KENNEDY VS. KENNEDY (CHILD CUSTODY)

Key holdings

Practitioner summary

The court dismissed the appeal under NRAP 3(a)(2) for failure to comply with its September 6, 2024 order directing payment of the $250 filing fee or, alternatively, the filing of a motion to proceed in forma pauperis within 21 days. The dismissal is procedural; the court did not reach the merits of the underlying custody appeal.

In plain language

This is a short procedural order, not a decision on the merits of the underlying child custody dispute between Alea Rachel Kennedy and Brian Richard Kennedy. When someone files an appeal with the Nevada Supreme Court, they generally must pay a filing fee or, if they cannot afford it, ask the court for permission to proceed without paying (called proceeding "in forma pauperis"). The court told Ms. Kennedy on September 6, 2024, that she had 21 days to do one or the other, and warned her that if she did neither, her appeal would be thrown out. According to the order, she did neither. She did not pay the $250 fee and did not file a motion asking to be excused from paying. She also did not otherwise respond to the court's order. Because of that, the court dismissed the appeal. The order does not address the substance of the custody dispute.