Ask the next person you see – it could be a stranger: “Do you know what UM or UIM automobile coverage is? Chances are the person will give you a bewildered look and ask: “What is it?” Uninsured and Underinsured Motorist coverage, known as UM and UIM coverage, is a form of insurance that protects you against drivers who choose to drive without insurance or only bare minimal policy limits. If such a driver negligently causes an accident, your ability to recover from your injuries and secure compensation for damages is put at severe risk. You may be forced to pay for your own vehicle repairs, medical bills, lost wages, co-pays, and deductibles. You cannot even be compensated for the pain and suffering the other driver caused no matter the extent of your injures. To protect against such a nightmare scenario, drivers are offered UM/UIM coverage that allows you to make a claim against your own policy when the other driver does not have enough insurance to pay your reasonable losses. • Do I call my insurance company to make a claim or call the person’s insurance who hit me? • Who do I call to fix or replace my damaged vehicle? Is a rental car available? • I cannot miss work to attend doctor appointments. What should I do? • If I don’t know a doctor who can provide treatment, how do I find one? • If I do not have medical insurance to pay my medical bills, what other options are available? • How much should I expect in a settlement or judgment following trial? The post What is Uninsured/Underinsured Motorist Coverage and Should I Have It? appeared first on vegas west attorneys. via Blogger What is Uninsured/Underinsured Motorist Coverage and Should I Have It?
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Probation is a procedural option for a defendant as an alternative to being sent to jail or prison. Rather than sentence the person and ordering them to serve time, the judge may provide an opportunity for the defendant to demonstrate that they want to rehabilitate themselves. Probation results in the release of a defendant back into the community without the same level of freedom as a normal citizen. Probation usually occurs at a sentencing hearing and may occur in either one of two instances: 1) the judge will find the defendant guilty of the crime but suspend the jail or prison sentence until they successfully complete probation; or 2) the defendant is given probation without a pre-determined sentence. Either way, once the defendant completes the conditions of probation, they will avoid prison for the remainder of their sentence. Do not confuse probation with parole. Parole is when a defendant is already in prison but will be released earlier than they were initially sentenced for. Probation requires that the defendant be supervised, that they follow certain rules and guidelines, and they illustrate extreme well-mannered behavior. While it is probation that may be viewed as an alternative to time behind bars, probation does carry many requirements and rules. Some of those specific requirements and/or rules include, but are not limited to: In addition to the conditions of probation, the Judge may have also sentenced someone to added conditions such as community service, financial restitution, anger management, mental health court, mandatory fines and fees, etc. There are no constitutional protections for someone on probation as it relates to searches. The person is subject to a warrantless search of their person, property, place of residence, vehicle, or areas under one’s control. Warrantless searches also extend to electronic devices like cellular phones, computers, tablets, smart watches, and electronic surveillance data for monitoring of your location. If anything goes unattended to, whether it be the failure to pay a nominal fee, failure to allow a search, or the failure to check in with a probation officer, the officer will issue a report to the Judge that includes the defendant’s probation violations. If the report is in fact issued, the defendant will be remanded for violating their probation. Once the defendant is remanded back into custody, they will appear before their presiding Judge whom will ask them to explain why they violated their probation. Also, present at this hearing will be the prosecutor, who may want to contribute argument supporting the revocation of probation. It is here that your criminal defense attorney needs to advocate on your behalf. They should be attempting to convince your Judge why you deserve a second chance, rebut the arguments of the prosecutor, and/or argue why the case should have never been remanded back to the court in the first place. If successful through argument, the defendant will be provided another chance by the Judge to resume probation and the programs that are associated with it. However, if the Judge does not believe the defendant is telling the truth, believes the prosecutor, and/or the defendant has multiple probation violations in the past, the Judge will more than likely revoke their probation and remand