Tenn. Comp. R. & Regs. 1240-02-05-.02 - DEFINITIONS
For purposes of this Chapter the following terms shall have the following meanings:
(1)
"Administrative action" means procedures undertaken by the Department or its
contractors by administrative order pursuant to law or regulations.
(2) "Arrears" or "Arrearage" means any
occasion on which the full amount of support ordered for or on behalf of a
minor child, or for a spouse or former spouse of the obligor with whom the
child is living to the extent the spousal support would be included for the
purposes of 42 USC
654 A(4), is not paid by the due date which
causes the support to become "in arrears" as defined in T.C.A. §
36-5-101(a)(5),
unless an income assignment is in effect and the payer of income is paying
pursuant to subsection §
36-5-101(g).
(a) Tennessee Code Annotated, Section
36-5-101(a)(5)
defines "in arrears" as the circumstances existing when the full amount of
child support is not paid by the date upon which the ordered support is due.
The unpaid amount at that time is "in arrears, and shall become a judgment for
the unpaid amounts.
(b) Arrears or
arrearage may also be known as and referred to in these rules as "overdue"
support or "past-due" support.
(c)
Arrears shall include the totals of all amounts of support that are not paid
and that remain unpaid by the obligor at the time a lien is perfected, or which
become due as arrears subsequent to the perfection of the lien.
(3) "Child support" or "support"
for purposes of this Chapter means a judgment, decree, or order, whether
temporary, final or subject to modification issued by a court of competent
jurisdiction or an administrative agency of competent jurisdiction, for the
support and maintenance of a child, including a child who has attained the age
of majority under the law of the state which issued the order, and shall
include the support of a parent with whom the child is living, and which,
judgment, decree or order provides for monetary support, health care,
arrearages, or reimbursement, and which may include related costs and fees,
interest, penalties, income withholding, attorneys fees and other
relief.
(4) "Current support
obligation" means the amount of support due each month pursuant to a judicial
or administrative order.
(5)
"Department" means the Tennessee Department of Human Services, or its
contractors who provide child support services to the Department in the courts
of Tennessee, or by way of administrative processes and accompanying due
process procedures, as part of the Department's responsibilities under Title
IV-D of the Social Security Act. The Department is the single state child
support agency pursuant to Title IV-D of the Social Security Act,
42 USC
651 et seq.
(6) "Final Order" means for purposes of this
Chapter, an order, whether administrative or judicial, for seizure or sale of
an obligor's property shall be final when the obligor either fails to appeal
the order in a timely way as provided by this Chapter or when the
administrative or judicial remedies provided by this Chapter or by Tennessee
Code Annotated, §§
36-5-901 et seq. and §§
36-5-1001 et seq. have been
exhausted.
(7) "Financial
institution" means for purposes of this Chapter:
(a) A depository institution, as defined in
Section 3(c) of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act ( 12 USC §1813(c)
);
(b) An institution-affiliated
party, as defined in Section 3(u) of such Act ( 12 USC §1813(u)
);
(c) Any Federal credit union or
State credit union as defined in Section 101 of the Federal Credit Union Act (
12 USC §1752), including for the purposes of this Chapter an
institution-affiliated party of such a credit union, as defined in Section 206
of such Act ( 12 USC §1786);
(d) Any benefit association, insurance
company, safe deposit company, money-market mutual fund, securities
broker/dealer or similar entity authorized to conduct business in this
State.
(8) "Levy" means
the imposition of a claim of the Department upon the property of the obligor
and shall include an administrative order issued by the Department for seizure
or encumbrance of any assets or property of the obligor.
(9) "Lien" means a claim or charge on
property for payment of a debt, obligation or duty, and in particular, the duty
of child support.
(10) "Lien
obligation" means that once a lien has been perfected by automated means or by
notice of lien or by other methods, the amount of the lien will reflect the
amount due by an obligor on the date of seizure, or if by automated means, the
amount shown on the TACSLR lien screen.
(11) "Obligee" means the person or agency to
which a duty of child or spousal support is owed by an obligor.
(12) "Obligor" means the person who owes a
duty of support to a child or the child's parent or caretaker.
(13)
(a)
"Overdue support" means for purposes of this Chapter, any occasion on which the
full amount of ordered support for or on behalf of a minor child, or for a
spouse or former spouse of the obligor with whom the child is living to the
extent spousal support would be included for the purposes of 42 U.S.C. §
654(4), is not paid by the due date for arrears as defined in §
36-5-101(a)(5)
unless an income assignment is in effect and the payer of income is paying
pursuant to §
36-5-101(g).
(b) "Overdue support" shall include all
amounts of support that are in arrears as defined in §
36-5-101(a)(5)
and 1240-2-5-.02(b) and that remain unpaid by the obligor at the time the lien
is perfected or which become due as arrears subsequent to the perfection of the
lien.
(c) The term "overdue
support" may be used interchangeably with "arrears" or "past due support as
described in 1240-2-5-.02(b).
(14) "Past-due" support shall have the same
meaning as "arrears" or "overdue support" as defined in
1240-2-5-.02(b).
(15) "Qualified
domestic relations order" means a domestic relations order, as defined in 29
USC §1056(d), which creates or recognizes the existence of an alternate
payee's right, or assigns to an alternate payee the right, to receive all or a
portion of the benefits payable with respect to a participant under a pension
plan and which meets the requirements of 29 USC §1056(d).
(16) "Register" or "Register of Deeds" means
the county official whose office is responsible for the recording of documents
and other information relative to real property transactions, liens on
property, and other documents as required by law.
(17) "Secretary of State's Division of
Business Services" means the Division of the Department of State which, among
other responsibilities, files and maintains records of financing statements on
secured transactions under the Uniform Commercial Code (UCC), as well as
amendments, releases, assignments, continuations and terminations, and
maintains information about, and copies of, filed documents.
(18) "TACSLR" means the Tennessee Automated
Child Support Lien Registry which is to be established and operated in the
future by the Department of Human Services containing data and functions
through an internet based application for the recording by that application,
or, if determined appropriate, in the offices of the Registers of Deeds, the
Office of the Secretary of State, and other appropriate locations, of any
information to establish and perfect liens on the real and personal property of
support obligors.
(19) "TCSES"
means the Tennessee Child Support Enforcement System operated by the Department
of Human Services containing data and functions for the recording of child or
spousal support data and for collection, distribution, and disbursement of
child and spousal support payments.
(20)
(a)
"Title IV-D" means Title IV-D of the Social Security Act codified at 42 United
States Code Annotated § 651 et seq. Title IV-D establishes the joint
Federal/State child support enforcement program in effect in all States and
Territories of the United States.
(b) The Department of Human Services is the
Title IV-D support enforcement agency for the State of Tennessee and through
that program provides legal services for establishment, modification and
enforcement in Title IV-D support cases.
(c) Title IV-D support cases include both the
obligations which are owed to the State of Tennessee through the assignment of
rights of Families First or Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC),
also "welfare" recipients, and services provided to obligees who are not, or
may never have been recipients of Families First or AFDC, and who have applied
for support services through the Department or its contractors.
(d) In addition, the Department is required
by Federal regulations to provide services through the offer of Title IV-D
services to obligors who seek modifications of their support obligation or who
may seek establishment of paternity.
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