Miss. Code Ann. § 93-11-101 (2026)

As used in Sections 93-11-101 through 93-11-119, the following words shall have the meaning ascribed to them herein unless the context clearly requires otherwise:

• (a) "Order for support" means any order of the chancery, circuit, county or family court, which provides for periodic payment of funds for the support of a child, whether temporary or final, and includes any such order which provides for:
  • (i) Modification or resumption of, or payment of arrearage accrued under, a previously existing order; or
  • (ii) Reimbursement of support.

  "Order for support" shall also mean:

  • (i) An order for support and maintenance of a spouse if a minor child is living with such spouse; or
  • (ii) In actions to which the Department of Human Services is a party, an order for support and maintenance of a spouse if a minor child is living with such spouse and such maintenance is collected in conjunction with child support.

• (b) "Court" means the court that enters an order for withholding pursuant to Section 93-11-103(1).

• (c) "Clerk of the court" means the clerk of the court that enters an order for withholding pursuant to Section 93-11-103(1).

• (d) "Arrearage" means the total amount of unpaid support obligations.

• (e) "Delinquency" means any payments that are ordered by any court to be paid by a noncustodial parent for the support of a child that have remained unpaid for at least thirty (30) days after payment is due. Delinquency shall also include payments that are ordered by any court to be paid for maintenance of a spouse in cases in which the department is collecting such support in conjunction with child support. "Delinquency" shall be synonymous with "overdue support."

• (f) "Department" means the Mississippi Department of Human Services.

• (g) "Employer" means a person who has control of the payment of income to an individual.

• (h) "Income" means any form of periodic payment to an individual, regardless of source, including, but not limited to: wages, salary, commission, compensation as an independent contractor, workers' compensation, disability, annuity and retirement benefits, and any other payments made by any person, private entity, federal or state government or any unit of local government, notwithstanding any other provisions of state or local law which limit or exempt income or the amount or percentage of income that can be withheld; provided, however, that income excludes:
  • (i) Any amounts required by law to be withheld, other than creditor claims, including, but not limited to, federal, state and local taxes, social security and other retirement and disability contributions;
  • (ii) Any amounts exempted by federal law;
  • (iii) Public assistance payments; and
  • (iv) Unemployment insurance benefits except as provided by law.

• (i) "Obligor" means the individual who owes a duty to make payments under an order for support.

• (j) "Obligee" means:
  • (i) An individual to whom a duty of support is or is alleged to be owed or in whose favor a support order has been issued or a judgment determining parentage has been rendered;
  • (ii) A state or political subdivision to which the rights under a duty of support or support order have been assigned or which independent claims based on financial assistance provided to an individual obligee; or
  • (iii) An individual seeking a judgment determining parentage of the individual's child.

• (k) "Payor" means any payor of income to an obligor.

• (l) "Lump-sum payment" means any form of income paid to an individual at other than regular intervals or a payment made upon a particular occasion regardless of frequency that is dependent upon meeting a condition precedent, including, but not limited to, the performance of a contract, commission paid outside of and in addition to a person's regular pay cycle, the satisfaction of a job performance standard or quota, the receipt of a seasonal or occasional bonus or incentive payment, the liquidation of unused sick or vacation pay or leave, the settlement of a claim, an amount paid as severance pay, or an award for length of service. "Lump-sum payment" shall not include liens under Section 71-3-129.

Laws, 1985, ch. 518, § 1; Laws, 1988, ch. 480, § 11; Laws, 1997, ch. 588, § 5; Laws, 2009, ch. 564, § 7; Laws, 2010, ch. 465, § 2; Laws, 2011, ch. 530, § 3, eff. 7/1/2011.