Legal Question in Family Law in Nebraska
Child support ordered illegal?
My ex-wife received a divorce in Nebraska after leaving our home state of Nevada and taking our two children with her. I filed for custody/divorce in Nv 24 hours before she did in NE. the lawyer I hired in NE told the judge it was pending already in NV, which was the state the children had residency. The judge gave her custody anyway, with temp-support and no visitation for me. Can he do that? Is it legal?
The petition for divorce states it was heard on Aug. 25,1996. In the decree it states child support to begin on Dec.1,1996. The decree was not signed by the judge until Aug. 8,1997. I was not notified until Nov. 1997. This means that the moment the judge signed the decree I became instantly in arrears in the support order. My ex-wife has now filed against me for back support in NV. My question is can the amount incurred against me from 12-1-96 to 8-8-97 be voided? Is this legal? can they hold me responsible for something I knew nothing about? I am requesting a hearing and need to know the answer to these questions soon.
I would like to thank you in advance for your attention in this matter.
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: Child support ordered illegal?
I doubt if you are going to be successful in arguing that the child support you were ordered to pay is illegal, whatever the circumstances.
You might be sucessful with an appeal on the issue of whether the Nebraska court had authority to enter a custody order if your children had been living in Nevada during the six months before the divorce was filed. You don't say what the Nevada Court decided, and therefore I am assuming that you never obtained a final order from Nevada.
I wish I could tell you that there was an easy or inexpensive solution to this problem. Instead, I can tell you that you can spend a lot of money litigating this situation, and you will probably be unhappy whatever the outcome is.
Related Questions & Answers
Looking for something else?
10,200 active attorneys ready to answer your legal questions today.
Featured Attorneys
Earn additional revenue and grow your business.
