Modifying and Enforcing a Nevada Child Support Order

The right to a review every three years

Under NRS 125B.145(1), an order for the support of a child must be reviewed by the court at least every 3 years, upon the filing of a request for review, to determine whether the order should be modified or adjusted. The request may be filed by the Division of Social Services (the state welfare agency, today the Division of Welfare and Supportive Services) or its designated representative, or the district attorney, where they have jurisdiction in the case, or by a parent or legal guardian of the child. Each review must be in response to a separate request.

If the court does not have jurisdiction to modify the order, it may forward the request to a court that does. If it has jurisdiction and, taking into account the best interests of the child, determines that modification or adjustment is appropriate, it must enter an order modifying or adjusting the previous order in accordance with the guidelines adopted under NRS 425.620, that is, NAC 425 (NRS 125B.145(2)).

The court must ensure that each person subject to a support order is notified at least once every 3 years of the right to request a review, or that the order itself contains that notice (NRS 125B.145(3)). An 'order for the support of a child' for these purposes is an order issued or being enforced by a Nevada court (NRS 125B.145(5)(b)).

A three-year review is not automatic. Someone must file the request, and the statute does not itself promise a change; it promises a review under the current guidelines.

Review at any time on changed circumstances

Separately from the three-year cycle, NRS 125B.145(4) provides that an order may be reviewed at any time on the basis of changed circumstances. For that purpose, a change of 20 percent or more in the gross monthly income of a person subject to the order shall be deemed to constitute changed circumstances requiring a review for modification.

'Gross monthly income' here has the meaning in NRS 125.150 (NRS 125B.145(5)(a)): the total amount of income received each month from any source for a person who is not self-employed, or, for a self-employed person, gross income from any source after deducting all legitimate business expenses but without deducting personal income taxes, retirement or pension contributions, or other personal expenses.

The regulations reinforce the change-in-circumstances requirement. Except as otherwise authorized by law or by NAC 425, any modification or adjustment of an established obligation must be based on a change in circumstances (NAC 425.170(1)). The receipt of public assistance by a child or an obligee is such a change and allows review under the guidelines in effect at the time (NAC 425.170(2)). The adoption or revision of the guidelines themselves is not, by itself, a change in circumstances sufficient to justify modifying an existing order or money judgment (NAC 425.170(3)); the 2025 amendment to NAC 425 does not, on its own, reopen every order.

Incarceration or involuntary institutionalization of the obligor for 180 consecutive days or more, or release from it, is considered a substantial change in circumstances warranting review and, if appropriate, adjustment based on the obligor's ability to pay; a party or the enforcing authority may petition for a hearing (NAC 425.155(1)). NAC 425.155 applies only to orders issued or modified in Nevada on or after February 1, 2020 (R183-18, section 22).

Why accrued arrears cannot be reduced

Under NRS 125B.140(1)(a), each support payment becomes a judgment by operation of law on or after its due date, and such a judgment may not be retroactively modified or adjusted. A parent who lost a job and waited a year to file cannot have that year's installments reduced, regardless of how strong the reason for the change would have been.

Where a party has ever received public assistance, the court has a further constraint. Before issuing or modifying a support order the court must determine whether any party is receiving or has ever received public assistance, and if so it may not waive any arrearages until the Division has been given notice and an opportunity to be heard (NRS 125B.065).

The practical rule is simple: file first, then litigate. The date a party gives notice of the filed motion is the earliest point from which a modification can operate, and everything that accrued before that notice is fixed.

The effective date of a modification

NRS 125B.140(1)(b) draws the line. Payments for the support of a child that have not accrued at the time either party gives notice that the party has filed a motion for modification or adjustment may be modified or adjusted by the court upon a showing of changed circumstances, whether or not the court expressly retained jurisdiction to modify. Installments that accrued before that notice cannot be touched under NRS 125B.140(1)(a).

The regulations follow the same approach in the one situation they address directly. Where an order covers more than one child without allocating a specific amount to each, and one child reaches 18 (or, if still in high school, graduates or turns 19), the order does not adjust itself; a party must file a motion or submit a stipulation. Any resulting modification must comply with the guidelines in effect at the time and, unless the parties stipulate otherwise, is effective as of the date the motion was filed (NAC 425.160(3)).

Where an order covers only one child, or allocates a specific amount to each child, the obligation for that child terminates on the first day of the month following the month in which the child turns 18 or, if still in high school, graduates or turns 19, whichever comes first (NAC 425.160(1) and (2); section 11 of R139-23 moved the one-child rule to that first-of-the-following-month date).

What the modified amount will be

A modification is not a negotiation from the old number. NRS 125B.080 requires the court to apply the NAC 425 guidelines whenever it changes the amount of required support, and NRS 125B.145(2) repeats that requirement for reviews. The court will therefore recompute the total obligation from scratch under the current guidelines: the bracketed base under NAC 425.140 (or the low-income schedule under NAC 425.145), the equitable divisions of child care and medical support under NAC 425.130 and NAC 425.135, and any adjustments under NAC 425.150. The guidelines explainer at /resources/nevada-child-support-guidelines-explained walks through that computation.

