Legal Question in Family Law in Nevada

I am in the middle of a custody case. The plaintiff filed a complaint for sole custody and child support, lied about not knowing where I was and tried to do it behind my back with service by publication. At the same time I was preparing to file a complaint against her, which is when I found out the case was already open. She does not have a lawyer, and uses her home address on the papers, which is where I was supposed to send my answer. I filed my answer, along with a motion for temporary joint custody and child support, along with a request for mediation. I sent 3 seperate envelopes with all of the papers in them first-class mail to serve her answers and then filed my "certificates of mailing." Now she has passed her 10days she had to respond to the temporary motion, can I file a default? And also, she wrote in huge letters on the envelope "return to sender" and refused them, even though that was the address she gave to file the answer to and the address I used to reside at with her and our child. Does that mean I still served her? Even though she sent them back. Thank you for taking the time to read this and answer my question.

Nathaniel


Asked on 10/17/10, 3:29 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Marshal Willick Willick Law Group

Motions are indeed validly served if mailed, even if not read (you want to keep those envelopes, and might consider copying them and filing a supplemental exhibit showing they were returned, or at least bringing the copies to the hearing). But no, it is not "default" if it was a motion. You could ask for submission without hearing, but most Vegas judges refuse to grant even unopposed custody motions without a hearing.

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Answered on 10/22/10, 3:34 pm


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