IOWA STATUTES AND CODES
252K.101 - DEFINITIONS.
252K.101 DEFINITIONS.
In this chapter:
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.
3. "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.
4. "Home state" means the state 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 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.
5. "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.
6. "Income withholding order" means an order or other legal
process directed to an obligor's employer or other payor of income,
as defined by the income withholding law of this state, to withhold
support from the income of the obligor.
7. "Initiating state" means a state from which a proceeding
is forwarded or in which a proceeding is filed for forwarding to a
responding state under this chapter or a law or procedure
substantially similar to this chapter, the Uniform Reciprocal
Enforcement of Support Act, or the Revised Uniform Reciprocal
Enforcement of Support Act.
8. "Initiating tribunal" means the authorized tribunal in an
initiating state.
9. "Issuing state" means the state in which a tribunal issues
a support order or renders a judgment determining parentage.
10. "Issuing tribunal" means the tribunal that issues a
support order or renders a judgment determining parentage.
11. "Law" includes decisional and statutory law and rules and
regulations having the force of law.
12. "Obligee" means any of the following:
a. An individual to whom a duty of support is or is alleged
to be owed or in whose favor a support order has been issued or a
judgment determining parentage has been rendered.
b. A state or political subdivision 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.
c. An individual seeking a judgment determining parentage of
the individual's child.
13. "Obligor" means an individual, or the estate of a
decedent, to which any of the following applies:
a. Who owes or is alleged to owe a duty of support.
b. Who is alleged but has not been adjudicated to be a parent
of a child.
c. Who is liable under a support order.
14. "Register" means to file a support order or judgment
determining parentage in the appropriate location for the filing of
foreign judgments.
15. "Registering tribunal" means a tribunal in which a
support order is registered.
16. "Responding state" means a state in which a proceeding is
filed or to which a proceeding is forwarded for filing from an
initiating state under this chapter or a law or procedure
substantially similar to this chapter, the Uniform Reciprocal
Enforcement of Support Act, or the Revised Uniform Reciprocal
Enforcement of Support Act.
17. "Responding tribunal" means the authorized tribunal in a
responding state.
18. "Spousal support order" means a support order for a
spouse or former spouse of the obligor.
19. "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 subject to the jurisdiction of the
United States. The term includes:
a. An Indian tribe.
b. A foreign jurisdiction that has enacted a law or
established procedures for issuance and enforcement of support orders
which are substantially similar to the procedures under this chapter,
the Uniform Reciprocal Enforcement of Support Act, or the Revised
Uniform Reciprocal Enforcement of Support Act.
20. "Support enforcement agency" means a public official or
agency authorized to seek any of the following:
a. Enforcement of support orders or laws relating to the duty
of support.
b. Establishment or modification of child support.
c. Determination of parentage.
d. Location of obligors or their assets.
21. "Support order" means a judgment, decree, or order,
whether temporary, final, or subject to modification, for the benefit
of a child, a spouse, or a former spouse, which provides for monetary
support, health care, arrearages, or reimbursement, and may include
related costs and fees, interest, income withholding, attorney's
fees, and other relief.
22. "Tribunal" means a court, administrative agency, or
quasi-judicial entity authorized to establish, enforce, or modify
support orders or to determine parentage. Section History: Recent Form
97 Acts, ch 175, §122
Referred to in § 252H.2