them into custody. It is at that time that the Judge may impose the remainder of the prison sentence on the defendant and probation will no longer be an option. This also deeply weakens an argument later for parole. The post What is Probation? appeared first on vegas west attorneys. via Blogger What is Probation? Family Law CLE inspired by the Beatles December 6, 2018 Program and descriptions and speakers to be released The post 15th Annual State Bar of Nevada Advanced Family Law Program appeared first on vegas west attorneys. via Blogger 15th Annual State Bar of Nevada Advanced Family Law Program According to the United States Supreme Court, being a parent is a fundamental right. This is a long-protected right and as far back as 1923, the Court stated: “liberty” protected by the Due Process Clause includes the right of parents to “establish a home and bring up children” and “to control the education of their own.” Thus, the law in Nevada, and every other state, provides considerable statutory emphasis to ensuring that parents, if possible, maintain that right. The mechanism to ensure that parental “liberty” in Nevada is the multi-pronged “parental preference” statute, and any person who wants to obtain custody of a child other than a parent, with certain exceptions, must overcome that preference. This represents a very formidable burden for anyone who is not a parent, and thus far, the law bundles grandparents into this same mix, with everybody else who is not a parent. The Law Gives Parents Preferential Treatment Because being a parent is a fundamental right, attempts by state legislatures in several states to provide more custody rights for grandparents have been declared unconstitutional as an undue and additional burden on parental rights. The bottom line therefore, is that if a parent is fit and proper, the law assumes and creates a strong preference that it is in the best interest of children to be with their parents, and neither the state, nor anybody else, has the right to interfere with that parent/child relationship. By corollary, this also means that grandparents, since the law views them in the same manner as any other non-parent, do not have legal rights to obtain custody from a fit parent. The parental preferences are a lengthy list of factors called “extraordinary circumstances” which must be proved prior to granting custody to a nonparent. In Nevada, the extraordinary circumstances necessary to overcome the parental preference presumption are those which result in serious detriment to the child. Those non-exclusive factors include: • abandonment or persistent neglect of the child by the parent; • likelihood of serious physical or emotional harm to the child if placed in the parent’s custody; • extended, unjustifiable absence of parental custody; • continuing neglect or abdication of parental responsibilities; • provision of the child’s physical, emotional and other needs by persons other than the parent over a significant period; • the existence of a bonded relationship between the child and the non-parent custodian sufficient to cause significant emotional harm to the child in the event of a change in custody; • the age of the child during the period when his or her care is provided by a non-parent; • the child’s well-being has been substantially enhanced under the care of the non-parent; • the extent of the parent’s delay in seeking to acquire custody of the child; the demonstrated quality of the parent’s commitment to raising the child; the likely degree of stability and security in the child’s future with the parent; • the extent to which the child’s right to an education would be impaired while in the custody of the parent; • and any other circumstances that would substantially and adversely impact the welfare of the child. If Parents Are Unfit To Have Custody It is not all bleak for grandparents however, as the law does provide for considerably more leeway for those seeking only visitation with their grandchildren. Regarding visitation, initially, predictably, the courts start from the proposition that if a fit parent decides to deny the grandparents visitation, it is assumed to be in the best interest of the child. However, if a grandparent has previously obtained an order of custody, or visitation, then the parental preference statutes do not apply, and the parent does not get the benefit of that considerable assumption to prevent visitation. The reason for this is that since the grandparent(s) obtained a custody or visitation order previously, they have already overcome the parental preference. The List Of Alternative Custodians In Nevada, if a court determines that it is not in the best interest of the child for the parents to obtain custody, the law provides a list of persons for the court to award custody or visitation to a non-parent. First on that list is someone who has previously provided a “wholesome and stable environment” for the child. This means that at some point, the child has resided with that person, very likely a grandparent, for