CHILD CUSTODY & SUPPORT

Any divorce can be extremely stressful and challenging, but the emotional stakes are often higher for people facing major decisions about their children's ongoing care. We believe your attorney's vital role includes explaining the laws, presenting your options and discussing likely outcomes directly — but always with sensitivity to your unique needs.

If you are working toward a clear child custody strategy in your divorce or are involved in a post-divorce custody dispute, contact Nevada Law Group today. We have helped parents in a wide range of circumstances secure the custody arrangements they need to maintain and build valuable family relationships.

Understanding Physical and Legal Custody

Whether you are a divorcing mother or father, it is important to recognize that the courts will determine two types of custody:

Physical custody determines which parent the children will live with after the divorce. In some cases, one parent is granted primary physical custody, and the other is assigned specific child visitation times. Joint physical custody is the court’s preferred arrangement unless one of the parents proves to be unfit or is relocating out of the jurisdiction.

Legal custody primarily involves decision-making authority over the children's schooling, activities, religious upbringing and many other important issues. In most cases the two divorced parents have joint legal custody.

In custody decisions, Nevada courts place the highest priority on the best interests of the children. Both parents may be required to undergo a custodial evaluation to gather information on their relationships with the children and ability to provide a safe, stable environment.

Some of the factors used by the court in determining physical custody arrangements are:

  • Has either parent committed domestic violence? Physical, verbal, and sexual assaults against the spouse, child, or other family members is the most common reason for one parent to receive physical custody;
  • Which parent is likely to foster a better relationship between the child and the other parent?;
  • Do the parties have appropriate, safe and clean living environments? A child being forced to sleep on a floor because he/she does not have a bed, or is forced to share bedroom space with an adult or a sibling of a different sex can be a factor in physical custody decisions;
  • What work / home schedule do the parents have? Is child care available?

Understanding Child Support

When one parent has primary physical custody, the noncustodial parent is usually required to pay child support in accordance with specific statutory guidelines. We apply our legal skill to help ensure children's needs are provided for and that any deviations or special considerations in determining child support are fair to our client.

At Nevada Law Group, we are committed to helping people maintain their parental rights — and we are well equipped to deal with modifications of custody and support orders, issues involving parental relocation, one parent's abduction of a child and other difficult cases. Contact us today to discuss your child custody or other family law issues with an experienced lawyer.

CALL US NOW FOR YOUR FREE INITIAL CONSULTATION AT (702) 946-8100.