John Cereso Legal Minute

John E. Cereso Nevada Law Group

Child Custody

John E. Cereso

John E. Cereso, Esq. and the Nevada Law Group have substantial experience in the field of custody law. One of the frequent questions we get from fathers in Henderson and Las Vegas is what rights of custody do fathers have. Especially among unmarried fathers, the conception is that they have very little rights in the matter of who decides the amount of access they have to their children. 

The fact is that both parents have legal rights to their children regardless if they are married to each other or not. Starting from the time of the birth of the child, parents share equal parental rights. 

John E. Cereso comments, "Sometimes men run into problems establishing paternity, and that may make it difficult to assert the father's rights. A simple paternity test is usually the best way to establish parentage of the child and the associated rights that stem from it."

Nevada Law:

NRS 126.031 makes clear that the relationship that exists between father and his child, regardless of whether the parents were married at the time of the child’s birth:

1.  The parent and child relationship extends equally to every child and to every parent, regardless of the marital status of

Father Have No Custody Rights?

the parents.

2.  Except as otherwise provided in a court order for the custody of a child:

(a) Except as otherwise provided in paragraph (b), the mother of a child born out of wedlock has primary physical custody of the child if:

(1) The mother has not married the father of the child; and

(2) A judgment or order of a court, or a judgment or order entered pursuant to an expedited process, determining the paternity of the child has not been entered.

As the first paragraph unequivocally establishes, marriage does not factor into the rights of the father. However, in Section 2 (b) the law establishes that it is the mother who has "primary" custody of the child in the case of unmarried parents. The use of the word "primary" does not establish that the mother has sole custody but rather, she is the default custodian until decided by a court. Fathers are entitled to equal custodial rights to their children, but if unwed, must get an order from the Court in order to exercise those rights under this statute only if the father is not listed on the birth certificate.  If the birth certificate has been issued, then dad gets equal custodial and legal rights.

As far as establishing the paternity of the father, document NRS 126.053 is routinely issued to both the parents at the time of the birth of the child. If this document is not challenged within 60 days of signing, the paternity of the father is considered established. When this happens, subsection 2 of NRS 126.031 is negated by its own terms. Thus the parents have the same legal rights married or not. 

The mis conception that fathers have no custody rights to their children, if unwed, stems from the fact that law enforcement often defaults in favor of the mother. NRS 126.031 establishes that both parents have rights but does not answer the question of who has custody, it falls to the father to immediately file a complaint and motion to establish custody in the district court.  

John E. Cereso and Nevada Law Group recommend If you are a father in Nevada and you are attempting to assert your custody rights or establish the paternity of your child, it is very important for you to seek legal counsel. We at Nevada Law Group are here to help. If you have questions for John E. Cereso please email him at johnecereso@gmail.com.