GLOSSARY

ADJUST:  The process of reviewing and changing the support order in accordance with state guidelines.

ARREARAGE:  The amount of child support that is past due when payments are not kept up to date.

CSEA:  Child Support Enforcement Agency.

EMANCIPATED:  A child who is 18 years old and has graduated or 19 years old and is still attending high school.

GENETIC TESTING:  A process used to establish paternity – to legally determine the child’s father.

GOOD CAUSE:  This can be determined if it would be threatening to the family to establish paternity and/or support.

INCOME WITHOLDING:  A process where the CSEA has support taken directly from the obligor’s pay or bank account.

INJURED SPOUSE:  A tax form that can be filed by the obligor’s working spouse to get part of their tax offset returned to the spouse from the tax office.

IRS OFFSET:  A process that enables CSEA to collect delinquent support by redirecting all or part of the obligor’s federal tax refund to the CSEA  (on IV-D cases only.)

IV-D:  CSEA’s are sometimes referred to as IV-D (pronounced four – d) agencies.  This term comes from Title IV-D of the Social Security Act of 1975, which set up the nation’s current child support system. Participants fill out and sign a form for these services called a “IV-D application.”

LOCATION:  The process of finding the participants if their address is unknown.

OBLIGOR:  The person who has been ordered by the Court to pay support or provide medical coverage by Court order.

OHIO TAX OFFSET: A process that enables CSEA to collect delinquent support by redirecting all or part of the obligor’s Ohio state tax refund to the CSEA  (on IV-D cases only.)

PROCESSING FEE:  A fee paid by the obligor to cover the CSEA’s cost of processing the payments. This fee is in addition to the amount ordered for support, usually 2% of that amount.

SETS: Support Enforcement Tracking System.

UIFSA: Uniform Interstate Family Support Act, used for cases that involve more than one state.