Our office recently won a child support modification and medical bill issue on behalf of our client. Nevada’s law allow for child support to be adjusted under certain circumstances. The law also requires a parent to be equally responsible for a child’s medical bills. Fortunately, there are ways to ensure that your child’s other parent is paying his or her fair share. In the instant case, our client gained both an increase in child support and an award of roughly $3,000 from the Court for incurred medical expenses.
Nevada law allows for the adjustment of child support
Many people mistakenly think that a child support order cannot be changed once it is entered along with their initial child custody order. Nevada law allows for child support to be modified under either of two circumstances. The first of these circumstances is if a parent’s income has changed, upwards or downwards, by at least twenty percent. The second of these circumstances is the passage of time; a parent may request that child support be reviewed by the Court every three years.
Your child custody arrangement will impact the type of child support modification you are eligible for. If you have joint child custody, then child support will be calculated using the income of both parents. A change in income of either parent, therefore, may impact the amount of support paid as well as which parent is paying. If a parent has primary custody then support will be calculated solely from the income of the non-custodial parent. Only a change in the income of the non-custodial parent will impact support in such a situation.
I discuss these issues further in this video:
Nevada makes parents equally responsible for a child’s medical bills
Nevada requires that parents equally share any medical bills of a child that are not covered by insurance. The Clark County Family Courts will typically use what is called the “30/30 rule.” This means that when a parent receives a medical bill they have thirty days to send it to the other parent. The other parent then has thirty days, from the day he or she received the bill, to reimburse the other parent. If the parent incurring the medical expense doesn’t provide the bill within the thirty days then reimbursement is generally not available. Our recent victory gave our client a $3,000 Court Ordered judgment against the other parent for unpaid medical bills. Our client may now take steps, such as a wage garnishment, to collect the judgment.
If you believe you are eligible for a Nevada child support modification, or if you are having issues with another parent not paying their fair share of medical bills, then contact our office today.