Family Law Commons^™

Civil Protection Orders: Increased Access And Narrowed Enforcement, Courtney Cross

Scholarly Works

No abstract provided.

Summary Of In Re Parental Rights As To A.L., 130 Nev. Adv. Op. 91, Stephanie Bedker

Nevada Supreme Court Summaries

The Court determined that (1) when seeking to maintain parental rights, parents have a right to bring material evidence rebutting a NRS 432B.450 presumption that a child is in need of protection; and (2) that district courts cannot rely on juvenile court findings of intentional abuse to terminate parental rights where such evidence has been improperly excluded.

Summary Of Henson V. Henson, 130 Nev. Adv. Op. 79, Sydney Gambee

Nevada Supreme Court Summaries

The Court determined that (1) survivor benefits must be specifically set forth in a divorce decree notwithstanding NRS 286.590, which does not automatically confer survivor benefits and (2) immediate payment of benefits to a former non-employee spouse must be requested by motion, in accordance with California’s approach in In re Marriage of Cornejo.

[1] 916 P.2d 476 (Cal. 1996).

The Case Against Separating The Care From The Caregiver: Reuniting Caregivers' Rights And Children's Rights, Pamela Laufer-Ukeles

Nevada Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Summary Of Major V. State, 130 Nev. Adv. Op. 70, Christian Spaulding

Nevada Supreme Court Summaries

In a child abuse case, where a family court has previously imposed an obligation on the defendant for the costs of supporting a child placed in the care of social services, the Supreme Court of Nevada determined the district court has jurisdiction to grant restitution to the State for the cost of such child care but must be offset the restitution amount by the amount of the support obligation imposed by the family court.

Summary Of Holdaway-Foster V. Brunell, 130 Nev. Adv. Op. 51, Brian Vasek

Nevada Supreme Court Summaries

The Court determined whether (1) the Full Faith and Credit for Child Support Orders Act of 1994 applies retroactively, and (2) Nevada had continuing, exclusive jurisdiction over a 1985 child support order modified in Hawaii.

Summary Of Doan V. Wilkerson, 130 Nev. Adv. Op. 48, Kelsey Bernstein

Nevada Supreme Court Summaries

The Court determined two issues: 1) whether the six-month statute of limitations set forth in NRCP 60(b) applies to a motion for relief from a divorce decree, and (2) under what circumstances a marital asset adjudicated in court but omitted from the final divorce decree may be partitioned through a motion for relief from judgment.

Summary Of Druckman V. Ruscitti, 130 Nev. Adv. Op. 50, Allison Vitangeli

Nevada Supreme Court Summaries

The Court determined two issues: (1) the child custody rights of unmarried parents when the father’s paternity has been established pursuant to statute; and (2) whether the district court abused its discretion when it awarded primary physical custody of the child to the mother and granted the mother’s relocation request.

Summary Of Gonzales-Alpizar V. Griffith, 130 Nev. Adv. Op. 2, Michael Paretti

Nevada Supreme Court Summaries

The Court determined two issues: (1) whether the Uniform Interstate Family Support Act (UIFSA) allows for the enforcement of a foreign support order; and (2) whether a foreign support order is enforceable under the doctrine of comity.

Flexible Feminism And Reproductive Justice: An Essay In Honor Of Ann Scales, Lynne Henderson

Scholarly Works

Professor Ann Scales began her distinguished career by taking feminism and reproductive justice seriously. She became a leading feminist voice and influence on a number of topics. In later years, she returned to concerns about reproductive justice by presciently emphasizing the need to preserve women’s access to abortions.

