When it comes to child custody cases, both the attorney and the client find they are taxing and highly emotional. It’s tough to handle some of the situations kids face when divorce has disrupted their whole world. No matter where you live, every child custody case is subject to certain rules laid out by the legislature and various Supreme Court decisions. Such is the case in Nevada, where there have been some recent changes about which parents need to know.
For example, there is no longer something that was referred to as the “tender year’s doctrine.” Basically what this means is the mothers are not automatically accorded the status of preferred custodians. In fact, they are now in the position where they have to “prove” their fitness to parent just as the fathers do.
As the law in Nevada stands “now,” it reflects a tendency to award joint custody and joint physical custody agreements between the parents. This is an attempt to allow the parents an equal role when it coming to raising their children during a separation or after a divorce.
Those parents who are not in the role of custodial parent will find that they no longer have to just settle for the every other weekend schedule that was once the rule of thumb. Parents are must now alternate weeks, or at the very least divide them equally, unless there is proof that joint physical custody isn’t in the best interests of the child. If a child’s safety is in question, there is a highly complex set of factors, best discussed with a skilled attorney, that have to be presented to the court to allow them to make a decision what won’t destroy the whole family.
There will also be cases where the lawyer will, based on the facts of the case as presented, make the determination that a client may be better off going for primary custody rather than joint physical custody. This is a bit of a difficult area, as a Supreme Court decision found that any parent that had custody for at least 40% of the time qualifies as a joint physical custodian. Another component applicable here is that parents don’t have to have equal time to be joint physical custodians.
The trickiest part of the recent changes comes once a decision has been made between primary custody and joint physical custody. The decisions made in this arena affect tax deductions; relocation issues; child support; where the child goes to school; and other issues that parents deal with on a regular basis.
Do the best interests of the child sometimes conflict with the best interests of the parent? Yes, that sometimes happens. Is relocation an issue with joint physical custody? Yes, it may be. These and other issues need to be thoroughly discussed with an experienced family attorney in order for you to make an informed decision that will best suit your overall needs.
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Bradley J. Hofland is with Las Vegas Divorce law firm, Hofland, Beasley & Galliher. The law firm handles Las Vegas family law, custody, and Las Vegas personal injury. To learn more, visit http://www.hoflandlaw.com.
