Appealing a Child Custody Decision

What happens when the family court’s decision about custody does not rule in your favor?

If you feel a mistake has been made in your child custody case, you may be entitled to either reconsideration or an appeal.

Having a skilled and highly experienced legal team can ensure you are educated on the steps involved to fight a child custody ruling.

Do you have legal grounds for reconsideration?

It is important to note that you need firm legal grounds for fighting a child custody ruling. You’ll need to base your argument for reconsideration or your appeal on evidence. This is one of many reasons why it is important to have an experienced child custody attorney on your side.

Our Nevada child custody attorneys are well-versed in the child custody laws of Nevada and can determine if you have grounds for reconsideration or an appeal.

These grounds include violations of procedural requirements, applying the law incorrectly, and improperly including or excluding evidence.

How are child custody decisions made?

In an ideal situation, parents will consider the needs of the children and come to an amicable agreement about how their custody and care will be handled.

When they cannot, the court must make a decision based on the best interest of the children. Several factors are considered, including:

If there is a history of abuse, that must also be considered before a decision is made.

Filing for reconsideration

Your attorney will prepare the motion outlining your legal argument, provide additional evidence and ensure your case is both legally and procedurally sound. The court will hold a new hearing and issue new orders and/or set your case for Trial to hear full argument and take testimony and evidence.

Appealing your Custody order

Your attorney will write a brief summarizing your grounds for appeal and demonstrating inconsistencies in the ruling. Once the court receives and reviews the brief, the appellate court will consider your appeal case and review the original hearing transcripts, in order to formulate a decision.

The appellate court will use the same principles used to make the original decision. You won’t be allowed to introduce new testimony or present new witnesses. You probably won’t have the opportunity to speak to the appellate court judge or be present while the case is being reviewed.

The decision the judge reaches will be based on a review of your attorney’s brief and the existing court transcripts.

Appeal vs. Modification. Which is better?

There is no guarantee that your appeal or reconsideration of your custody order will be successful.

But if there was a court error in the original ruling, it is worth the time and effort to appeal to have it corrected.

In some cases, you may need to file for modification of custody because of a change in circumstance.

The change in circumstances must be substantial. Typically the standard is that the change must be involuntary, unanticipated, and/or permanent. It could be that one parent has moved out of state, or someone has gone through a crisis like domestic violence.

A custody modification has no statutory timeline because circumstances can change at any time following a ruling.

Custody appeals go to a higher court, but custody modification is usually heard in the same court where the original ruling was decided.

Appeals have much more stringent qualifications, and the court of appeals is of superior authority to lower district courts. Deadlines to file the appeal and briefs, as well as to pay court costs, are very strict.

If you simply need a change to custody or visitation, a modification may be a less costly and time-consuming option.

Child Custody Lawyers in Nevada

There is a very short window in which you can file for reconsideration or file for an appeal. Therefore it’s best to seek immediate assistance from an experienced child custody law firm as quickly as possible.

Smith Legal Group has child custody lawyers to help make sure your reconsideration or appeal is filed timely and in accordance with Nevada law. Contact our Henderson, NV office at 702-410-5001 to request a free consultation to discuss a child custody appeal, custody reconsideration or custody modification.