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Apparently not.

Hey, I'm a former Nevadan married to another former Nevadan (we now live in Arizona) who still has an custody issues with Nevada courts because the BM lives in Gardnerville. Right now we have my SD because the BM can't afford to keep her (i.e. pay for daycare, food, etc.) but she still makes us pay her child support.  We are hoping that if she is down her for 6 months (very likely) then we will file for a change of jurisdiction, but I think we have to get Nevada to release its jurisdiction in order to bring the case down here.

So just to confirm, you did not owe any arrears whatsoever at the end of 2006? (Even if you were current on the support payment.)

My husband's case is similar on a few points; however we were successfully able to gain primary custody and he does not owe current support, but he still has a balance which works out to be 6 months of support he still owes.

The Nevada CSE (where original CS order was obtained and BM still lives) has been intercepting our return for about 4 years now.  We did not receive notice the first time prior to the interception.  And I don't really have an answer for your first question, but I am an "expert" on filing the injured spouse form 8379.  We have lived in Arizona for the past 6 years, and because Arizona is a community property state, the IRS has to allocate our wages according to the state law to determine my portion of the return.  The last year our return was intercepted, for example, we were refunded the entire return.  This year our return was also intercepted.  I have already filed the form, and it takes about 8 weeks to process when filed separately from the tax return.
Hope this helps.  Good luck.

So the Nevada court just screwed my husband.  BM has a 17 year old and a 9 year old with RA (special needs child).  The 17 year old does not live with her, but BM lied and said he does.  Based on the fact that BM is paying for 1/2 of travel costs (when she feels like it), joint custody (BM has her 31% of the year), and that BM has to pay daycare during most of the summer visitation time (SD is always watched by BM's mother and grandmother), the Nevada court ordered that BM does not have to pay child support even though she makes more than my husband!!!!!!!!!!!!

We are going to appeal and appeal and appeal until something happens or until BM's 17 year old turns 18 which is in October of this year.

How can a mother be satisfied that she does not support her own daughter??? I don't understand!!!!  She didn't even meet her Kindergarten teacher last year and she only met her first grade teacher this year because she had to come to court in Arizona in December.  Such a poor mother...It makes me sad and very angry!!!!

I haven't posted in a long while but would like to start out saying that SPARC is responsible for everything I have learned and used in our experience with fighting for custody and child support with regards to my SD who is now 7.

Our current battle is regarding getting the DCSE to do their job in representing a father with custody.  Apparently it is a novelty to have a father with custody in their office because even the forms my husband filled out to apply where geared towards the mother.  On every line he had to cross out "mother" and write in "father" on the DCSE application.

Here's a little history...

BM sent my SD to live with us in Arizona in March of 2004.  (BM lives in Nevada, 800 miles away.)

BM required my husband to continue to pay his court ordered child support obligation (per Nevada Child Support Order) for almost 2 years while SD was living in Arizona with no support and minimal contact from BM.

Finally in December of 2005, we were able to hire an attorney to go for custody in Arizona since there was no previous custody order.  In February of 2006, the Arizona court ordered that the BM could not remove my SD from the state until the custody hearing the following month.  My husband and BM ended up settling custody and visitation in mediation.  They agreed that SD would live primarily in Arizona with our family and have monthly and summer visits to BM in Nevada.

So in May of 2006, we had been in contact with the DCSE in Nevada trying to resolve some arrears still owed by my husband from the previous child support order.  He owed about 6 months worth of child support even though he had been taking care of my SD for 2 years and still paying BM.  The Nevada DCSE said they could not remove the balance owed without BM agreeing to close the case.  When we approached BM with the proposal, she would not remove the balance saying that the money was owed to her.  We then proceeded to initiate a child support case against BM in Arizona.

So now here we are today.  The Arizona DCSE requested that the Nevada DCSE initiate a case.  Our hearing is today over the phone.  We have been providing documentation and information left and right to the Nevada DCSE to prepare their case all the while believe that the Arizona DCSE provided the Nevada DCSE with all the information (court orders, etc.) we gave them.

Come to find out that the Nevada DCSE did not have any information we gave to the Arizona DCSE.  And that the Nevada DCSE believes that BM and my husband both have my SD for about 180 days per year!!! (Because that is what BM told them!!!)

When we found this out, we immediately faxed to the Nevada DCSE all the current court orders and visitation agreements stating that BM has my SD for about 104 days per year.

We're just nervous that because my husband is a father in a mother biased organization.  Even when he calls to talk about his case, the people he talks to are rude and short with him.  We are definitely feeling that there is discrimination by the DCSE against my husband in his pursuit to provide support his daughter.

Any words of wisdom or similar experience y'all can provide would be appreciated.  We will keep you posted as to the outcome of today's hearing!

My husband and I are going through the same thing with my SD.  He was just recently awarded custody in April.  Our case is a little tricky though because the CS order is in Nevada and the new custody order is in Arizona.
We just sent certified copies of the custody order to the CSE agency in Nevada and they stopped ongoing support according the the order.  However my husband had some arrears which is a whole other ball game all together.
However the CSE caseworker in Nevada did say that my husband can file for child support from BM with the DCSE agency here in Arizona to pay back those arrears.
Complicated I know.

My husband who is NCP of his daughter pays his child support, even though she lives with us.  Long story, but anyways, he got behind on his support when he lost his job.  The State of Nevada initiated a seize on his Federal income tax returns.  It works very well to enable him to pay off the back support more quickly.  You should suggest it to your caseworker! At least you could get something at least once a year!

Thanks this helps for a starting point...now all we have to do it come up with the money!