sufficient time that evidence can be submitted which prove that the grandparent has in fact provided a wholesome and stable environment for that child. Next, if parents are for some reason deemed unfit to have custody, is a more distant relative of the child, “within the fifth degree of consanguinity to the child whom the court finds suitable and able to provide proper care and guidance for the child, regardless of whether the relative resides within this State.” (NRS 125C.0035). Note that this preference permits a potential removal of the child from Nevada. Finally, because best interest of the child is the overriding consideration, custody can ultimately be awarded to any person who is found to be suitable and able to provide proper care and guidance for the child. However, prior to awarding custody to any non-parent, a court must specifically find that it would be detrimental to the child to make an award to a parent. If The Child Has Been Subjected To Abuse And Neglect Similarly, in situations where a child is subjected to actual abuse and/or neglect, a parent can be judicially determined to be unfit, and custody can be awarded to a nonparent. This can also occur if a parent becomes too sick to care for a child. In abuse and neglect scenarios, a grandparent will frequently be considered as a potential “adoptive resource”. Again, however, a parent must be given the opportunity to rehabilitate their behavior, and the courts will only move to terminate the parental right of that parent if they fail in that regard. Thus, it is a mixed bag for grandparent rights and opportunities for custody and visitation can reach fruition, but only if parents are judicially determined to be deficient in parenting in some way. The post Grandparent Rights- It All Comes Down To The Best Interest Of The Child appeared first on vegas west attorneys. via Blogger Grandparent Rights- It All Comes Down To The Best Interest Of The Child It is early April and are you thinking of moving outside of Las Vegas, maybe to another state? Do you have school-age children that you want to take, and the other parent is staying behind? Even if the other parent doesn’t live in Las Vegas, but has legal custody rights, do you need their agreement if they do not agree to the relocation of the kids. What do you need to do? When should you seek relief from the court? To move, you must either get the other parent’s written consent or a court’s order allowing you to remove the children to another state, even if the other party already lives out-of-state. And, if you plan to relocate during the summer school break, now, or in the near future, is the time to file your request with the court. To grant a move, the Court will have to set the matter for a trial, and that could take several months. If you don’t file soon enough, and the trial gets set out past the start of next year’s start date, then, even if you win, the court will probably make you wait until the semester break before removing the children from school. Here are a few things to consider: Even if the court allows you to move, generally the court will not grant a move mid-semester unless it is necessary, and what seems like a necessity to you is often not perceived as a necessity to the court. Further, a move request that is disputed will generally end up being decided only after a trial, meaning that you should plan far in advance. You should consider that some of the judicial departments will take up to six weeks to just hear your relocation motion, which means that even if your motion is filed in April, it could be mid-June before you get in front of a judge just to decide whether your request has enough merit to give you the trial. Then you need the time to prepare your case, such as engage in discovery, take some depositions if necessary, and maybe even fit in a child interview. And, some departments don’t have room on their calendar for three to four months to schedule your trial. The process takes more time than you think. Ideally, you should plan your move sometime during the summer break, or Winter Break, and file your request about six months before the proposed move. Work transfers and other unforeseen circumstances are an exception that may allow the process to happen quicker. The more time you have to plan your move, however, the better your chances of being given permission by the court. vegas west attorneys can assist you with your move related issue. Whether or not you are able to obtain the other parent’s written consent to move, vegas west attorneys can help. Call Gary Zernich of vegas west attorneys to schedule your consultation. The post WHEN IS THE RIGHT TIME TO FILE YOUR MOTION TO ALLOW YOU TO RELOCATE WITH YOUR MINOR CHILD FROM NEVADA? appeared first on vegas west attorneys. via Blogger WHEN IS THE RIGHT TIME TO FILE YOUR MOTION TO ALLOW YOU TO RELOCATE WITH YOUR MINOR CHILD FROM NEVADA? Many police officers would say they would never want to hurt a family pet. Unfortunately, there are certain situations that place an