Nevada family-law case summaries

This case concerns who is legally recognized as the father of a child, A.A., born in 2011, and how custody of A.A. should be divided. Three adults are involved. Rosie is the child's mother. Henry was Rosie's on-and-off partner; when A.A. was born, Henry and Rosie signed a Voluntary Acknowledgment of Paternity (a sworn statement declaring Henry to be the father), and Henry's name went on the birth certificate. Ignacio was also Rosie's on-and-off partner during the same period and is the biological father of Rosie's second child, J.A., based on earlier paternity testing. For years, Ignacio suspected he might also be A.A.'s biological father. Rosie and Henry told him he was not, and Henry once showed Ignacio a screenshot of a DNA test purporting to confirm Henry's paternity. Ignacio thought the test looked suspicious and obtained his own DNA tests, which showed he was A.A.'s biological father. Rosie continued to deny him regular contact with A.A. Ignacio sued for a paternity determination and custody. The district court initially ruled against him, saying his challenge came too late. Ignacio appealed, the Nevada Supreme Court reversed, and on remand the district court ordered formal DNA testing. The testing confirmed Ignacio is A.A.'s biological father. The district court then declared Ignacio the legal father, ordered the birth certificate amended, and awarded Ignacio and Rosie joint physical custody. Henry was reduced to a "third party" who could request visitation similar to a grandparent. Rosie and Henry appealed to the Nevada Supreme Court. They argued biology should not automatically determine legal fatherhood once a child is past age three, that the birth certificate should control, and that the trial court failed to properly analyze A.A.'s best interest before ordering joint custody. The Nevada Supreme Court rejected each argument and affirmed. It held that under Nevada's Parentage Act, a DNA test showing 99% or higher probability of paternity creates a "conclusive presumption" of fatherhood - meaning it cannot be overcome by other evidence. Because Ignacio's test met that threshold, he is A.A.'s legal father, with all the rights that come with being a parent. The court explained that an older Nevada decision, Love v. Love, which had treated DNA evidence as just one factor, no longer controls because the Legislature changed the statute in 2007 to make DNA results conclusive. The court also explained that the birth-certificate statute Rosie and Henry relied on does not make the certificate dispositive when paternity is contested and the listed father was never married to the mother. On custody, the court held that the trial judge did not have to apply the legal test for modifying an existing custody order, because there was no prior custody order for A.A. Nevada law presumes joint physical custody is in a child's best interest, and the trial court found that Rosie and Henry had intentionally kept Ignacio away from A.A. for years - a circumstance that statutorily favors joint custody. The Supreme Court found no abuse of discretion.

Sandra Nance and Christopher Ferraro have one child, born in 2008. Sandra lives in Las Vegas; Christopher lives in New York. Before their divorce, Sandra accused Christopher of domestic violence and child abuse, and Child Protective Services investigated. In 2011, the parties agreed that Sandra would be the primary residential parent. After ongoing co-parenting problems, the district court ordered a custody evaluation, required Christopher to exercise his parenting time in Nevada for a period, and required both parties to take parenting classes. In November 2012, the parties signed a stipulation that called their arrangement "joint legal and physical custody," and the child continued to live with Sandra in Nevada. In 2015, Christopher asked the court to give him primary physical custody and to let him move the child to New York. Sandra objected and wanted to bring up Christopher's earlier domestic violence and abuse - including the custody evaluation, CPS reports, and witness testimony - to argue that moving the child to live with him was not in the child's best interest. Christopher asked the court to block all evidence about events before the November 2012 order, citing two Nevada Supreme Court cases, McMonigle and Castle. The district court agreed and barred Sandra's older evidence. It then ruled that the parents had been sharing joint physical custody, granted Christopher primary physical custody, and let him move the child to New York. The Court of Appeals reversed. It explained that McMonigle and Castle limit when a parent who is trying to change custody can rely on old facts to show that "circumstances have changed" - the threshold a parent must meet before a court can modify primary physical custody. Those cases do not stop a court from looking back at the facts that supported its earlier orders when it decides what is best for the child now. And they do not stop a parent who is opposing a change in custody from pointing to old evidence - including past domestic violence - to argue that changing custody is not in the child's best interest. The court emphasized that Nevada law requires judges to consider domestic violence when deciding the best interest of a child, and that there is a rebuttable presumption against giving custody to a parent who has committed domestic violence. By blocking Sandra's evidence, the district court could not properly weigh those factors when it decided what kind of custody arrangement existed, whether to modify it, and whether to allow the child to move. The Court of Appeals sent the case back so the district court could consider the previously excluded evidence - though the parties cannot simply re-fight issues the court has already decided.