A couple more questions:

1. Should we find a lawyer in Arizona or Nevada or both?

2. What is the step by step procedure that we will go through with regard to the Arizona and Nevada courts?

Thanks.

(Sorry this is so long.  I tried to break it down and shorten as much as possible.  This case is just too complicated.)

Here are the facts:

My SD 5 has been living with us since March of 2004.  Her BM sent her to live with her father and I because the BM no longer had the money to take care of my SD and because BM is cronically ill.

History:

The BM has full custody of my SD.  The order was effective Sept. 2000 and was done in Carson City County of Carson City, Nevada. The order is very vague and does not specify in great detail what rights my husband has.  Here's what it says:

"Defendent is found to be the father of the said minor child by admission.  The defendant's name is on the child's birth certificate.

The parties have had shared custody from time of birth to present.  There is no custodial order, thus mother is custodial parent by operation of law until further order of the court."

Note: My husband raised her from the two weeks old to almost 2 years old.  She was born Nov. 1999.  Even after the order was effective the BM did not pick up her daughter, instead she left her with BF for the majority of the time until he decided to move to Arizona with me in August of 2001.  All the while she was expecting child support payments for the child she didn't even have most of the time.

The order goes on to talk about child support, medical insurance, and payment methods.  It also states that
"This order may be reviewed every (3) years and is subject to future modifications, pursuant to NRS 125B.145."

It does not make any mention of visitation or what rights my husband has to his child.  This means that we have been walking on eggshells with the BM and taking whatever time we can get with her, no matter what the cost.

Present Situation:

So when the BM sent SD here to Arizona to live with BF and I, she stated that it was for a "visit" and she still required my husband to pay his child support of $300 per month (in addition to actually taking care of his daughter).

SD has been back to Nevada to visit her BM, sister, and brother, a couple of times over the past year, once for a month, and once for a couple of weeks.  Both of which we paid for entirely.

Now, BM has had an operation to help her feel better which has apparently worked for the moment.  This past week she emailed me saying that she wanted SD back in June, after her and her new boyfriend (she was divorced 3 weeks ago) buy a house.  (Since last November BM has been homeless and living with her mom, uncle, and two kids in a two bedroom duplex.  BM also just told me that her new boyfriend just moved in there too.)  BM wants SD back just in time for SD to start kindergarten.

Sending my SD back concerns us for a few reasons:

1. BM is still not stable financially.  She is always stating that she is broke and cannot even afford to buy half of the ticket for herself to come here to visit her daughter.  (We offered to pay the other half.)

2. BM is not physically stable.  She has stated to me in email that she has been too sick to take care of her 3 children and that's why we have my SD.  (BM had the gastric bypass surgery about 3 years ago.  She did not take the required iron supplements to help her blood level stay normal. Her blood level dropped to 8 pints, which means she probably should have died.  She has managed to raised it to 11 pints, after extensive hospital stays.  This operation she had recently is supposed to help, but even she said that SD could be back in Arizona within 2 weeks of going back to Nevada if she gets sick again.  This is all in email.)

3. The BM's gastric bypass surgery has had some devastating mental effects on SD.  When SD first got to Arizona, SD would throw up after eating at least 4 times a week.  SD was 4 years old then!  The BM who was obese before the gastric bypass would comfort her and tell her that that is what happens when you eat too much, and SD had only eaten like 1/4 of a pancake.  Everytime BM saw SD, after SD had been staying in Arizona for awhile, BM would lift up her shirt and check to see if SD was getting too fat.  BF and I have come a long way with SD in the time she has been here developing healthy eating habbits, and we don't want SD to go back there for fear of SD ending up with an eating disorder for the rest of her life.


We now want to take BM to court for joint custody with SD's primary residence being in Arizona.  

We want to change the jurisdiction to Arizona since that is where the child has been living and because it would be harder for the BM to fight it here. The Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction Enforcement Act states that jurisdiction can be changed after the child has resided in new location for over 6 months.  She has been here for a year.

Also the BM still lives in Nevada, but she lives in a different county than the original order was filed,  so the original court does not have jurisdiction even if SD still lived with BM.  The new order would have to be in Douglas County.

BF, SD, our son and I are moving into our new 3 BD/2 BA house on 3/31.  Both children will have there own room and share a bath.  SD has been attending preschool, but is starting a new school on 4/1 that has an excellent pre-school program that should prepare her for kindergarten here.  SD also attends gymnastics on a weekly basis and we are also looking into starting her on karate and soccer.  BM has never paid a dime for any of it.  We are still paying her $300 a month.  We have also secured health insurance for my SD besides what BM carries because it did not work in Arizona, although we pay monthly for BM's insurance for SD also.

Here are my questions:

1. We have been shopping for lawyers and they all seem to think different things about the case.  Some think it seems fairly simple and ask for a $1500 retainer, and others ask for a $10,000 stating that it would be a lot of work.  What do you think the about the complexity of the case based on the history, our present situation and what we want to gain in court?

2. What would you say is a reasonable retainer in this case?

3. What should our minimum experience requirement for a lawyer be to succeed in our case? i.e. should we go with someone with less or more experience, we really can't afford too much.  
(I currently go to the Unversity of Arizona full time and can only work 20 hours per week, my husband is the one who provides for all of us right now.  This will be the case until I graduate Dec. 2005 which will be too late to change this order.)

4. Do you think that filing for joint custody in Arizona is the right way to proceed?

5. Do you think that we could/would need to try to prove BM and unfit mother due to BM's cronic illness and SD's eating disorder?  

6.Also SD's 15 year old half-brother just got out of drug/alcohol rehab not too long ago.  Would/Should that come into play to help the primary residence of SD to be Arizona?


Thanks for your time and patience.