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Child Support Terminology
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D
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Declaration of Paternity
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A document signed by both parents stating that
they are the child's biological parents.
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Decree
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Decree is the judicial decision of a litigated
action, usually in "equitable" cases such as
divorce (versus cases in law in which judgments
are entered).
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Default
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Failure of a defendant to file an answer or
appeal in a court case within a certain number of
days after being served with a summons or
complaint.
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Default Judgment
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A decision made by the court or administrative
authority when the respondent fails to respond or
appear.
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Defendant
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See Non-Custodial Parent.
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Delinquency
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The dollar amount of an overdue debt and the
length of time the payment of a debt is overdue
in accordance with the terms of the current court
order. For example, a $50.00 per month obligation
would be 60 days delinquent in the amount of
$100.00 after two months without payments. The
sum of any missed cycle amounts.
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Dependent
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A child who receives aid under the Temporary
Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program in
IV-A cases; a child under the age of emancipation
in non-public assisted cases.
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DHHS
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The Federal Department of Health and Human
Services.
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Direct Income Withholding
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Direct income withholding is a procedure whereby
an income withholding order can be sent directly
to the non-custodial parent's employer in another
State, without the need to use the IV-D Agency or
court system in the non-custodial parent's state.
This triggers withholding unless the
non-custodial parent contests, and no pleadings
or registration are required. The Act does not
restrict who may send an income withholding
notice across State lines. Although the sender
will ordinarily be a child support Agency or the
custodial party, the non-custodial parent or any
other person may supply an employer with an
income withholding order.
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Disability Insurance Benefit Intercept System
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Intercepts a portion of state disability payments
owed to non-custodial parents to pay their
current and past-due child support.
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Disbursement
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Disbursement is paying out of collected child
support funds.
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Disclosure Prohibited Notice
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The disclosure prohibited notice is a notice that
the Federal Case Registry (FCR) is required to
send to a party that has requested locate
information stating that the information cannot
be disclosed because the person being sought has
a Family Violence Indicator (FVI) on either a
IV-D case or a non IV-D order in the FVI.
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Disposable Income
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Disposable income is the portion of an employee's
earnings that remains after deductions required
by law (e.g.,
taxes) and that is used to determine the amount
of an employee's pay subject to a garnishment,
attachment or child support withholding order.
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Disposition
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Indicates how a case was disposed. A specific,
legally established amount of ongoing child
support, arrearage or fees to be paid to the
custodial parent, the welfare department, or
others by the non-custodial parent (payer).
Dispositions may also include non-monetary
issues, such as custody and visitation. Same as
Obligation.
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Disregard
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The first $50 in current-month support payments
collected from the non-custodial parent and paid
to the custodial party also receiving Temporary
Assistance for Needy Families.
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Distribution
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The rules covering the priority order for
allocating child support collections. Federal
welfare reform legislation changes distribution
priorities to provide that families leaving
welfare receive priority in payment of arrears.
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Docket
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Docket is a formal brief record of proceedings in
court; minute entries in case files; the calendar
of a court or administrative tribunal. Some
courts refer to filing a paper with the court as
docketing.
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DSS
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The Department of Social Services administers the
IV-D program in some states.
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Due Process
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Due process is the conduct of legal proceedings
according to those rules and principles which
have been established in our system of law for
the enforcement and protection of private rights.
It is a safeguard against unreasonable,
arbitrary, and capricious decisions. Generally,
due process means that an individual receives
"notice" of an action that could affect him/her
and has the opportunity to "contest" the notice.
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