Case library
Nevada family-law decisions, briefed for practice.
1201 decisions, organized by topic. Practitioner summaries with key holdings, posture, disposition, and the statutes cited - up front, where you need them. Every summary links to the full opinion.
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66 cases · Termination of Parental Rights - NRS ch. 128.
MATTER OF PARENTAL RIGHTS AS TO K.D.L. (TERMINATION OF PARENTAL RIGHTS)
Dec 3, 2002118 Nev. 737, 58 P.3d 181 (2002) · 38816 · Nevada Supreme Court
Affirmed. ("we affirm the judgment of the district court terminating Richard's parental rights.")The court affirmed termination of an incarcerated father's parental rights, distinguishing cases where termination rested solely on incarceration. A petitioner must prove by clear and convincing evidence both the…
MATTER OF PARENTAL RIGHTS AS TO J.L.N. (TERMINATION OF PARENTAL RIGHTS)
Oct 18, 2002118 Nev. 621, 55 P.3d 955 (2002) · 38100 · Nevada Supreme Court
Reversed. ("we reverse the order of the district court terminating Diana's parental rights.")The court reversed an order terminating an incarcerated mother's parental rights, holding the record lacked substantial evidence of best interest or parental fault. The parent-child relationship is a fundamental liberty…
MATTER OF PARENTAL RIGHTS AS TO Q.L.R. (TERMINATION OF PARENTAL RIGHTS)
Sep 18, 2002118 Nev. 602, 54 P.3d 56 (2002) · 38221 · Nevada Supreme Court
Reversed. ("we reverse the district court's order terminating Roger's parental rights.")This case of first impression held that incarceration does not, as a matter of law, support a determination that a parent intended to abandon a minor child, and reversed termination for lack of substantial evidence.…
MATTER OF PARENTAL RIGHTS AS TO T.M.C. (TERMINATION OF PARENTAL RIGHTS)
Aug 28, 2002118 Nev. 563, 52 P.3d 934 (2002) · 38306 · Nevada Supreme Court
Affirmed. ("we affirm the district court's order denying Brian's petition to terminate his parental rights.")The court considered whether a parent may voluntarily terminate his own parental rights, and affirmed the denial of the father's petition. Termination is an 'exercise of awesome power'; although the court must find at…
MATTER OF PARENTAL RIGHTS AS TO N.J. (TERMINATION OF PARENTAL RIGHTS)
Aug 24, 2000116 Nev. 790, 8 P.3d 126 (2000) · 32436 · Nevada Supreme Court
Reversed and remanded for a new trial.The court rejected the jurisdictional/dispositional standard of Champagne v. Welfare Division, 100 Nev. 640, 691 P.2d 849 (1984), in light of legislative amendments to NRS 128.105, and adopted a best interest/parental…
MATTER OF PARENTAL RIGHTS AS TO CARRON (TERMINATION OF PARENTAL RIGHTS)
Apr 9, 1998114 Nev. 370, 956 P.2d 785 (1998) · 30377 · Nevada Supreme Court
Affirmed.The power to terminate parental rights is an 'awesome' power that the court scrutinizes carefully. Champagne v. Welfare Division, 100 Nev. 640, 645, 691 P.2d 849, 853 (1984). Termination requires both jurisdictional…
MATTER OF PARENTAL RIGHTS AS TO DANIELS (TERMINATION OF PARENTAL RIGHTS)
Jan 22, 1998114 Nev. 81, 953 P.2d 1 (1998) · 28704 · Nevada Supreme Court
Affirmed.The court affirmed termination, addressing procedural due process and the statutory grounds. The parent-child relationship is a fundamental liberty interest. Santosky v. Kramer, 455 U.S. 745, 753 (1982). Procedural due…
COOLEY VS. DIVISION OF CHILD & FAMILY SERVICES (TERMINATION OF PARENTAL RIGHTS)
Oct 1, 1997113 Nev. 1191; 946 P.2d 155 · 28890 · Nevada Supreme Court
