Art. 2785.Definitions

After three short articles on general sister-court judgments, Chapter 7 turns to a narrower and more detailed subject: registering support orders, meaning judgments requiring one person to pay child support, spousal support, or both, in another Louisiana court. Article 2785 is a general-provisions article for that entire Section 2, laying the vocabulary before the substantive rules begin.

Two of the defined terms track where an order started and where it moves. The rendering court is the district, family, or juvenile court that originally issued the support order. The registering court is the court, elsewhere in Louisiana, where a support order from another court gets filed. A confirmed registered support order is one that has completed the registration process and been confirmed, either by a court ruling under Article 2788 or 2793 or automatically by operation of law.

Article 2785 also defines support order broadly -- covering child support, spousal or former-spousal support, health care, arrearages, and reimbursement, along with related costs, interest, income withholding, and attorney fees, whether the order is temporary, final, or still open to modification. And it defines party to a support order to include not just the obligee, the person owed support, but also the Louisiana Department of Children and Family Services or a similar agency of another jurisdiction acting in a support-enforcement role, including one performing duties recognized under the Uniform Interstate Family Support Act, commonly called UIFSA, a federally recognized framework for handling support cases that cross jurisdictional lines.

Section 2 itself has internal structure worth knowing. Subsection B, Articles 2786 through 2790, covers registration for modification -- changing an existing order's terms. Subsection C, Articles 2791 through 2795, covers registration for enforcement -- collecting on a support order as it already stands. Article 2785's definitions apply to both tracks.