officer in a position where he feels he has no other choice than to protect himself and shoot a dog. Most of families with dogs who are killed by police officers have little to no recourse available because the law widely considers dogs to be property. Sadly, this limits damages in a civil case for the death of a family dog at the hands of the police to the dog’s economic value. When you consider the fact that many dogs are adopted or cost next to nothing, families have no remedy available unless the family lives in a state that also allows for emotional damages. Fortunately, this trend is changing, as multiple courts have recently awarded substantial damages to families who lose a dog at the hands of the police. The movement toward awarding a family money for the death of a dog at the hands of the police started in California in 2005. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals at San Francisco held that San Jose police officers violated the Fourth Amendment and committed an unconstitutional seizure when they raided a Hells Angels clubhouse and several members’ homes and killed three dogs. The city paid a $797,500 settlement. Since then, there have been multiple high settlements and judgments. The settlements include $100,000 paid by the city of Detroit in 2016 after a police officer killed a dog chained up next to a home, $885,000 paid by the city of Hartford in 2017 after an officer shot and killed a dog during an unlawful search, and $262,500 paid to a Colorado family in 2016 after an officer killed their dog. Similarly, in May 2017, a jury awarded dog owner Michael Reeves $1,260,000, which is the highest civil judgment in U.S. history awarded for a pet’s death at the hands of the police. Reeves’ family dog, a Chesapeake Bay Retriever, was shot twice by an officer investigating a robbery. Reeves rushed out and tried to save his gasping dog by putting his fingers in the bullet wounds, but Reeves’ efforts were unsuccessful and his dog died shortly after. Pursuant to a Maryland statute that limits local government liability, the court later reduced the $1.26 million judgment to $207,500. Nevertheless, this is still one of the highest awards for the loss of a family pet at the hands of the police. No one knows exactly how many dogs are killed by the police each year, as there is no uniform reporting requirement. However, the frequently cited estimate from the U.S. Department of Justice states approximately 25-30 dogs are killed by police officers each day. For most dog owners, no amount of money can compensate them for the loss of their dog because their dog was a member of their family. Most of these families would rather just have their dog alive. The high judgments and settlements many of these cities paid out to these families caused some cities to instill training programs to teach officers how to appropriately handle encounters with family pets. Hopefully, cities can put far less money into these training programs than they would pay out in settlement or jury awards, and fewer families will endure the tragedy of a police officer killing their beloved dog. The post Courts Decide: Dog Lives Matter appeared first on vegas west attorneys. via Blogger Courts Decide: Dog Lives Matter It’s an old movie trope: the mysterious private eye chasing after a married man or woman trying to “catch them in the act,” usually the act of infidelity. Not many understand where this trope comes from or why private investigators are so often connected to divorce cases. Prior to 1970, one needed to show fault in order to obtain a divorce – one spouse was found “at fault” and the other spouse found “innocent.” An “innocent” spouse needed to show “fault” on the part of the other spouse to be granted a divorce, and the “at fault” spouse had to obtain the consent of the “innocent” spouse for a divorce. “Fault” could be things like adultery, abuse, or abandonment. California was the first state to become a “no-fault divorce” state in 1970, and Nevada soon followed suit. Even prior to officially becoming a “no-fault divorce” state, however, Nevada’s liberal divorce and residency laws made it easier to obtain a divorce in Nevada as opposed to other states. While Nevada law still articulated grounds for divorce, those grounds could be interpreted to encompass most situations (i.e., “mental cruelty”), so it was much simpler to obtain a divorce in Nevada, because a divorcing individual did not have the burden of proving adultery or abuse. By 1909, Reno was considered America’s “divorce headquarters” and the divorce business became a lucrative one. Nevada’s residency requirement was shortened to three months in 1927, which was much shorter than many other states. In 1931, the requirement was shortened to six weeks (which is what it remains today). Nevada also did not have any restrictions on when one could re-marry after divorcing, when other states did. For example, California law prohibited remarriage within a year of divorce at one time. “Divorce ranches” became popular in