Cases Flashcards
Irving
Gilbert married his pen pal of ten years from the Philippines after hearing that she had miscarried his child after a visit there. Once in the states, she had trouble conceiving and he filed for an annulment. She argued it was likely due to her age (42). He also admitted he would have married her despite infertility, that he had no proof that she was infertile, and that he never specifically requested a child before marrying her. The court held that in Nevada, fraud in inducement must be proved by clear and convincing evidence and here there was none.
Verheyden
A husband had a house before he married his wife and when they divorced she tried to claim it as community property. The court held that any of her claimed “improvement” were merely routine maintenance to the property and has not increased the value of the house. Therefore, that she had no claim to it.
Johnson
Nevada uses the Periera formula when dividing property, in this case, A&W restaurants.
Gemma
A wife claimed she had a community property interest in her husband’s retirement pension even though it had not yet vested and wanted to wait until it vested to begin collecting payment. The court held that was okay and that if after the divorce, his retirement account grew substantially due to his effort, he could come back to court before the dispersement to discuss dispersant amounts.
McNabney
Equitable distribution does not necessarily mean 50/50. In this case, the marriage was short, the wife had her own estate, and therefore awarding 80% of an annuity to a husband and only 20% to the wife was fair.
Lofgren
One of the compelling reasons for unequal distribution of property during a divorce can be bad behavior on the part of one spouse. In this case, the husband was sheltering money in his father’s account and using money in violation of a court order.
Rodriguez
The court cannot take an extramarital affair into account when awarding alimony. In this case, the man made $75K a year and the wife made $14K. She cheated and the court decided not to give her alimony. The SC reversed that because she was I’ll and did not have a tiger earning potential.
Sprenger
A husband owned a lawn care company and even though it was sold, renamed, and otherwise changed during the marriage, it remained his separate property. Also, even though his wife was a nurse before having kids, she’d never be able to go back to being a nurse without more school and she’d never make as much as she would have had she never quit, so the alimony needs to account for that.
The lower court abused their discretion in awarding her 1/4 of the lawncare service as payment bc she couldn’t actually get any money from it, since the husband and his family controlled the other 75%
Minnear
A wife filed for an increase in child support past the age of 18 for a disabled daughter. The husband was a doctor but claimed to make less than $1,200 a month. The court found him to willfully unemployed and changed the presumption that if a parent is willfully unemployed, it is to be presumed it is for the purpose of avoiding child support.
Westgate
Failure to comply with the terms of the visitation agreement cannot be used to decrease child support. In this case, mom refused to let her daughter visit after she accused dad of molesting her. That was not a reason to decrease child support though.
Wright v. Osbourne
For JOINT CUSTODY: The two parent’s incomes should be calculated according to NRS 125B.070 and the difference between them should be paid to the parent who has the child more.
Reel
Requiring a custodial parent to get written permission from a non-custodial parent to move does not violate the custodial parent’s right to travel because they could always travel, just not with the kids. The district court ruled that it did and allowed the move, the appellate court ruled that it did not, but still allowed the move because it was in the best interest of the children.
Rivero
Set out the guidelines for joint and physical custody and explained that if you are modifying a child custody agreement and one parent has sole custody, you have to show its in the best interest of the child and some sort of changed circumstances. But if you’re modifying a joint, its just best interests.
Love
He is required to keep paying child support even though he isn’t the bio dad. They were married, he supported the kid while they were married, and the only way to set aside the judgment is to show mom fraudulently concealed the kid’s parentage when they signed the paternity decree. Here she didn’t do that.
Williams
A spouse that doesn’t know that their marriage is void may receive equitable distribution of the property so long as they take action to correct the issue.
Das
Physical cruelty is a ground for at-fault divorce.
McGuire
Mental Cruelty is a ground for an at-fault divorce.
Mick-Skaggs v. Skaggs
Adultery is a ground for an at-fault divorce.
Nack v. Edwards Nack
Separate property that is comingled becomes community property. In this case an investment account.
Middendorf
An appreciation in value of separate property is considered marital property in a divorce proceeding was due to the labor, monetary, or in-kind contribution of either or both spouses during the marriage.
Cord v. Neuhoff
We can use Van Camp or Peirera bur Peirera is favored.
Ketterle
In determining equitable distribution, it doesn’t necessarily mean equal. Here an MIT professor had a much higher earning potential than his ex-wife who was a teacher’s aid.
Martindale
An award of alimony can only be modified upon a showing of a substantial and material change in circumstances of one of the spouses. Here the wife needed more alimony because she had to stay home with a disabled kid.
Buchanan
The factors to be considered when distributing alimony:
The financial conditions of the parties
The nature and value of each party’s property
The contribution of each to any property
The duration of the marriage
Each person’s income, earning potential, age, health, etc.
Michael H. v. Gerald D.
It is not a fundamental right to be considered a potential father. It does not violate the constitution for a state to have the assumption that all children born to a marriage are the husband’s kids.
McDermott v. Dougherty
Before the court can award custody of children to a 3rd party, they must find that both parents are unfit. It’s not enough to show the 3rd party is in the best interests of the kids. In this case, mom in jail, dad in airforce, kid is living with grandma.
Blevins v. Bardwell
Both parents in air force. Dad wanted to relocate with kid and the court had to consider the best interests of the kid. He claimed she had mental health issues but the wife was re-enlisted in the air force so they couldn’t be too bad. Because the dad would be moving in with grandpa who smoked, it wasn’t in best interests of kid.
Zepeda
Marital misconduct alone is not a controlling consideration in child-custody determinations, particularly if the misconduct does not harm the kids.
Wissink
When DV is alleged, the court must considered the effect of the DV on the best interests of the kid. In this case, kid wanted to live with dad even though he was abusive. Court remanded for evidentiary considerations.
Nicita v. Kittredge
The court has the authority to modify an agreed-upon parenting plan and implement its own specific plan, if the agreed-upon plan become unfeasible.
Kirsten L. v. Benjamin W.
A child custody award may be modified if the court determines that a significant change of circumstances requires the modification for the best interests of the kid. In this case, mom got custody but when the kid came out as transgender, it became in his best interest to live with dad because mom became abusive.
Fredman
The decision to allow a custodial parent to move must be based on several factors including, quality of life and the noncustodial parent’s ability to maintain a meaningful relationship with the kid. Here mom wanted to move to TX but kids wouldn’t know anyone and would have no support system. Dad had a huge family in FL where kids were currently living.
Hermesmann
It doesn’t matter how a kid is conceived, they had a right to child support. (Babysitter case)
In re Marriage of Nelson
A court may modify a child-support order if there is a substantial change in circumstances to one or both parties (i.e. remarriage).
In re Estate of Hollett
A premarital agreement is not enforceable if it was obtained through duress. So here, signing a prenup, while crying, the day before a wedding with 200 guests from out of town, was not okay.
Van Camp
The community property is equal to a reasonable salary multiplied by the number of years married. Everything else is separate property.
Periera
The separate property is equal to the original value plus a reasonable rate of return. Everything else is community. Original Value + Reasonable rate of return (Original Value x 10% x years married)
