Skilled Legal Assistance for Modifying Family Court Orders in Northern Nevada & Carson City
Life goes on after a divorce or any legal issue has been resolved in a court of law. And with that continuation, circumstances often change. You may find yourself temporarily laid off from your job or may lose that job permanently. On the other hand, you or your ex-spouse or co-parent may land a major promotion that results in a significant income increase. Illnesses and injuries can also happen that impact your ability to work. Or you may remarry and have additional children to support. All of these changed circumstances can have an impact on current family court orders that may have been issued years ago and to which you are still obligated.
In such situations, you may find that your current court order is no longer fair or viable. If your circumstances have substantially changed, you may be justified in petitioning the court to have your current order modified. Berkich Lucey Law Group can provide the skilled assistance you need with such a matter. We can thoroughly assess the situation to determine if a modification is realistic. In situations where it is, we can take the proper steps to help advance your case. Our legal team is well-versed in the laws and procedures that apply and have helped many clients obtain the modifications they needed and deserved. Such modifications can apply in child custody, child support, and spousal support orders.
Need to change a family law court order in Carson City, Reno, or the surrounding areas? Contact us online or at (775) 227-2404 to discuss the matter with one of our legal team.
When Are Modifications Necessary?
The need to modify your court order may arise for any number of reasons. This can involve the following situations:
Child Custody Modifications
You need to change child custody order or a parenting timeshare plan due because you or the other parent can no longer care for a child, where the other parent has become a liability to a child through substance abuse, domestic violence, or criminal activity, where a military parent has been deployed, or in cases where some other major impact to a parent’s ability to properly care for a child has occurred.
Relocation Issues Affecting Custody
You need to relocate with a child to a destination that is significantly far from the other parent, thus reducing his or her time spent with the child. This can be a complicated issue due to the drastic effect it can have on a parent’s visitation time, a child’s quality of life, and what the motives are for the relocation.
Adjusting Child Support Payments
You need to adjust a child support payment order either up or down due to a job loss, reduction in pay, additional child to be supported, or where a child’s needs have changed, such as in cases where extensive medical care is needed for an ill or injured child.
Modifying Spousal Support
You need to adjust or terminate spousal support due to financial reasons such as job loss, inability to work due to severe illness or injury or some other circumstance or where the receiving ex-spouse has remarried.
It may seem more expedient to simply change these orders through casual oral agreements or by making verbal requests or demands on your ex-spouse or former partner. However, this is rarely smart as these verbal statements or agreements are not legally valid or enforceable. The other party can easily break any verbal agreement leaving you without recourse. A current and still-valid court order is enforceable. By violating or verbally abandoning it, you could be found in contempt of court with legal actions taken against you should the other party wish to pursue such an action.
How Are Family Court Orders Modified?
When you wish to change a court order, you need to file a “motion” with the court.
You will eventually have to provide evidence to the court that demonstrates why you need the court order changed.
Child Custody Modification Process
In a court order regarding your shared child, if both you and the other parent agree on a change in custody, you can file jointly with the court.
Since both you and the other parent are in agreement, the court will generally approve the change as long as it is within the guidelines of the child’s best interests.
This issue of changing custody gets complex where one parent wishes to relocate with the child while the other parent disagrees. Courts have to weigh many factors in relocation cases to determine if such a relocation is being done in good faith and if its advantages outweigh the disadvantage of the child being separated from the nonrelocating parent.
Contact Berkich Lucey Law Group for Legal Assistance
Seeking and obtaining a modification of a family court order should not be attempted on your own. These can be complicated matters in which you will have to appear in court to prove your case. Our attorneys can evaluate your situation to determine if a modification is reasonable and prepare your case, represent you in court hearings, and handle all the details of tackling this issue. We have extensive experience with child custody, child support, and spousal support issues in the local Nevada courts.
Talk to a Carson City modifications attorney about your family law situation today. Call us at (775) 227-2404.