Nevada – places where people could stay long enough to fulfill the residency requirement for a divorce. Tule Springs, which has since been renamed Floyd Lamb State Park and sits at the northwest edge of Las Vegas, was a divorce ranch in the late 1940’s. These divorce ranches were often luxury versions of the “dude ranches” that dotted the American west. Most ranches did not allow children and offered activities such as horseback riding. For many women, a stay at a divorce ranch was the first time they had ever lived alone, and the ranches became desirable work places for single young men. Even celebrities took part, including author Arthur Miller, who, after obtaining his divorce papers after a stay at Pyramid Lake, went on to marry Marilyn Monroe. In the late 1960’s and early 1970’s states began enacting no fault divorce laws. As mentioned, California was the first to do so. Lawmakers reasoned that having no fault divorce would end the motive for individuals to commit perjury and make false allegations to meet the grounds for divorce. The last state to pass a no-fault divorce law in 2010. Under NRS 125.150, the court must make an equal disposition of community property, unless it finds compelling reasons for making an unequal distribution. This is where the “no-fault divorce” aspect comes into play. Litigants are often eager to get into court and show the Judge evidence of a spouse’s infidelity. If that infidelity, however, does not have a financial component, it is usually irrelevant. Marital waste can be a “compelling reason” for the court to make an unequal disposition of property – for example, reimbursing one spouse the amount the other spouse spent pursuing extramarital relationships. The landmark cases on community waste are Lofgren v. Lofgren, 112 Nev. 1282, 926 P.2d 296 (1996) and Putterman v. Putterman, 113 Nev. 606, 939 P.2d 1047 (1997). In Putterman, the Nevada Supreme Court stated that financial misconduct justifying an unequal division of community property could include wasting community assets, secreting assets during the divorce case, “negligent loss or destruction” of community assets, or unauthorized gifts of community money or property. Individuals therefore may hire a private investigator to gather evidence of marital waste – for example, trying to catch their spouse on expensive dates. Most often, however, private investigators are needed to discover hidden assets. If a litigant suspects his or her spouse is hiding assets, it may be helpful to have a private investigator look into those suspicions and see if the investigator can find any hidden accounts, properties, or other assets that may be community. The information uncovered by private investigators, absent a court order stating otherwise, is typically considered “work product.” Work product is material that is prepared by or for an attorney or prepared in anticipation of litigation. Work product is generally also privileged and not discoverable by the other side, although the privilege is not absolute if the opposing party can give a good enough reason for its production. The statute governing private investigators, NRS 648.200, states private investigators are to keep their information private, except if the client asks them to divulge it, but the court can compel a private investigator to disclose their records. Private investigators can become expensive, as such investigations often involve time-consuming and sensitive work, so it is important to weigh the importance of information or assets the investigator may find with the cost. An experienced family law attorney can help a client determine whether a private investigator is needed and the cost is justified. The post No-Fault Divorces in Nevada appeared first on vegas west attorneys. via Blogger No-Fault Divorces in Nevada “My ex wants to get our daughter a cell phone, but I don’t think she’s ready.” “My ex constantly calls and texts our son when he is with me, and it is affecting the quality of our time together.” “My ex won’t give me the password to our children’s phones so I can monitor their online activity.” “My ex blocked me from the kids’ phones so I can’t call them.” In the last five years, conflicts between parents over children’s smartphone use have skyrocketed. Over three-quarters of Americans own a smartphone, a number that has risen exponentially since 2011. In December 2016, the Google Play Store surpassed 2.6 million apps, and there are approximately 2.2 million apps in the Apple App Store. Smartphones have become an inevitable fact of life for most of the country, but their popularity has increased so significantly and so recently, that the science of how smartphones affect our lives has not had a chance to catch up. Smartphone use is even prevalent amount infants, with apps such as YouTube Kids soaring in popularity. A survey done in 2015 found that more than one-third of parents allowed their children to use a smartphone before that child’s first birthday. The American Academy of Pediatrics, however, discourages the