RAMIREZ-RIVAS VS. ARREGUIN-GARCIA (CHILD CUSTODY)

Key holdings

Practitioner summary

This is a clerk's order dismissing an appeal for failure to pay the filing fee required by NRAP 3(e). After docketing on July 17, 2023, the court issued a 14-day notice to pay or to demonstrate compliance with NRAP 24 (governing proceedings in forma pauperis). The court denied appellant's motion to waive the fee on August 15, 2023, and afforded an additional 14 days to pay. Appellant did not pay. The court dismissed the appeal pursuant to NRAP 3(a)(2). The order does not reach the merits of the underlying child custody dispute.

In plain language

When someone files an appeal with the Nevada Supreme Court, they generally must pay a filing fee. If they cannot afford it, they can ask the court to waive the fee under a specific rule. In this child custody appeal, Javier Ramirez-Rivas filed his appeal but did not pay the filing fee. The court told him on the day he filed - July 17, 2023 - that he had 14 days either to pay the fee or to show that he qualified for a waiver, and warned him that not doing so would cause his appeal to be dismissed. He asked the court to waive the fee, but on August 15, 2023, the court denied that request and gave him another 14 days to pay. He still did not pay. Because the fee was never paid, the court dismissed his appeal without addressing the underlying child custody issues.