Child Support Legal Questions

Can you?  Not directly.  Can that happen?  Yes.  Obviously, there is a years-long story here and lots of missing facts.  However, your grandparents should be informed that, for many years now, Nevada child support law has provided that where there is an obligation, it "follows" the actual custody of the children: NRS 125B.040  Recovery by person other than parent. 1.  The obligation of support imposed on the parents of a child also creates a cause of action on behalf of the legal representatives of either of them, or on behalf of third persons or public agencies furnishing support or defraying the reasonable expenses thereof.      2.  In the absence of a court order, reimbursement from the nonsupporting parent is limited to not more than 4 years’ support furnished before the bringing of the action.        3.  An order for the support of a child creates an obligation for the support of the child and follows the child to the person who has obtained lawful physical custody of the child.        4.  A person who obtains lawful physical custody of a child for whom an order for support has been issued shall be deemed to be the person entitled to receive the payments ordered for the support of the child. Such a person may in the same manner as the person named in the order for support of the child and without petitioning the court for a new order:        (a) Enforce the existing order for support of the child; or        (b) Request modification of the order for support of the child.   There is quite a bit more to the statute, which you can read on line if you wish.  Also see our explanation of Nevada child support law here. Your grandparents should probably consult with a qualified family law specialist.... Read More

Dear Anonymous,    The amount of child support is based on the parenting plan and the incomes of the parties. The child support is the right of the child and the Court is unlikely to waive the requirement unless the parties provide the court a reason to deviate from the guidelines. ... Read More

I think waiving your right to future discovery means you can't demand any additional discovery from your ex, but it doesn't mean you can't supply more information.  If your circumstances have changed, you can suppy that information and if your ex wants to dispute it your ex can submit additional information, but you have no right to demand your ex's updated income information.  ... Read More

It is possible (but not certain) that your child support is being calculated on the basis of the income left over after payment of previously-determined support obligations.  There is no certain way of doing such a "multi-family" calculation, which I explained in an artilce that you can review here. As to your suspicion that the support payments are artificial because the couple is living together, you are stuck with either old-fashioned detective work (as in a private investigator) or filing a motion and having lawyers get utility bills, etc., to figure it out. As to welfare fraud, you can make whatever complaints you want to the public agency, which may or may not investigate -- but think through clearly what the effect would be on you and your child if the state did take action against the other parent.  And I think the word you wanted was "prosecuted" (again, that may not be in your child's best interest); I doubt any combination of these facts will result in anyone being "executed."... Read More

You have two issues that are inextricably tied together.  First, you must file an action to modify your ongoing support obligation.  You will need to be able to show a substantial change in circumstances has occurred since the entry of the support order, and the change warrants a downward modification of your support obligation.  Retroactive downward modifications are granted very rarely, but ending the ongoing accumulation of the support obligation beyond your means is crucial.  Second, you need defend the contempt action utilizing the new action to modify.   Your new action can be used to educate the trial judge at the contempt action of your circumstances, and how those circumstances warrant a finding your action were not “willful” and therefore, not contempt.  Your success in navigating these two issues simultaneously without an experienced attorney familiar with your county’s court staff and judges will be nearly impossible. ... Read More

Your question sits at an intersection of family law, and potentially full faith and credit clause and civil judgment limitations.  Generally, child support obligations are not reduced to civil judgments.  Civil judgments have a shelf life / limitations period.  To provide meaningful answers to your questions, a family court practitioner will need a copy of the original order directing the payment of support, copies of susbsequent orders utilized to enforce the obligation, and copies of any orders that were obtained in states other than the originating state.  It would be difficult in the format of "ask a lawyer" for you to deliver the necessary information for an attorney to formulate an opinion of your complex, multi-jurisdictional issue. ... Read More

    It depends what was calculated for child support.  A proper calculation includes: the basic support, based on parties' net incomes and number of overnights; a percentage of  the child's health insurance and a percentage of the child's child care costs.    So, the child care portion may have already been computed into your child support number.   Courts usually require the filing of child support guidelines worksheets which break all this down.  If you have a court order for support, ask to see the guidelines and then you can see if the child care is also included.   Cindy S. Vova Law Office of Cindy S. Vova, P.A. 8551 West Sunrise Blvd., Suite 301 Plantation, FL 33322  ... Read More

You can either hire an attorney or ask the Attorney General for services in order to get a child support order in place. No one will be able to make him see the child, though. However, you can use his lack of visitation to ask for more child support. There's no guarantee that you'll get extra, but I have seen judges consider the issue. If he's not taking the child during his time, that means you're paying for the child's needs during the time when the father should be doing so. That's a good argument to ask for child support to be set at higher than guideline support.... Read More