Thursday, September 1, 2011

What is joint physical custody in the State of Nevada?

The Nevada Supreme Court has defined joint physical custody in the State of Nevada.  Pursuant to the holding in Rivero vs. Rivero, the court determined that joint physical custody is at least a 40/60 time share/split calculated on a yearly basis. Essentially, one parent must have at least 40% of the custodial time on a yearly basis to be considered a joint custodian. The problem that Judges and family law practitioners are facing with regards to determining joint custody is how to calculate the timeshare and if it equates to a 40/60 timeshare. The Supreme Court has provided guidelines on how not to determine the 40/60 times share. Pursuant to the Nevada Supreme Court, we are not to count hours when calculating the time share nor are we to differentiate between sleeping hours, school hours, hours the child is in child care, or time the parent spends with the child. So how do we calculate the time share?  Judges differ drastically on the issue.