geographical area
Modification – A court or administrative order changing an earlier court or administrative order. Usually a modification involves increasing or decreasing the support amount
Obligee – The person to which child support is owed (the custodial party)
Obligor – The person who is obliged to pay child support (the non-custodial parent)
Office of Administrative Hearings (OAH) – A department of state government that is responsible for child support administrative hearings
Parenting Time – Amount of time the child(ren) is scheduled to spend with a parent according to a current written agreement between the parents or a court order
Party/Parties – Person or persons with a right to participate in a proceeding
Paternity – Legal determination of fatherhood
Public Assistance – Benefits granted from State or Federal programs to aid eligible recipients, such as cash pay (welfare) or medical benefits
Rebuttal – Specific factors found in ORS 25.080 and OAR 137-050-0760 that support a finding that the child support guideline amount is unjust and inappropriate in a particular case
Termination – A legal proceeding to stop the accrual of child support
Wage Withholding – A procedure by which scheduled deductions are automatically made from wages or income to pay a debt, such as child support