New Jersey Administrative Code › Title 10 - HUMAN SERVICES › Chapter 110 - CHILD SUPPORT PROGRAM › Subchapter 1A - DEFINITIONS › Section 10:110-1A.1 - Definitions

Current through Register Vol. 56, No. 14, July 15, 2024
The following words and terms, as used within this chapter,
				  shall have the following meanings unless the context clearly indicates
				  otherwise:
"Account" means a demand deposit account, checking or
				  negotiable order of withdrawal account, savings account, time deposit account,
				  equity securities account or money market mutual fund account, or other deposit
				  account as identified by Federal Law as subject to Financial Institution Data
				  Match requirements.
"Administrative enforcement" means the use of high volume
				  automated data processing to search various State data bases, including, but
				  not limited to, license records, employment service data and State new hire
				  registries.
"Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC)" means the
				  Judiciary's administrative office that assists in providing guidance to the 15
				  judicial districts, or vicinages, under the authority granted by the State
				  Constitution to the Chief Justice of the State Supreme Court and the
				  Administrative Director of the Courts in the administration of all courts in
				  the State. The Family, Probation (Child Support) and Finance Divisions,
				  components of the local vicinages, are involved in the administration of the
				  Child Support Program.
"Alleged father" means a person who has been named as the
				  father of a child born out-of-wedlock, but who has not been legally determined
				  to be the father; also referred to as a putative father.
"Arrearage" means the amount of unpaid support that is past
				  due under a court order or an administrative order from a jurisdiction, for
				  support of a child or of a child and the custodial parent.
"Assessment or intake process" means conducting an
				  investigative interview with the applicant for child support services or those
				  applying for or receiving public assistance, and activities associated with
				  initial support case opening, to establish the child support case circumstances
				  and to determine if child support services are appropriate. This is the first
				  step in the child support enforcement process.
"Automated Administrative Enforcement of Intergovernmental
				  Cases (AEI)" means the State's ability to locate, place a lien on, and seize
				  financial assets of delinquent obligors upon request of another state or Indian
				  Tribe/Tribal organization child support enforcement agency, or foreign
				  reciprocating jurisdiction.
"Automated child support system" means the Federally required
				  system of the State that handles the automation of child support records and
				  the performance of all related functions required of that system and is the
				  State Case Registry (SCR) of child support cases.
"Case record" means the official file, including
				  electronically stored data, that constitutes a complete record on a case which
				  supports the decisions and actions of the child support entity on a case and
				  may include, but is not limited to, forms, chronological narrative,
				  correspondence, and other documents pertinent to child support activity on that
				  case.
"Cash medical support" means an amount ordered to be paid
				  toward the cost of health care coverage provided by a public entity or by
				  another parent through employment or otherwise, or for other medical costs not
				  covered by insurance.
"Cash or cash-equivalent assets" means bank accounts,
				  retirement accounts, trusts, insurance proceeds, net monetary awards and
				  settlements from civil lawsuits, non-court settlements, proceeds from estates,
				  investments, commissions, bonuses and any other asset from which funds are
				  readily available without the need for seizure, inventory or public
				  sale.
"Child" means a person, whether over or under the age of
				  majority, who is or is alleged to be owed a duty of child support by that
				  person's parent or who is or is alleged to be the beneficiary of a support
				  order directed to the parent.
"Child support" means the amount required to be paid under a
				  judgment, decree, or order, whether temporary, final or subject to
				  modification, issued by the Superior Court, Chancery Division, Family Part or a
				  court or administrative agency of competent jurisdiction of another
				  jurisdiction, for the support and maintenance of a child, or the support and
				  maintenance of a child and the parent with whom the child is living, which
				  provides monetary support, health care coverage, any arrearage or
				  reimbursement, and which may include other related costs and fees, interest and
				  penalties, income withholding, attorney's fees and other relief.
"Child Support Enforcement Network (CSENet)" means the
				  state-to-state telecommunications network which transfers detailed information
				  among states' automated child support systems.
