Nevada family-law case summaries

Erin and Joseph Cornwall divorced in June 2022 and share four children. Under their divorce, they were given joint legal and joint physical custody of all four. In December 2024, Erin asked the court to change the custody arrangement, to interview the children about their preferences, to reset child support, and to award her attorney fees. She argued that Joseph's behavior had changed circumstances enough to justify revisiting custody. Erin raised several concerns. She alleged that in 2023 Joseph berated one of the twins, Sa.C., over chores, pushed him against an oven, held him there, and threatened him. She said the children began recording Joseph's outbursts after that incident and submitted a video showing part of it. She also alleged that Joseph reacted poorly to their daughter Sh.C. identifying as LGBTQ, installed surveillance equipment to monitor the children's communications with her, refused to use a parenting coordinator, did not properly treat a toe injury to F.C., failed to follow the summer schedule, and frustrated the children's access to mental health services. Joseph denied being violent, said Erin took his words out of context, and submitted texts and emails showing affection toward the children and efforts to arrange counseling. The district court held a hearing where lawyers argued, but it did not take live testimony. The court then denied Erin's motion. It reasoned that two of the children, Sa.C. and E.C., would turn 18 within about 90 days, so the court would soon lose authority over their custody. For the two younger children, Sh.C. and F.C., the court found Erin had not made a strong enough preliminary showing to justify a full hearing. The court noted that the video did not actually show Joseph throwing Sa.C. against the oven or threatening him, found the toe-injury complaint too thin, found the denigration allegations too vague, and concluded that Joseph being less open-minded about Sh.C.'s sexual orientation was not, by itself, a basis to reopen custody. The Court of Appeals agreed with the district court on most points. It held the court did not abuse its discretion in declining a hearing on the allegations about Joseph's reaction to Sh.C.'s sexual orientation, his refusal to use the parenting coordinator, the summer timeshare, the mental health provider dispute, and the security equipment, because those allegations either did not amount to a substantial change in circumstances or were too vague. But the appeals court disagreed about the domestic violence allegation. The rule is that, when deciding whether a parent has made enough of a preliminary showing to earn a hearing, the trial court must accept the moving parent's specific factual allegations as true. Erin had alleged a specific act of violence against Sa.C. that occurred after the divorce decree. The district court should have treated that allegation as true. Importantly, Erin had never claimed the video captured the violence itself; she said the children only started recording afterward. So the court could not properly rely on the video's failure to show the violence as a reason to reject the allegation. The appeals court also said the fact that Sa.C. was about to turn 18 did not make the domestic violence evidence irrelevant, because the younger children Sh.C. and F.C. still lived in the home. Because of this, the Court of Appeals reversed the part of the decision denying a hearing on the domestic violence allegations and sent the case back so the district court can hold an evidentiary hearing on that issue. On remand, the court may decide whether to interview the children and may consider all relevant facts in determining what is in the children's best interest.