Legal Question in Family Law in Nevada
What are the circumstances in Nevada whereby the court revokes legal custody from a parent?
We have full physical custody based on the court order issued in June of 2012. The mother appealed, and the decision is still pending in the Supreme Court.
She has been a complete disaster, when it comes to cooperation and legal custody.
She takes the kids (5 and 6 years old) to church, against the wishes of the father, during her visitation; fails to ask permission and notify the father when she enrolls the kids in extracurricular activities; refuses to cooperate with the father on the kids' education (one of the reasons he got full custody was because both kids were failing in school, since she wasn't spending enough time on education with them), doesn't tell the father of any care takers (just ignores his emails when he requests information about who will be caring for the kids over the period while she has them); she has them now for the summer vacation and the father emailed her asking whether she would be taking the kids to her home state so they could see her relatives, she literally waited till a couple of days before the trip and finally told him about it, but not after he had sent like 3-4 emails asking her for the information.
In short, she has made our life very difficult when it comes to legal custody. What is the criteria to win legal custody?
2 Answers from Attorneys
In short, the primary focus of the court is the best interest of the children. If you can convince the court that the children would be better off, all things considered, if you were to be given sole legal custody, then the court will make it happen for you. For a more detailed response, you should consult with an attorney. The Nevada State Bar can assist you with a low-rate ($45) consultation.
Your question indicates that you have some lack of familiarity with what, precisely, is at stake in "physical" versus "legal" custody -- they are different. For an introduction to the terminology, see http://willicklawgroup.com/child-custody-and-visitation/ and some of the resources posted on that page, including the 2009 Rivero case, which discusses both physical and legal custody.
The pending appeal is another complication -- there are limits on what the trial (family) court can do while an appeal remains pending.
I agree with Mr. Courtney -- you should probably confer with a family law specialist -- preferably one highly knowledgeable about appeals.
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