"Child Support Lien Network (CSLN)" means that database
				  network used by various states that was contracted by the OCSS as of July 2002
				  as a tool of administrative enforcement for obligors owing past-due child
				  support. That database contains the names and information on delinquent child
				  support obligors for purposes of asset matching, and is specifically directed
				  at intercepting newly identified insurance settlement proceeds of such
				  delinquent obligors before the distribution of any net proceeds of a
				  settlement, judgment or award is made to such obligor.
"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 jurisdiction.
"Child support related warrant" means an outstanding warrant
				  for the arrest of a child support obligor or putative father issued by the
				  court for failure to pay child support as ordered, failure to appear at a
				  hearing to establish paternity or child support, or failure to appear at a
				  hearing to enforce a child support order.
"Commissioner" means the Commissioner of Human
				  Services.
"Confidential information" means any data, written or verbal,
				  available to or obtained through the Title IV-D Program by authorized staff or
				  contracted entities, which assists in the administrative purposes of the Title
				  IV-D Program, and includes such information used for establishment and
				  enforcement purposes as permitted by Federal and State statutes and
				  regulations.
"Contractor for new hire reporting purposes" means someone
				  who is 18 years of age or older who performs labor under contract for an
				  "employer" or "payor of income", and to whom a payor of income makes payments
				  that are not subject to income withholding for child support. The contractor is
				  an individual, and is not a corporation, government, business trust, estate,
				  partnership or other legal entity for whom the payor of income is required to
				  file a Federal "Form 1099-MISCELLANEOUS" (currently required for payment of
				  service of $ 600.00 or more).
"Contractual agent" means an entity providing a child support
				  service(s) or function(s) of the Child Support Program and is inclusive of
				  those agents of the Program procured through purchase-of-service contracts,
				  contractual agreements or memoranda of understanding with the IV-D
				  Agency.
"Cost-of-living adjustment (COLA)" means an adjustment of the
				  amount of a support obligation based on the economy's increasing or decreasing
				  cost of the necessities of life such as food, shelter and clothing based on the
				  Consumer Price Index.
"County welfare agency (CWA)" means that county agency
				  designated by the respective county to handle the administration of public
				  assistance benefits such as, but not limited to, New Jersey Supplemental
				  Nutrition Assistance Program (NJ SNAP), Work First New Jersey/Temporary
				  Assistance to Needy Families (WFNJ/TANF), Medicaid Programs, Child Support, and
				  Work First New Jersey/General Assistance (WFNJ/GA). The term CWA includes, but
				  is not limited to, agencies that may be locally known as the "Board of Social
				  Services"; the "Department of Citizen Services, Division of Welfare"; the
				  "Division of Social Services"; the "Division of Temporary Assistance and Social
				  Services"; or as the "Department of Family and Community Development."
"County welfare agency child support unit (CWA/CSU)" means
				  that separate work unit within the CWA, as defined herein, that is responsible
				  for Title IV-D responsibilities.
"Court" means the Superior Court, Chancery Division, Family
				  Part.
"Court order" means an order of the court or an order from an
				  administrative or judicial tribunal in another jurisdiction or of an Indian
				  Tribe/Tribal organization child support enforcement agency that is competent to
				  enter or modify orders for parentage or child support.
"Court rules" means the Rules Governing the Courts of the
				  State of New Jersey.
"CP&P" means the Division of Child Protection and
				  Permanency in the Department of Children and Families.
"Credit reporting agency" means a nationally recognized
				  credit reporting agency as approved by the commissioner and defined in the
				  Federal Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. §
										1681a(f)) as any entity
				  which for monetary fees, dues, or on a cooperative nonprofit basis, regularly
				  engages in whole or in part in the practice of assembling or evaluating
				  consumer credit information or other information on consumers for the purpose
				  of furnishing reports to third parties and which uses any means or facility or
				  interstate commerce for the purpose of preparing or furnishing consumer
				  reports.
"Custodial parent" means the parent or other person who has
				  legal and physical custody of a child for the majority of the time. The
				  custodial parent is responsible for day-to-day decisions related to the child
				  and for providing the basic needs of the child on a daily basis. The custodial
				  parent is the person to whom child support is payable. In shared parenting
				  situations, the custodial parent is known as the parent of primary
				  residence.
