Stockbridge-Munsee Tribal Law Library
Stockbridge-Munsee Tribal Code.

Section YAE.08.02 — Definitions

(a) Unless otherwise defined in this Ordinance, the terms shall have the same definitions as under Chapter YAE.01 of the Youth Code. Any terms not defined either under this Ordinance or in Chapter YAE.01 are used in their ordinary and everyday sense.

(b) "Best interest of the child" means the interest of a child to:

(1) have a full, meaningful, respectful, and loving relationship with both parents and family;

(2) be free from physical, verbal, sexual, and emotional abuse;

(3) receive appropriate medical care;

(4) receive appropriate education;

(5) be raised in conditions which maximize the chances of the child becoming a contributing member of society; and

(6) be raised in an environment that is respectful of the child's culture(s) and heritage(s).

(c) "Child" or "Children" means a person(s) under the age of eighteen (18).

(d) "Domestic abuse" means the infliction of physical, sexual or emotional injury, or the creation of a reasonable fear that physical or sexual injury will be inflicted, by a parent or a member or former member of a child's household, against a child or another member of the household.

(e) "Legal custody" means the authority to make major decisions on a child's behalf, including decisions about education, spirituality and healthcare.

(1) "Joint legal custody" means more than one person has the authority to make major decisions on a child's behalf.

(2) "Sole legal custody" means only one person has legal custody and the authority to make major decisions on a child's behalf.

(f) "Major decisions" means decisions regarding consent to marry, consent to enter military service, consent to obtain a motor vehicle operator's license, authorization for nonemergency health care, choice of school, choice of religion and/or other similar activities.

(g) "Parent" means the biological or adoptive parent of either a marital or a non-marital child, but does not include persons whose parental rights have been terminated.

(h) "Physical placement" means the condition under which a person has the right to have a child physically placed with that person and has the right and responsibility to make, during that placement, routine daily decisions regarding the child's care, consistent with major decisions made by a person having legal custody.

(i) "Visitation" means the right to have reasonable visits with a child.