Legal Question in Family Law in Nevada

I live in Nevada and I'm fighting for custody of my 5 year old son. His mother and I were never married and since his birth he's been under my care 70% of the time. I travel 120 days a year and his mother works locally. During my travels, my sister was my son's nanny for 3 years. She live in a house that I owned and paid the mortgage, renting it to her for the amount of the mortgage (2,200 a month) which is what I paid her for being my son's nanny. (the going rate for a nanny in which the child stays with the nanny or a live in nanny is $2,400 a month). I also provided food, clothing, baby crib and safety items.

Question: My son's mother is now attempting to obtain back child support claiming my son did not stay with my sister the majority of the time I was on the road. Is there any case law indicating that days spent with the nanny count towards the parent providing for the child and nanny service?

Also, the law states the judge has two points to rule on in determining custody: 1. The best interest of the child, and 2. Time spent. My question is: what determines "best interest of the child?" Again. any case law stating examples of what's "best interest."

Thanks


Asked on 5/08/12, 10:00 pm

2 Answers from Attorneys
Marshal Willick Willick Law Group

While the facts are still a bit vague, the short answer is "yes"; under current Nevada law, the "responsible parent" has "custody" of a child even when that child is at school or with some third party care provider. See the NV Supreme Court Opinion in Rivero, which is posted at http://www.willicklawgroup.com/child-custody-and-visitation. And, yes, there is a lot of discussion about what constitutes "best interest" -- but no simple definition.

As to the claim for back child support, see http://www.willicklawgroup.com/child-support.

The law in this area is still evolving, and such "de facto" cases, where there is no court order in place, are particularly fact intensive. The best advice would be for you to seek out and retain well qualified, specialized family law counsel. If you wish to see us, please see http://www.willicklawgroup.com/consultation-policies. Good luck!

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Answered on 5/09/12, 6:14 am
John Courtney John Peter Lee, Ltd.

There is no simple answer to what constitutes the "best interest" of the child. As a starting point, I suggest you read NRS 125.480 which may be located at http://www.leg.state.nv.us/nrs/NRS-125.html#NRS125Sec480. Thereafter, you may want to perform research on a WestLaw database for pertinent case law. The Clark County Law Library will allow you to research on the WestLaw database free of charge.

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Answered on 5/09/12, 9:45 am


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