"Default order" means a court order entered due to a party's
				  failure to answer a complaint or motion or to appear at a court proceeding as
				  required, after being properly served with notice.
"Department" means the Department of Human Services.
"Division" means the Division of Family Development.
"Employee" means an individual who is an employee within the
				  meaning of chapter 24 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986. For purposes of new
				  hire reporting, "employee" does not include an employee of a Federal or state
				  agency performing intelligence or counter-intelligence functions, if the head
				  of such agency has determined that reporting could endanger the safety of the
				  employee or compromise an ongoing investigation or intelligence mission.
"Employer or payor of income" has the meaning given the term
				  in section 3401(d) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 and includes any
				  governmental entity or labor organization.
"Family violence" means subjecting an individual(s) to
				  extreme cruelty or physical battering as defined at 408(a)(7)(C) of the Social
				  Security Act (42 U.S.C. §
										608(a) 7(c)). These
				  behavioral acts of abuse by a perpetrator are those behaviors that result in,
				  or threaten to result in, physical or mental injury/abuse; threatened or
				  attempted sexual assault; sexual assault activity involving a dependent child;
				  the forcing of an individual as the caretaker relative of a dependent child to
				  take part in non-consensual sexual acts or activities; and neglecting or
				  preventing the individual(s) from getting medical care. Such harmful physical
				  and controlling behavior(s) by the perpetrator, that may have occurred in the
				  past or are presently taking place, can cause, but is not limited to, economic
				  intimidation and isolation of the intimate partner(s) or other family
				  member(s), and may impact that individual's compliance with child support
				  cooperation requirements or in seeking needed services for fear of their own or
				  their child(ren)'s safety.
"Federal Parent Locator Service (FPLS)" means a computerized
				  national location network operated by the Federal Office of Child Support
				  Enforcement to help the states, as defined herein, locate parents in order to
				  obtain child support payments and/or medical support. FPLS obtains address and
				  employer information from Federal agencies and the National Directory of New
				  Hires.
"Federal provisions" means statutes, regulations, the Child
				  Support State Plan submitted and maintained by OCSS to the Federal Office of
				  Child Support Enforcement (OCSE), and other applicable issuances of that
				  Office, such as, but not limited to Action Transmittals, Information Memoranda,
				  Dear Colleague Letters, Policy Interpretation Questions, as well as Technical
				  Correspondence, used by OCSE to convey Child Support Program and related
				  program interface materials and information, policies, interpretations and
				  procedures to the state and Indian Tribe/Tribal organization child support
				  enforcement agencies.
"Financial institution" means:
1. A depository institution as defined in
				12
				U.S.C. §
										1813(c);
2. An institution affiliated party as defined
				in 12 U.S.C. §
										1813(u);
3. A Federal or State credit union as defined
				in 12 U.S.C. §
										1752, including an institution affiliated
				party of a credit union as defined in
				12
				U.S.C. §
										1786(r);
				and
4. A benefit association,
				insurance company, safe deposit company, money market mutual fund, investment
				and loan corporation or similar entity authorized to do business in this State,
				as permitted under Federal law.
"Foreign reciprocating jurisdiction" means any country, or
				  political subdivision thereof, having an authorized declaration or
				  international agreement for purposes of child support establishment and
				  enforcement with the United States in accordance with
				  42 U.S.C. §
										659A; and those existing reciprocity
				  agreements that states had previously made with foreign governments, which have
				  not been declared reciprocating jurisdictions under Federal law under the
				  continuing authority granted to states under
				  42 U.S.C. §
										659A(d).
"Health care coverage" includes fee for service, health
				  maintenance organization, preferred provider organization, dental insurance,
				  eye care, pharmaceutical assistance, and other types of private health
				  insurance and public health care coverage under which medical services could be
				  provided to the dependent child(ren).
"Health care coverage" means cash medical support, health
				  insurance, dental insurance, eye care, pharmaceutical assistance and other
				  types of medical support, as defined herein, which are ordered by the court to
				  maintain the health coverage of a child.
