Case library
Nevada family-law decisions, briefed for practice.
692 decisions, organized by topic. Practitioner summaries with key holdings, posture, disposition, and the statutes cited - up front, where you need them. Every summary links to the full opinion.
117 cases · Divorce, Property & Alimony - NRS ch. 125 and community property (ch. 123).
MICONE VS. MICONE (CHILD CUSTODY)
Mar 3, 201616-06873 · 67934 · Nevada Supreme Court
Affirmed in part, reversed in part, and remanded.Standard of review: Child custody determinations are reviewed for abuse of discretion. Wallace v. Wallace, 112 Nev. 1015, 1019, 922 P.2d 541, 543 (1996). Jurisdiction over non-party custodians. The Court extended its…
DAVIS VS. EWALEFO (CHILD CUSTODY)
Jul 2, 201515-20176 · 63731 · Nevada Supreme Court
Petition for reconsideration granted; affirmed in part, reversed in part, and remanded.Standard of review: The district court has "broad discretionary power" in determining child custody, including visitation, Hayes v. Gallacher, 115 Nev. 1, 4, 972 P.2d 1138, 1140 (1999); Wallace v. Wallace, 112 Nev.…
BLUESTEIN VS. BLUESTEIN (CHILD CUSTODY)
Mar 26, 201515-09140 · 62308 · Nevada Supreme Court
Reversed and remanded.Standard of review: Custody decisions are reviewed for abuse of discretion. Wallace v. Wallace, 112 Nev. 1015, 1019, 922 P.2d 541, 543 (1996). Purely legal questions are reviewed de novo. Rennels v. Rennels, 127 Nev.…
Doan v. Wilkerson
Jun 26, 201456591 · Nevada Supreme Court
Reversed.Standard of review: "This court reviews district court decisions concerning divorce proceedings for an abuse of discretion." Shydler v. Shydler, 114 Nev. 192, 196, 954 P.2d 37, 39 (1998). Rulings supported by…
Druckman v. Ruscitti
Jun 26, 201460598 · Nevada Supreme Court
Affirmed in part, reversed in part, and remanded.The court, per Douglas, J., en banc, addressed the custodial rights of unmarried parents where paternity has been established by voluntary acknowledgment under NRS 126.053 but no judicial custody order exists. A…
Gonzales-Alpizar v. Griffith
Jan 30, 201459387 · Nevada Supreme Court
Affirmed in part, reversed in part, and remanded.The court resolved two issues of first impression: (1) whether a Costa Rican spousal and child support order is enforceable in Nevada under UIFSA, codified at NRS Chapter 130, and (2) whether it may be enforced under…
St. Mary v. Damon
Oct 3, 201358315 · Nevada Supreme Court
Reversed and remanded with instructions.The court reviewed the legal questions de novo, citing State Indus. Ins. Sys. v. United Exposition Servs. Co., 109 Nev. 28, 30, 846 P.2d 294, 295 (1998) ("Questions of law are reviewed de novo."). Parentage is…
Bradford v. Eighth Jud. Dist. Ct.
Aug 29, 201361129 · Nevada Supreme Court
Petition denied.The court's consideration of extraordinary writ relief is discretionary. Int'l Game Tech., Inc. v. Second Judicial Dist. Court, 124 Nev. 193, 198, 179 P.3d 556, 559 (2008). Writ relief is available only "when there is…
Weinstein v. Fox
May 30, 201359396 · Nevada Supreme Court
Question answered. The court answered the certified question in the negative.The court exercised its discretion to answer a certified question under NRAP 5(a), applying the factors from Volvo Cars of N. Am., Inc. v. Ricci, 122 Nev. 746, 750-51, 137 P.3d 1161, 1164 (2006): whether the answer may…
Rennels v. Rennels
Aug 4, 201153872 · Nevada Supreme Court
Reversed and remanded.Standard of review. The court reviews custody decisions, including visitation schedules, for an abuse of discretion, Rivero v. Rivero, 125 Nev. 410, 428, 216 P.3d 218, 226 (2009); Wallace v. Wallace, 112 Nev. 1015,…
Fernandez v. Fernandez
Feb 4, 201051423 · Nevada Supreme Court
Reversed and remanded.The question presented was "whether parents can, by stipulation, eliminate or abridge a trial court's statutory authority to review and modify a child support order." The court answered no, holding that a stipulated…
Ogawa v. Ogawa
Nov 12, 200948571 · Nevada Supreme Court
Reversed and remanded with instructions.Standard of review. Subject matter jurisdiction is a question of law reviewed de novo. See Gosserand v. Gosserand, 230 S.W.3d 628, 631 (Mo. Ct. App. 2007); Harshberger v. Harshberger, 724 N.W.2d 148, 154 (N.D. 2006);…
Waldman v. Maini
Nov 6, 200848144 · Nevada Supreme Court
Affirmed in part and reversed in part.The court (Hardesty, J., en banc) resolved a cross-appeal on the character of a closely held business interest and two issues of first impression concerning corporate claims to life insurance proceeds and the Uniform…
Rivero v. Rivero
Oct 30, 200846915 · Nevada Supreme Court
Reversed and remanded in part (custody determination and child support); affirmed in part (the district court's orders regarding the recusal, disqualification, and attorney fees).Standards of review: custody decisions, including visitation schedules, are reviewed for abuse of discretion (Wallace v. Wallace, 112 Nev. 1015, 1019, 922 P.2d 541, 543 (1996)); factual findings must be supported by…
Tammila G. v. State, Department of Human Resources
Dec 28, 200646438 · Nevada Supreme Court
Affirmed.Standard of review: A party petitioning to terminate parental rights must establish by clear and convincing evidence that (1) termination is in the child's best interest and (2) parental fault exists, citing NRS 128.105…
Hudson v. Jones
Jul 13, 200643828 · Nevada Supreme Court
Reversed and remanded.The question presented was whether the parental preference doctrine applies to a parent's motion to modify a custody arrangement in which a nonparent holds joint legal and primary physical custody following a litigated…
Potter v. Potter
Sep 22, 200542488 · Nevada Supreme Court
Reversed and remanded with instructions.The en banc court, per Becker, C.J., addressed whether NRS 125C.200 applies to parties who share joint physical custody. The court reviewed the question de novo, noting that "Statutory interpretation is a question of…
Every summary is independently verified against the source opinion; summaries are informational research aids, not legal advice, and no substitute for reading the decision. Topic groupings are derived automatically from each case’s category tag and cited statutes; a case may appear under two topics.