This Essay discusses Professor Scales’s concerns and feminist method and then turns to reproductive justice. The Essay notes that, with Scales, a right to abortion is foundational for reproductive justice. The Essay then examines the increasing narrowing of access to abortion through law. The Essay next examines a current crisis over access …

The Ninth Circuit’S Treatment Of Sexual Orientation: Defining “Rational Basis Review With Bite”, Ian C. Bartrum

Scholarly Works

When the Ninth Circuit handed down Witt v. Department of the Air Force, President Obama and then-Solicitor General Kagan declined to take an appeal to the Supreme Court. At the time, it seemed that most advocates of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” believed that the administration made that decision because it was afraid the Supreme Court would reverse the Ninth Circuit. If that fear was perhaps well-founded in 2009, it is certainly less so now. In the wake of SmithKline Beecham Corp. v. Abbott Laboratories, as well as recent District Court decisions, opponents of federal constitutional protection for gay people …

Dreams Of My Father, Prison For My Mother: The H-4 Nonimmigrant Visa Dilemma And The Need For An "Immigration-Status Spousal Support", Stewart Chang

Scholarly Works

In this article, Professor Stewart Chang uses the situation of H-4 visa derivatives in the Asian Indian immigrant community as a case study to expose and critique larger incongruities within current American immigration policy, which on the one hand has historically extolled individuality, equality, and workforce participation as avenues to the American Dream, while enforcing gender hierarchy and dependency through requirements that prioritize family unity on the other. These incongruities remain largely unnoticed because the culture of dependency is often attributed to traditional ethnic culture, which then becomes the site of scrutiny and blame. The H-4 visa dilemma in the …

Summary Of Blanco V. Blanco, 129 Nev. Adv. Op. 77, Lee Gorlin

Nevada Supreme Court Summaries

The Court determined two issues: (1) whether a district court may grant a default judgment regarding child custody and child support without violating statutory law; and (2) whether a district court in divorce proceedings may grant a case-concluding default judgment regarding issues other than child custody or support, such as property division, spousal support, or attorney’s fees.

Summary Of St. Mary V. Damon, 129 Nev. Adv. Op. 68, Jeffrey D. Pike

Nevada Supreme Court Summaries

The Court determined three issues: 1) whether the Nevada Parentage Act and its underlying policies allows for a child to have two legal mothers; 2) whether the parties’ co- parenting agreement was a surrogacy agreement; and 3) whether the same-sex parties’ co- parenting agreement is consistent with Nevada’s public policies or void as unlawful or against public policy.

Wanted: Forever Home – Achieving Permanent Outcomes For Nevada's Foster Children, Miriam C. Meyer-Thompson

Nevada Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Summary Of Falconi V. Secretary Of State, 129 Nev. Adv. Op. 28, David Rothenberg

Nevada Supreme Court Summaries

Petitioner filed this original petition for a writ of mandamus, seeking an order directing the Secretary of State to remove his ex-wife from the fictitious address program. The Court provided guidelines to determine whether to grant the writ, but ultimately denied the petition because this is not the proper court.

Summary Of In The Matter Of Parental Rights As To A.G., 129 Nev. Adv. Op. 13, David H. Rigdon

Nevada Supreme Court Summaries

An appeal from a district court order denying a petition for termination of parental rights.

Theorizing From Particularity: Perpetrators And Intersectional Theory On Domestic Violence, Elizabeth L. Macdowell

Scholarly Works

The role of identity-based stereotypes about perpetrators in domestic violence cases has not received much attention in legal scholarship, which has instead focused on the identities of victims. However, stereotypes governing who is a recognizable victim (e.g., that victims are white, middle-class, passive, and dependent women in heterosexual relationships) cannot by themselves explain why nonconforming victims are sometimes successful in family court cases and other, more “perfect” victims are not. Drawing on intersectionality theory, which studies the ways experiences are shaped by the interaction of multiple identity categories, I argue that understanding this phenomenon requires a relational analysis that examines …

Summary Of In Re A.B., 128 Nev. Adv. Op. 70, Timothy A. Wiseman

Nevada Supreme Court Summaries

The court considered how a dependency master’s finding of facts and recommendations should be reviewed by the juvenile dependency judge.

Summary Of Devries V. Gallio, 128 Nev. Adv. Op. 63, Wade Beavers

Nevada Supreme Court Summaries

The Court considered whether the district court abused its discretion in failing to award ex-husband (DeVries) an interest in ex-wife’s (Gallio’s) cattle company after having labored there without compensation, ostensibly increasing the value of the business. The Court also considered whether the district court abused its discretion in failing to award the ex-husband requested spousal support.