"Income," for the purposes of enforcing a support order,
				  means, but is not limited to, commissions, salaries, earnings, wages, rent
				  monies, unemployment compensation, workers' compensation, any legal or
				  equitable interest or entitlement owed that was acquired by a cause of action,
				  suit, claim or counterclaim, insurance benefits, claims, accounts, assets of
				  estates, inheritances, trusts, Federal or State income tax refunds, homestead
				  rebates, State lottery prizes, casino and racetrack winnings, annuities,
				  retirement benefits, veteran's benefits, union benefits, or earnings or other
				  periodic entitlements to money from any source and any other property subject
				  to withholding for child support pursuant to State law. For the purposes of
				  establishing a support order, income is defined pursuant to the child support
				  guidelines in Appendix IX of the Court Rules.
"Income withholding order" means an order or other legal
				  process directed to an obligor's employer as defined by the "New Jersey Child
				  Support Improvement Act,"
				  P.L.
				  1998, c. 1, or other
				  source of income to withhold support from the income of the obligor.
"Independent contractor for new hires reporting purposes"
				  means someone who operates his or her own business as a sole proprietor who is
				  liable for his or her own taxes, whom another "employer" or "payor of income"
				  expects to reimburse for services for one or more contracts during a year, who
				  is not an employee, but receives compensation or executes a contract for
				  services with the other employer.
"Indian Tribe" means, for purposes of the Child Support
				  Enforcement Program, in accordance with section 455(f) of the Social Security
				  Act (42 U.S.C. §
										655(f)), any Indian Tribe,
				  as defined in accordance with subsections (e) and (
l
) of
				  section 4 of the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act
				  (25
				  U.S.C. §
										450b), band, nation, pueblo,
				  village or community, or other organized group or community, including any
				  Alaska Native village or regional or village corporation as defined in or
				  established pursuant to the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (43 U.S.C.
				  §§
										1601 et seq.) that the Secretary
				  of the interior acknowledges to exist as an Indian Tribe, and Tribes meeting
				  this definition that function as political entities exercising governmental
				  authority, and included in the most current list of Federally recognized Indian
				  Tribal governments pursuant to
				  P.L.
				  103-454(25 U.S.C. §
										479a) with a recognized
				  government-to-government relationship with the United States.
"Indian Tribe/Tribal organization child support enforcement
				  agency" means the organizational unit in the Tribe or Tribal organization that
				  has the delegated authority for administering or supervising the Tribal Child
				  Support Enforcement (CSE) Program under section 455(f) of the Act
				  (42 U.S.C. §
										655(f), and
				  45 C.F.R.
				  309 with an approved Tribal Child Support
				  Plan. This does not mean those Tribes or Tribal organizations that have signed
				  authorized agreements, in accordance with section 454(33) of the Social
				  Security Act (42 U.S.C. §
										654(33)), with a state IV-D
				  agency to include the Tribe or Tribal organization in that state's Child
				  Support Enforcement Program.
"Intergovernmental cases" means child support cases processed
				  in accordance with the Uniform Interstate Family Support Act (UIFSA),
				  P.L.
				  1998, c. 2, or its
				  predecessor law, where a non-custodial parent lives in a different state than
				  his or her child and the custodial party, or where two or more states are
				  involved in some case activity, including, but not limited to, cases where
				  "state" means originating from another state; from an Indian Tribe/Tribal
				  organization child support enforcement agency; from a foreign reciprocating
				  jurisdiction in accordance with
				  42 U.S.C. §
										659A; from a U.S. citizen living abroad; and
				  from a non-resident alien who applies or has applied directly to a state for
				  child support enforcement services.
"IV-D (Four-D)" means a reference to Title IV-D of the Social
				  Security Act that requires that each state create a program to locate
				  non-custodial parents, establish paternity, establish and enforce child support
				  obligations, and collect and distribute support payments. All recipients of
				  public assistance are referred to the state's IV-D or Child Support Program.
				  States must also accept applications, if requested, to assist in collection of
				  child support from families who do not receive public assistance.
"IV-D application" means a written document provided by the
				  State IV-D Agency for non-public assistance individuals, that indicates that
				  the individual is applying for child support services under the State's Title
				  IV-D Program, and is signed by the individual applying for those IV-D
				  services.
