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1. Who can recover child support?

By statute, “the physical custodian of a child may recover from the parent without physical custody, a reasonable portion of the cost of care, support, education and maintenance provided by the physical custodian. In the absence of a court order, the parent who has physical custody may recover not more than 4 years’ support furnished before the bringing of the action.” NRS 125B.030

2. How does the physical custodian of minor children get court ordered child support from the non-custodial parent?

Every child has the right to support from both parents – it does not matter whether the parents are divorced, separated or were never married. Each parent has a legal obligation to provide for the maintenance, health care, education and support of their minor children (for purposes of child support, generally a child is considered to be a minor until he or she reaches 18 years of age).

The person with physical custody of minor children (that is, the adult with whom the minor children live for more than 50% of the time) can obtain a court order for child support from the non-custodial parent(s) several different ways:
1. Child support may be ordered/agreed to in a divorce or separate maintenance action.

2. Child support may be ordered (temporarily) as part of an Extended Protection Order.

3. Child support may be ordered through an enforcement or establishment action brought by the Churchill
County District Attorney's Child Support unit on behalf of the custodial parent or non-parent/custodian.

4. Child support may be ordered/agreed to in a civil paternity action.

3. Extended protection order

An applicant for an Extended Protection Order may be granted a temporary order for child support. If another family law action is pending, this temporary order will last for 60 days; if there is no other pending family law matter, the order may last for as long as the protection order remains in effect, which could be up to one year.

4. What if I was never married to the father/mother of my child?

The parents of a child do not have to be married to one another in order to be held legally responsible to support their child.
If you are the father of a child, you may ask the Churchill County District Attorney's Child Support Division to obtain child support from the mother, even if you were never married to her, so long as you have custody of your child.
If you are the mother of the child, and if paternity is not an issue, you may ask the Churchill County District Attorney's Child Support Division to obtain child support from the father. If paternity is denied by the alleged father, there are at least two different ways you can seek to have a court determine whether the alleged father is the biological father of your child and responsible to pay child support.
Otherwise, you may ask the Churchill County District Attorney's Child Support Division to start a paternity/establishment action for you. The Child Support Division does not charge a fee for its services.
If you are the non-parent, physical custodian of a child, you may ask the Churchill County District Attorney's Child Support Division to obtain an order directing the parents to pay child support.

5. How is the amount of child support determined?

Child Support Guidelines

6. How long does the obligation to pay child support last?

Generally, a non-custodial parent must pay child support until the child reaches 18 years of age. However, if the child is still in high school, the obligation to pay child support will continue until the child’s graduation from high school or until the child’s 19th birthday, whichever occurs first. In addition, if a child was handicapped before his or her 18th birthday, support may be ordered until the child is no longer handicapped or until the child becomes self-supporting. A non-custodial parent’s obligation to pay child support will stop if a child is emancipated by judicial order, or if the child is legally adopted into another family.