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Child Support Terminology
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Service of Process
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The delivery of a writ or summons to the party to
whom it is directed for the purpose of obtaining
jurisdiction over that party.
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Show Cause
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A court order directing a person to appear and
bring forth such evidence as one has to offer
reasons why the remedies stated in the order
should not be confirmed or executed. A show cause
order is usually based on a motion and affidavit
asking for relief.
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Spousal Support
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Court ordered support of an ex-spouse; also
referred to as maintenance or alimony.
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State Case Registry
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A centralized unit maintained by every state
responsible for receiving, distributing and
responding to inquiries on all incoming IV-D
cases. States provide child support order
information from their case registry to the
Federal Case Registry.
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State Directory of New Hires (SDNH)
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A database maintained by each State, that
contains information regarding newly hired
employees for the respective State. The data is
then transmitted to the National Directory of New
Hires (NDNH), where it is compared to the
employment data from other States as well as
child support data in the FCR (Federal Case
Registry). Any matches found are returned to the
appropriate States for processing. Employers are
required to submit new hire data to the SDNH
within 20 days of the hire date. Multi-state
employers (those hiring in more than one State)
have additional options on where to report new
hire information. In most States, the SDNH is
contained in the State Parent Locator Service
(SPLS) that is part of each State IV-D agency; in
others it is operated by the State Employment
Security Agency (SESA).
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State Disbursement Unit (SDU)
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The single site in each State where all child
support payments are processed. Upon
implementation of centralized collections, each
state will designate its State Disbursement Unit
to which all withheld child support payments
should be sent.
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State Licensing Match System (SLMS)
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Denies permanent state-issued business,
professional and driver's licenses (for example:
cosmetologist, contractor, doctor, teacher,
attorney, truck driver) to non-custodial parents
who owe past-due child support and apply for a
license or a renewal. SLMS denies these same
licenses to non-custodial parents who are four
months or more behind in paying support whether
or not they are renewing. SLMS revokes the
licenses of any non-custodial parent who fails to
continue to comply with an agreement to pay
past-due support in order to obtain a license.
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Statute of Limitations
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The period during which someone can be held
liable for an action or a debt-statutes of
limitations for collecting child support vary
from State to State.
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Statewide Utility Match System
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By matching the records of utility service
providers (gas, electric, and telephone) this
system locates addresses for non-custodial
parents who owe past-due child support. Locating
a valid address is often an important first step
in other enforcement actions such as establishing
a wage withholding order.
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Subpoena
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A document issued by a court or administrative
agency to compel a person to attend a hearing or
to produce documents for inspection at a
specified time and place.
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Summons
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A notice to a defendant that an action against
him or her has been commenced in the court or
administrative tribunal issuing the summons and
that a judgment will be taken against him or her
if the complaint is not answered within a
specified time. (In Texas it is called a
citation.)
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Support Order
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A judgment, decree or order, whether temporary,
final or subject to modification, issued by a
court or an administrative agency of competent
jurisdiction, for the support and maintenance of
a child. This includes a child who has attained
the age of majority under the law of the issuing
State, or of the parent with whom the child is
living. Support orders can incorporate the
provision of monetary support, health care,
payment of arrearages, or reimbursement of costs
and fees, interest and penalties, and other forms
of relief.
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Support Order Registry
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The Support Order Registry began in October 1998.
Currently, support order data resides at the
local Department of Child Support Services for
cases managed by the Department of Child Support
Services and similar data is kept in a statewide
database for private child support orders. Both
custodial and non-custodial parents must update
the Support Order Registry when any information
changes. Information from this registry will be
provided to authorized persons only.
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