"Labor organization" means a labor organization as defined in
				  paragraph (5) of section 2 of the Federal "National Labor Relations Act"
				  (29
				  U.S.C. §
										152) and includes any entity
				  used by the organization and an employer to carry out the requirements of
				  paragraph (3) of the subsection (f) of section 8 of that Act (29
				  U.S.C. §
										158(f)(3)) or
				  an agreement between the organization and the employer.
"Law" includes decisional and statutory law, and rules and
				  regulations having the force and effect of law.
"License" means any license, registration or certificate
				  issued by the State or its agencies or boards that is directly necessary to
				  provide a product or service for compensation, to operate a motor vehicle, or
				  for recreational or sporting purposes.
"Licensing authority" means any department, division, board,
				  agency or other instrumentality of State government that issues a license,
				  registration, certificate or other authorization to provide goods or services
				  for compensation, to operation of a motor vehicle or for recreational or
				  sporting purposes.
"Medicaid" means medical assistance provided under a State
				  plan approved under Title XIX of the Social Security Act.
"Medical support" means medical coverage pursuant to a court
				  order. Medical support includes private and public health care coverage, cash
				  medical support, including payment of health insurance premiums, and payment of
				  medical bills, including dental or eye care. Medical support may be provided by
				  the person paying support, the person receiving support, or another person,
				  such as a step-parent.
"Multi-state financial institution" means a financial
				  institution, as defined herein, that does business in more than one state or
				  territory.
"New Jersey Child Support Institute (NJCSI)" means the entity
				  operated by OCSS, in cooperation with such entities and partners of the New
				  Jersey Child Support Program to provide customized training programs for State,
				  county, and judiciary employees who work in New Jersey's Child Support
				  Program.
"Non-custodial parent" or "NCP" means the parent who does not
				  have physical custody of the child on a day-to-day basis. In shared parenting
				  situations, the non-custodial parent is known as the parent of alternate
				  residence.
"Non IV-D cases" means a child support case not handled by
				  the State/local child support enforcement (IV-D) agency. A non IV-D case is one
				  where the State:
1. Is not currently
				providing service under the State's Title IV-A, Title IV-D, Title IV-E, or
				Title XIX Programs;
2. Has not
				previously provided State services under any of these programs; and
3. Has no current IV-D application or IV-D
				applicable fee for services paid by either parent.
"Obligee" means:
1.
				An individual to whom a duty of support is or is alleged to be owned or in
				whose favor a support order has been issued or a judgment determining parentage
				has been rendered;
2. 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; or
3. An individual seeking a judgment
				determining parentage of the individual's child or providing for the support of
				a child.
"Obligor" means an individual, or the estate of a
				  decedent:
1. Who owes or is alleged to
				owe a duty of support;
2. Who is
				alleged but has not been adjudicated to be a parent of a child; or
3. Who is liable under a support
				order.
"Parentage" means the legal relationship between a child and
				  a parent of the child. The term includes the mother-child relationship and the
				  father-child relationship.
"Payor" means an employer or individual or entity that
				  disburses or is in possession of income or assets payable to an
				  obligor."
"Political subdivision of the State" means a county or
				  municipality of the State and any agency of that county or municipality, as
				  well as any legal entity of that subdivision, such as, but not limited to, the
				  county prosecutor and county sheriff.
"Probation Division" means the Probation Division of the
				  Superior Court, Chancery Division, Family Part.
"Reciprocity" means a relationship between states, as defined
				  herein, or jurisdictions, whereby recognition of child support paternity and
				  enforcement policies and procedures is granted by one to the other, and
				  returned one to the other (that is, state-to-state; country-to-country).
"RURESA" means the "Revised Uniform Reciprocal Enforcement of
				  Support Act (1968)," adopted in New Jersey as
				  P.L.
				  1981, c.243 (N.J.S.A. 2A:4-30.2 4 et seq., and
				  replaced by the enactment of UIFSA,
				  P.L.
				  1998, c. 2).
"Spousal support" means a legally enforceable obligation
				  assessed against a person for the support of a spouse or a former
				  spouse.
