Nevada family-law case summaries

Lyka Grace Andres Peralta and Chyron Lee Talley married in Utah in December 2021, had a child together, and separated in October 2023 while Peralta was pregnant. Talley filed for divorce in November 2023. After their child, referred to as C.P., was born, the parties resolved most of their disputes through mediation, and Talley agreed that Peralta would have sole physical custody of the child. One issue remained: how much child support Talley would pay. At a July 2024 hearing, the district court calculated Talley's income but left out about $2,407.25 per month that the military pays him as a "basic allowance for housing," or BAH. During the hearing, Peralta noted that Talley appeared to earn more than the figure the court was using. The court and Talley discussed the BAH, and Talley told the court that the BAH was a housing benefit that he does not receive directly as income each month. The court accepted that explanation and used Talley's base pay of $3,066 to calculate child support, arriving at an award of $490 per month. The divorce decree and an amended decree both reflected that amount. Peralta appealed, arguing the court should have counted the BAH as part of Talley's income. The Court of Appeals agreed. It explained that Nevada's child support rules, found in the administrative code, specifically say that "gross income" includes military allowances, without limitation, and that no military housing allowance is exempted. Because the BAH is a military allowance, the court held it should have been included when figuring Talley's income. The Court of Appeals reversed the part of the decree dealing with child support and sent the case back to the district court to recalculate the award with the BAH included. The rest of the divorce decree stays in place. Peralta also asked the court to determine "arrearages" - past-due child support payments. The Court of Appeals declined to do that itself, explaining that while Talley will owe some additional amount once the support is recalculated, no past-due amount yet exists to be called an arrearage. The court left that determination to the district court, which is the factfinder.