use of smartphones with infants under two years old. Last year, pediatricians at the Hospital for Sick Children in Canada studied 900 infants between six months and two years old found that infants who spent at least 30 minutes using smartphones had a 49% increased risk of speech delays. The average age for an American child to receive their first smartphone is 10 years old. Even at this age, however, smartphones may still have negative effects on a child’s psyche. Jean Twenge, a professor of psychology at San Diego State University, collected data from 500,000 children across the United States between 2010 and 2015, and found that children who spent more than three hours per day on a smart phone were 34% more likely to consider or attempt suicide, and that number jumped to 48% for children who spent more than five hours per day on a device. She has not concluded, however, whether smartphone use leads to the depression or if depression leads to increased smartphone use. Smartphones can be seriously addictive to children, and the number of children and teens enrolling in “technology addiction” treatment has risen sharply in the last decade. Smartphones can also affect sleep patterns and sleep quality, and there are additional concerns about cyberbullying and a child, whether it be by accident or intentional, stumbling upon disturbing sexual or violent images or videos on the internet. There are also apps, such as the “Secret Calculator” app, that can enable children to hide files, photos, and videos from their parents behind an app that appears to simply be a phone’s default calculator app. Merely not allowing teens to have access to smartphones is not so simple of an answer, however. According to a 2015 Pew Research Center study, nearly 75% of teens now have access to a smartphone. Data analyzed by Verto Analytics found that teens unlock their devices 95 times per day, on average. There are, however, some upsides to smartphone use. A study done at the University of Minnesota among teens with noncustodial fathers who lived out-of-state found that smartphone communication between teens and a nonresident parent can improve such relationships. There is still a great deal of research that needs to be done on the effect of smartphones on the brains of children and teens, but smartphone use among these groups is here to stay. Psychologists recommend that parents use consistent rules about when smartphone use is an is not allowed, that parents consider not allowing smartphone use overnight, and, particularly for younger children, that parents monitor their children’s online activities and keep track of their passwords How does a parent reduce conflict with an ex-partner regarding cell phone use? First, in the absence of extenuating circumstances, it is important to give a child some level of privacy to speak to the other parent. Respecting and being consistent with the rules related to the smartphone developed by another parent can also help to reduce conflict, as can communicating with the other parent to develop sensible rules to be used in both households. A parent should also resist the temptation to excessively call or text a child while the child is with the other parent (in the absence of an emergency) and to respect the other parent’s time with the child. Many parents avoid conflict by agreeing upon a window of time in which the child can call or text with the other parent to check in or say good night. Though this subject matter is fairly new, an experienced family law attorney can help a parent find options to reduce conflict with a co-parent surrounding smartphone issues, and to negotiate reasonable rules for cell phone use with which both parents can agree. The post Cell Phone Use Among Children and Teens with Separated Parents appeared first on vegas west attorneys. via Blogger Cell Phone Use Among Children and Teens with Separated Parents vegas west attorneys is pleased to announce that Curtis R. Rawlings has joined the firm as a partner. Curtis practices primarily in family law, insurance defense and complex civil litigation. Curtis will be working primarily out of the Henderson office and may be reached at (702) 388-1851 or [email protected]. The post Curtis R. Rawlings Has Joined vegas west attorneys appeared first on vegas west attorneys. via Blogger Curtis R. Rawlings Has Joined vegas west attorneys vegas west attorneys is pleased to announce that Joe Riccio had an article published in the February 2018 issue of Communique, the Official Publication of the Clark County Bar Association. Joe’s article addresses changes to Eighth Judicial District Court Rules that some lawyers have overlooked. Joe practices primarily in the areas of family law, personal injury and criminal law. Joe recently was awarded an AV rating by Martindale Hubbell and became a partner of vegas west attorneys. The post Congratulations to Joe Riccio appeared first on vegas west attorneys. via Blogger Congratulations to Joe Riccio |
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