"Spousal support order" means a support order for a spouse or
				  former spouse of the obligor.
"State" means a state of the United States, the District of
				  Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, or any territory or insular
				  possession subject to the jurisdiction of the United States. State
				  includes:
1. An Indian Tribe/Tribal
				organization child support enforcement agency; and
2. 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 UIFSA or the procedures
				under the "Uniform Reciprocal Enforcement of Support Act" or the "Revised
				Uniform Reciprocal Enforcement of Support Act."
"State case registry" means the automated system maintained
				  by the Division that contains Federally required information on child support
				  cases.
"State disbursement unit (SDU)" means a unit responsible for
				  the processing of the collection of child support funds made under support
				  orders in Title IV-D cases being enforced by the State pursuant to
				  42 U.S.C. §
										654b, and in non-Title IV-D cases.
"State IV-D Agency" means the Division of Family
				  Development's Office of Child Support Services (OCSS) in the Department of
				  Human Services.
"State Parent Locator Service (SPLS)" means a unit within and
				  operated by the State IV-D Program that is mandated to perform activities
				  relating to the location of non-custodial parents, to establish paternity and
				  to establish and enforce child support obligations, in accordance with
				  45 C.F.R.
				  302.35 and
				  303.70.
"State Plan" means the formalized plan developed by each
				  state, territory or Indian Tribe/Tribal organization child support enforcement
				  agency, in conjunction with the Federal Office of Child Support Enforcement.
				  The State Plan includes procedures for implementing State policies and the
				  allocation of necessary resources.
"Support guidelines" means the set of presumptive standards
				  for determining the amount of child support as established by Court Rule 5:6A
				  and in Appendix IX.
"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
				  coverage, arrearages, or reimbursement, and may include related costs and fees,
				  interest, income withholding, attorney's fees, and other relief. A support
				  order shall be issued by the court or a court or administrative agency of
				  another jurisdiction.
"TANF" means the "Temporary Assistance to Needy Families"
				  program established pursuant to Title IV-A of the Federal Social Security Act
				  (42
				  U.S.C. §
										601 et seq.). TANF includes the
				  Work First New Jersey program for dependent children and their parents
				  established pursuant to
				  P.L.
				  1997, c.
				  38(44:10-55 et
				  seq.).
"Title IV-D" means Title IV-D of the Federal Social Security
				  Act (42 U.S.C. §§
										651 et seq.).
"Title IV-D case" means a case under Title IV-A or Title XIX
				  of the Federal Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. §§
										601 et seq.), that involves an assignment of
				  support rights, an appropriate referral under Title IV-E of the Federal Social
				  Security Act (42 U.S.C. §§
										601 et seq.), or a non-public assistance
				  case, in which an application for Title IV-D services has been filed and a fee
				  paid, as appropriate, with the Program, or an intergovernmental case referred
				  to the State Program by another jurisdiction.
"Tribal organization" means, for purposes of the Child
				  Support Enforcement Program in accordance with section 455(f) of the Social
				  Security Act (42 U.S.C. §
										655(f)), and in accordance
				  with the definition in section 4 of
				  P.L.
				  93-638 of 'Tribal organization', the recognized
				  governing body of any Indian Tribe as defined herein; any legally established
				  organization of Indians which is controlled, sanctioned, or chartered by such
				  governing body or which is democratically elected by the adult members of the
				  Indian community to be served by such organization and which includes the
				  maximum participation of Indians in all phases of its activities; provided,
				  that in any case where a contract is let or grant made to an organization to
				  perform services benefiting one or more Indian Tribes, the approval of each
				  such Indian Tribe shall be prerequisite to the letting or making of such
				  contract or grant. Then, the Tribal organization is charged with the vested
				  authority by the aforementioned, to apply for and carry out a child support
				  enforcement program on its behalf in accordance with the criteria of
				  45 C.F.R.
				  309.
"UIFSA" means the "Uniform Interstate Family Support Act" to
				  be adopted by each state to replace RURESA pursuant to
				  P.L.
				  104-193, and enacted in the State as
				  P.L.
				  1998, c.
				  2(N.J.S.A. 2A:4-30 et
				  seq.).