Definitions; ss. 409.2551-409.2598.

F.S. 409.2554

in effect

As used in ss. 409.2551-409.2598, the term: (1) “Administrative costs” means any costs, including attorney fees, clerk’s filing fees, recording fees and other expenses incurred by the clerk of the circuit court, service of process fees, or mediation costs, incurred by the Title IV-D agency in its effort to administer the Title IV-D program. The administrative costs that must be collected by the department shall be assessed on a case-by-case basis based upon a method for determining costs approved by the Federal Government. The administrative costs shall be assessed periodically by the department. The methodology for determining administrative costs shall be made available to the judge or any party who requests it. Only those amounts ordered independent of current support, arrears, or past public assistance obligation shall be considered and applied toward administrative costs. (2) “Child support services” includes any civil, criminal, or administrative action taken by the Title IV-D program to determine paternity, establish, modify, enforce, or collect support. (3) “Court” means the circuit court. (4) “Court order” means any judgment or order of any court of appropriate jurisdiction of the state, or an order of a court of competent jurisdiction of another state, ordering payment of a set or determinable amount of support money. (5) “Department” means the Department of Revenue. (6) “Dependent child” means any unemancipated person under the age of 18, any person under the age of 21 and still in school, or any person who is mentally or physically incapacitated when such incapacity began before such person reaching the age of 18. This definition may not be construed to impose an obligation for child support beyond the child’s attainment of majority except as imposed in s. 409.2561. (7) “Health insurance” means coverage under a fee-for-service arrangement, health maintenance organization, or preferred provider organization, and other types of coverage available to either parent, under which medical services could be provided to a dependent child. (8) “Obligee” means the person to whom support payments are made pursuant to an alimony or child support order. (9) “Obligor” means a person who is responsible for making support payments pursuant to an alimony or child support order. (10) “Program attorney” means an attorney employed by the department, under contract with the department, or employed by a contractor of the department, to provide legal representation for the department in a proceeding related to the determination of paternity or the establishment, modification, or enforcement of support brought pursuant to law. (11) “Prosecuting attorney” means any private attorney, county attorney, city attorney, state attorney, program attorney, or an attorney employed by an entity of a local political subdivision who engages in legal action related to the determination of paternity or the establishment, modification, or enforcement of support brought pursuant to this act. (12) “Public assistance” means money assistance paid on the basis of Title IV-E and Title XIX of the Social Security Act, temporary cash assistance, or food assistance benefits received on behalf of a child under 18 years of age who has an absent parent. (13) “State Case Registry” means the automated registry maintained by the Title IV-D agency, containing records of each Title IV-D case and of each support order established or modified in the state on or after October 1, 1998. Such records must consist of data elements as required by the United States Secretary of Health and Human Services. (14) “State Disbursement Unit” means the unit established and operated by the Title IV-D agency to provide one central address for collection and disbursement of child support payments made in cases enforced by the department pursuant to Title IV-D of the Social Security Act and in cases not being enforced by the department in which the support order was initially issued in this state on or after January 1, 1994, and in which the obligor’s child support obligation is being paid through income deduction order. (15) “Support,” unless otherwise specified, means: (a) Child support, and, when the child support obligation is being enforced by the Department of Revenue, spousal support or alimony for the spouse or former spouse of the obligor with whom the child is living. (b) Child support only in cases not being enforced by the Department of Revenue. (16) “Title IV-D Standard Parenting Time Plan” means a document that may be agreed to by the parents to govern the relationship between the parents and to provide the parent who owes support a reasonable minimum amount of time with his or her child. The plan set forth in s. 409.25633 includes timetables that specify the time, including overnights and holidays, that a child may spend with each parent. (17) “Undistributable collection” means a support payment received by the department which the department determines cannot be distributed to the final intended recipient. (18) “Unidentifiable collection” means a payment received by the department for which a parent, depository or circuit civil numbers, or source of the payment cannot be identified.

Source: FL Statutes (Official Site)URL: https://www.flsenate.gov/Laws/Statutes/2025/Chapter409/AllFetched: 7/8/2026