Affirmed.Affirming a termination of parental rights, the court applied the two-part framework of Champagne v. Welfare Division, 100 Nev. 640, 646, 691 P.2d 849, 854 (1984): termination requires clear and convincing evidence of…
IN THE MATTER OF PARENTAL RIGHTS AS TO DECK (TERMINATION OF PARENTAL RIGHTS)
Jan 4, 1997113 Nev. 124; 930 P.2d 760 · 27260 · Nevada Supreme Court
Affirmed.Affirming termination of both parents' rights, the court applied the two-part Champagne framework requiring clear and convincing evidence of jurisdictional grounds (a specific fault or condition of the parent) and…
MATTER OF PARENTAL RIGHTS AS TO BOW (TERMINATION OF PARENTAL RIGHTS)
Jan 4, 1997113 Nev. 141; 930 P.2d 1128 · 27315 · Nevada Supreme Court
Affirmed.Affirming termination, the court applied the Champagne framework requiring clear and convincing evidence of both jurisdictional grounds (a specific fault or condition of the parent) and dispositional grounds (the…
IN RE: PARENTAL RIGHTS AS TO WEINPER (TERMINATION OF PARENTAL RIGHTS)
May 30, 1996112 Nev. 710, 918 P.2d 325 (1996) · 27047 · Nevada Supreme Court
Affirmed. The order terminating parental rights was affirmed.By the Court, Rose, J. (Steffen, C.J., Young and Shearing, JJ., concurring). The court affirmed an order terminating parental rights, rejecting due-process, jurisdictional, and dispositional challenges. Due process.…
SMITH VS. SMITH (TERMINATION OF PARENTAL RIGHTS)
Jun 26, 1986102 Nev. 263, 720 P.2d 1219 (1986) · 16940 · Nevada Supreme Court
Reversed.The court applied Champagne v. Welfare Division, 100 Nev. 640, 691 P.2d 849 (1984), requiring both jurisdictional grounds (a specific fault or condition of the parent) and dispositional grounds (best interest of the…
DALY VS. DALY (TERMINATION OF PARENTAL RIGHTS)
Mar 6, 1986102 Nev. 66, 715 P.2d 56 (1986) · 15423 · Nevada Supreme Court
Affirmed.Applying the clear and convincing evidence standard adopted in Cloninger v. Russell, 98 Nev. 597, 655 P.2d 528 (1982) (following Santosky v. Kramer, 455 U.S. 745 (1982)), and the two-part jurisdictional/dispositional…
MORSE VS. MORSE (TERMINATION OF PARENTAL RIGHTS)
May 19, 198399 Nev. 387, 663 P.2d 349 (1983) · 13640 · Nevada Supreme Court
Affirmed. ("Accordingly, the order of the district court is affirmed.")This was an appeal from the denial of an NRCP 60(b) motion to set aside an adoption order, and the court affirmed. The parties had jointly executed and filed a petition for adoption in September 1979 in which both…
CHAPMAN VS. CHAPMAN (TERMINATION OF PARENTAL RIGHTS)
Mar 13, 198096 Nev. 290, 607 P.2d 1141 (1980) · 11217 · Nevada (SCOTN/COA)
Reversed and remanded with directions to dismiss the petition without prejudice.The Court (Mowbray, C.J.) reversed an order terminating a mother's parental rights, holding the record insufficient to support the district court's findings. Termination is a drastic measure that 'should be applied with…
IN RE ASTERBLOOM'S ADOPTION (TERMINATION OF PARENTAL RIGHTS)
Jan 16, 194663 Nev. 190, 165 P.2d 157 (1946) · 3441 · Nevada Supreme Court
Affirmed. ("The order denying the motion to set aside and nullify the order of adoption is affirmed.")Appeal from an order denying the natural father's motion to set aside a 1939 stepparent adoption. Held: the case is governed by N.C.L. sec. 9481; upon the mother's consent and the judge's finding that the father had…
Every summary is independently verified against the source opinion; summaries are informational research aids, not legal advice, and no substitute for reading the decision. Topic groupings are derived automatically from each case’s category tag and cited statutes; a case may appear under two topics.