Summary Of In Re Parental Rights As To J.D.N., 128 Nev. Adv. Op. 44, Timothy A. Wiseman

Nevada Supreme Court Summaries

The Court considered whether an objection to the admission of an entire set of documents as hearsay preserved the issue for appeal. Second, the Court considered what burden of proof should be used to rebut the parental-fault and child’s-best-interest presumptions found in NEV. REV. STAT. § 128.109. Finally, the Court considered if substantial evidence supported the decision to terminate parental rights and if the district court had considered all required factors.

Summary Of In Re Parental Rights As To C.C.A., 128 Nev. Adv. Op. No. 15, William S. Habdas

Nevada Supreme Court Summaries

An appeal of a district court’s order terminating the appellant’s parental rights.

Summary Of Vaile V. Porsboll, 128 Nev. Adv. Op. No. 3, Thomas L. Chittum Iii

Nevada Supreme Court Summaries

The Court addressed an appeal from a district court post-divorce decree order setting fixed monthly child support payments and assessing arrearage and penalties.

Summary Of In Re Parental Rights As To S.M.M.D, 128 Nev. Adv. Op. No. 2, Richard A. Andrews

Nevada Supreme Court Summaries

The Court considered an appeal from a district court order denying a petition to vacate an earlier certification of relinquishment of parental rights.

Psychological Parentage, Troxel, And The Best Interests Of The Child, Rebecca L. Scharf

Scholarly Works

No abstract provided.

Summary Of Rennels V. Rennels, 127 Nev. Adv. Op. No. 49, Erin Elliot

Nevada Supreme Court Summaries

Appeal from a court order granting Respondent’s motion to terminate grandparent visitation with Respondent’s minor child.

Social Security Spouse And Survivor Benefits 101: Practical Primer Part Ii (Or Another Reason To Put A Ring On It), Francine J. Lipman

Scholarly Works

No abstract provided.

When Courts Collide: Integrated Domestic Violence Courts And Court Pluralism, Elizabeth L. Macdowell

Scholarly Works

This Article proposes court pluralism as a new theory for analyzing the role of the justice system in addressing domestic violence. It argues that a systemic view of the justice system is essential to developing coherent reform strategies, and lays out the foundation for taking into account the unique functions of civil and criminal justice in domestic violence cases. In doing so, the Article challenges the one-dimensional characterization of a fragmented court system as bad for victims of domestic violence that dominates legal scholarship, and shows that court fragmentation can be an opportunity and potential source of protection from systemic …

Deadbeats, Deadbrokes, And Prisoners, Ann Cammett

Scholarly Works

Historically, child support policy has targeted absent parents with aggressive enforcement measures. Such an approach is based on an economic resource model that is increasingly irrelevant, even counterproductive, for many low-income families. Specifically, modern day mass incarceration has radically skewed the paradigm on which the child support system is based, removing millions of parents from the formal economy entirely, diminishing their income opportunities after release, and rendering them ineffective economic actors. Such a flawed policy approach creates unintended consequences for the children of these parents by compromising a core non-monetary goal of child support system – parent-child engagement – as …

Child Custody Modification Law: The Never-Ending Battle For Peace Of Mind, Brianna F. Isserdutt

Nevada Law Journal

Ellis v. Carucci represents an evolution in Nevada’s child custody laws that should continue. Before Ellis, Nevada courts modified custody arrangements without explicitly considering the best interests of the child. Ellis cemented the legislative intent behind Nevada Revised Statute (NRS) § 125.4803 to make the child’s best interest the focus of the judge’s decision in custody cases.

However, Ellis and NRS §125.480 are not enough to accomplish this overarching goal. The Nevada legislature should revise NRS § 125.480 so that the statute explicitly recognizes the instability and adjustments that children of divorce must endure. The statute should also be revised …