If the original amount was set by stipulation outside the guidelines, the stipulation itself must have given both parties notice that, if either seeks a review for any authorized reason, the court will calculate the total child support obligation under the guidelines (NAC 425.110(1)(c), as amended by R139-23 section 4); NRS 125B.080 makes those the guidelines in force at the time of the review. A departure from the guideline amount on modification, as on an original order, requires findings of fact stating the basis for the adjustment and the amount the guidelines would have produced (NAC 425.100(3)).

Enforcement: adjudicating arrears with interest and fees

Because each installment is already a judgment (NRS 125B.140(1)(a)), enforcement begins with fixing the amount. Unless a court has already determined the amount, the person seeking to enforce must first send the responsible parent a notice by certified mail, restricted delivery, return receipt requested, identifying the issuing court and the date of the order, stating the amount of arrearages accrued, stating that they will be enforced as a judgment, and explaining that the responsible parent may request a hearing within 20 days after the notice is sent (NRS 125B.140(2)(a)). The hearing is limited to the amount of the arrearages and the jurisdiction of the issuing court (NRS 125B.140(2)(b)).

In its order the court must include interest on the arrearages at the NRS 99.040 rate from the time each amount became due and a reasonable attorney's fee for the proceeding, unless it finds the responsible parent would experience undue hardship; interest continues to accrue until the amount is paid, and additional fees must be allowed if required for collection (NRS 125B.140(2)(c)). The court must also see that the responsible parent's Social Security number is provided to the Division and kept confidentially in the record (NRS 125B.140(2)(d)).

Once fixed, the arrears may be enforced in the same manner as other judgments of this State (NRS 125B.140(1)(a)). There is no limitation period: an action to enforce a support judgment or to collect arrearages under a court order may be commenced at any time (NRS 125B.050(2) and (3)). The interest, payment-application and penalty rules that govern the schedule are explained at /resources/nevada-child-support-arrears-interest-and-penalties.

Enforcement: liens, withholding of income, and the district attorney

Lien on property. If a responsible parent is in arrears under a Nevada support order, the order may be recorded in the office of the county recorder in the manner prescribed for judgment liens under NRS 17.150. From recordation it becomes a lien on all real and personal property the responsible parent owns or later acquires in that county, and it continues until the arrearages are satisfied. A person enforcing the lien must, within 20 days after recording, send a certified-mail notice giving the responsible parent 20 days to request a hearing on the amount, unless a Nevada court has already determined the arrearages (NRS 125B.142).

Withholding of income. NRS Chapter 31A governs withholding of the obligor's income for child support. When a support order includes an order directing withholding of income, the withholding procedure must be carried out immediately unless all parties agree in writing that there should be no immediate withholding or the court finds good cause, in a written finding, that immediate withholding would not be in the child's best interests (NRS 31A.025(1) and (2)). If the order does not direct withholding, or withholding was postponed, the procedure must be carried out when the obligor becomes delinquent; the person entitled to support (or that person's legal representative) has the duty to notify the enforcing authority at that point (NRS 31A.025(4)). The amount withheld is one of three: (a) the current support due plus, toward arrearages, either 10 percent of the current periodic payment or the amount the court has previously ordered for arrearages; (b) where current support is not being collected under Chapter 31A and the enforcing authority is entitled to collect arrearages, 25 percent of the current-support amount toward arrearages; or (c) if the child is emancipated, the arrearages until paid in full. In every case the amount withheld is limited by the percentages in NRS 31.295 (NRS 31A.030(1) and (2)).

District attorney. At the request of the parent, guardian, or a public agency providing assistance, the district attorney of the county where the child or the non-custodial parent resides must take the action necessary to establish parentage, establish or adjust the support obligation, and enforce payment of support under NRS Chapter 125B or Chapters 31A, 126, 130 or 425 (NRS 125B.150(1)).

Deposit of assets. The chapter also provides for an order under NRS 125B.210 requiring an obligor to deposit assets with a trustee to secure future support. It requires a declaration under penalty of perjury that the obligor is in arrears in a sum equal to or greater than 30 days of payments, notice and an opportunity for hearing, and a finding of good cause; and under NRS 125B.240 the court must also find at least one of three conditions: the obligor is not receiving income subject to withholding or assignment under Chapter 31A or NRS 33.035 but there is reason to believe the obligor has income from some source that could be assigned; withholding would not be sufficient to meet the obligation for reasons other than a change of circumstances that would qualify for a reduction in support; or the obligor's employment history (for example multiple, concurrent or consecutive employers) makes withholding difficult to enforce or impractical.

This explainer is general information about Nevada law and is not legal advice. Which tool fits a particular case, and how to present a modification or enforcement motion, are questions for a licensed Nevada attorney.