Nevada family-law case summaries

Chandler Jensen and Natasha Peterson share one child, born in 2016. In 2023, Jensen filed for custody. While that case was pending, Peterson obtained a protection order against domestic violence based on encounters and messages she believed were threats. The extended protection order barred Jensen from threatening or harassing Peterson and required the parties to communicate only through an electronic parenting application, in messages that were reasonable in frequency and free of profanity. After a trial in August 2024, the district court awarded the parents joint legal and physical custody. At that time, the Division of Child and Family Services (DCFS) had an open investigation into Peterson and her boyfriend, and Peterson's parenting time was being supervised by her brother. The custody decree also ordered the parties to avoid abusive communications, including name-calling and foul language. Peterson later asked the court to change the custody arrangement. She pointed out that the DCFS investigation had ended with the allegations found unsubstantiated, that Jensen had been criminally charged with violating the protection order over an incident at a Boys and Girls Club, and that Jensen had continued sending her numerous disparaging and inappropriate messages after the decree, including repeated accusations that her boyfriend was a "pedophile." At an evidentiary hearing, Jensen testified he had not made such statements before the DCFS investigation began, but the court admitted—over his objection—a March 2024 message, sent well before the investigation, in which he called Peterson's boyfriend a "pedo." The parties also acknowledged Jensen had entered a no contest plea (a plea in which a defendant accepts conviction without admitting guilt) to charges stemming from the protection-order violation. The district court found several circumstances had substantially changed since the decree: the DCFS investigation—which had factored into the original joint custody decision—had concluded with the allegations unsubstantiated, and Jensen had violated both the protection order and the custody decree. The court also found, by clear and convincing evidence, that Jensen's harassing behavior amounted to domestic violence, which under Nevada law creates a rebuttable presumption—a starting assumption the parent can try to disprove—that joint physical custody is not in the child's best interest. The court found Jensen did not overcome that presumption, found his testimony not credible, and awarded Peterson primary physical custody. On appeal, the Nevada Court of Appeals affirmed. It held the text message was properly authenticated because Peterson explained why it was offered and provided corroborating evidence that Jensen wrote it. It held the district court's findings of changed circumstances and its best-interest analysis were supported by substantial evidence. The appellate court agreed with Jensen on one point: a no contest plea should not be used as evidence against a party in a civil case, so the district court erred by considering it. But the court concluded that error was harmless—meaning it did not change the outcome—because the district court's other extensive findings independently supported the modification. The court also held that the district court was permitted to consider harassing messages sent before the decree because that information had not been presented during the original custody proceedings.

Christopher Fisher and Elia Cobian were never married but were in an on-again-off-again relationship, and their daughter, L.F., was born in May 2019. The relationship ended after a physical altercation in April 2020 in which each parent accused the other of being the aggressor; no arrests or charges resulted, but Elia obtained a temporary protection order from the Elko Justice Court that gave her sole legal and physical custody of L.F. Both parents then went to district court seeking custody. A court-ordered custody evaluator recommended that the parents share joint legal and joint physical custody, and the case proceeded to a two-day evidentiary hearing in February 2022. At that hearing, the court heard testimony about Christopher's 2018 DUI conviction, his ongoing alcohol use, his partner's alcohol use, his refusal to give Elia his address, his estranged relationships with children from a previous relationship, health issues L.F. experienced, and his failures to tell Elia when he traveled out of town with the child. Christopher also acknowledged an incident involving a daughter from a previous relationship in which the Utah Division of Child and Family Services substantiated an abuse and neglect charge against him. Nevada law requires courts deciding custody to weigh a list of "best interest of the child" factors. The district court found that eight of the twelve factors favored Elia and that the rest were neutral or inapplicable, so it awarded her primary physical custody, with Christopher receiving parenting time from Sunday morning through Tuesday afternoon every other week. After hiring a new lawyer, Christopher asked for a new trial, arguing his trial counsel failed to present any evidence on his behalf; the district court denied that motion, and he appealed. The Nevada Court of Appeals affirmed. Christopher argued that the district court had to first work through the statutes expressing a preference for joint physical custody before analyzing the best-interest factors. The appellate court explained that the sole consideration in a custody decision is the best interest of the child, and that even though the district court did not explicitly cite those preference statutes, it recognized the preference for joint custody but specifically found that "joint custody was not appropriate" under the totality of the circumstances. The court of appeals also declined to reweigh the evidence or the district court's credibility determinations, concluding that substantial evidence - evidence a reasonable person could accept as adequate - supported the ruling. As for Christopher's complaints about the court considering events before L.F.'s birth and allegations he said were not properly noticed, the appellate court held those objections were waived because he did not raise them in the trial court. It added that a district court may consider a parent's past conduct when determining a child's best interest, and that any error was harmless because the district court made numerous findings about the current custodial circumstances. Finally, the court noted one clerical mistake: page 12 of the district court's order erroneously refers to awarding Christopher primary physical custody, and it sent the case back solely to fix that error.

Andrew Warren and Aimee Jung Ahyang were never married but have one child together. In early 2019, Warren asked the court to give him primary physical custody. Ahyang answered and asked for primary physical custody herself, citing Warren's emotional and mental status. Warren, in turn, argued that Ahyang had issues with drug usage. The trial court held a two-day evidentiary hearing where both parents testified, then issued detailed written findings and awarded the parents joint legal custody while giving Ahyang primary physical custody. Warren asked the trial court for a new trial and for reconsideration. When that request was denied, he appealed. The Court of Appeals is not a place where the whole case is retried; instead, the appellate judges check whether the trial court had a reasonable basis for its decision and did not misuse its discretion. Warren's main complaint on appeal was that the trial court leaned too heavily on his mental health when it decided custody. The appellate court disagreed, saying the record did not support that claim. Nevada law requires the trial court to weigh a list of specific factors when deciding what is in a child's best interest. Reviewing the trial court's written findings, the appellate court noted that none of those factors favored Warren; several favored Ahyang, and the rest were neutral or did not apply. The court added that even if Warren's mental health had been treated as a non-issue, the other factors would still have supported the award to Ahyang. Warren also argued the trial court should have ordered Ahyang to undergo drug testing. The appellate court noted that the trial court found Ahyang "used to have a drug issue, but she has fixed it," based on three negative drug tests she presented and a review of CPS records. The appellate court concluded that was enough evidence to support the trial court's conclusion. Warren further objected to two stipulations and orders about vacation and holiday time that were entered after the hearing, saying the court never asked whether he agreed and never required his signature. The appellate court observed that Warren's own attorney had signed both stipulations, and that a local court rule allows a stipulation to be entered when it is signed by a party's attorney. Because Warren had not presented evidence below that he did not consent, the appellate court declined to consider that argument for the first time on appeal. Finally, Warren argued he deserved a new trial because the trial court excluded his medical records and because he was surprised by his inability to admit them. The appellate court explained that the trial court did not exclude the records entirely; it excluded them only for the first day of the hearing so Ahyang could review them, and it told Warren he could renew his request on day two. Warren never renewed the request. Because Warren failed to disclose the records before the hearing and then failed to seek their admission on day two, the appellate court held the trial court did not abuse its discretion in denying a new trial. The judgment was affirmed.