Home - WILLICK LAW GROUP is a Family Law firm in Las Vegas NV Founded in 1985 the firm has dedicated itself exclusively to the field of Family Law for over two decades and is located across the street from the Family Court building The firm practices both at the trial court level in State and Federal Courts and in appeals to the Nevada Supreme Court and the Federal Appellate Courts
Divorce - Nevada is a nofault community property state At least one party to the marriage must be a Nevada resident for six weeks before filing for divorce While divorces are as individual as are people the issues that arise in divorce generally fall in five broad categories Grounds and jurisdiction for divorce Child issues custody visitation and support Property and debt issues Alimony spousal support or maintenance issues and Procedural and cost issues We have divided these five general categories of divorce into specific topics of specific information below
Child Custody and Visitation - In Nevada the key concept regarding child custody matters is the best interest of the child There is no automatic preference in favor of either parent and both legal custody who has the right and responsibility to make parenting decisions and physical custody in whose custody the child will physically be placed must be specified in every divorce involving minor children Proof that a parent has engaged in acts of domestic violence generally disqualifies that parent from being a custodian of a child
Child Support - In Nevada parental child support obligations are set out in Chapter 125B of the Nevada Revised Statutes Those statutes and the cases decided pursuant to them govern who has an obligation how long the obligation lasts what the obligation is when and how the obligation may be modified and limited issues regarding collection of the obligation
Fees And Costs - Nevada courts may make awards of attorneys fees to enable the other party to carry on or defend a legal action Over the years the standard has evolved In 1971 the Nevada Supreme Court stated that it was important to award fees over and above any support ordered so that counsel could be paid without diminishing care for children The next year the Court indicated that greatly disproportionate wealth would alone be a basis for an award of fees with the objective that the requesting party be able to meet the other party in court on an equal basis This is often referred to as the Sargeant standard named for the case in which the idea was published
Grounds and Jurisdiction - Nevada courts may make awards of attorneys fees to enable the other party to carry on or defend a legal action Over the years the standard has evolved In 1971 the Nevada Supreme Court stated that it was important to award fees over and above any support ordered so that counsel could be paid without diminishing care for children The next year the Court indicated that greatly disproportionate wealth would alone be a basis for an award of fees with the objective that the requesting party be able to meet the other party in court on an equal basis This is often referred to as the Sargeant standard named for the case in which the idea was published
Preliminary Matters and Motions - Some kinds of orders can be obtained immediately upon filing for divorce For example either party upon request may obtain a Joint Preliminary Injunction or JPI which provides that both parties are restrained from 1 disposing of coowned property with some exceptions 2 molesting harassing or injuring the other spouse or a child and 3 attempting to relocate with a child and so deprive the court of jurisdiction as to the child
Spousal Support/Alimony - There are four basic kinds of alimony or spousal support that might be awarded in a divorce case First there is temporary spousal support permitted under NRS 125040 which refers to sums awarded from one spouse to another during a divorce action as temporary maintenance
Property Rights and Division - Nevada is a community Porperty state with a presumption of equal division upon divorce that presumption can be overcome only for compelling circumstances such as the financial misconduct of wasting oar sereting assets during the divorce
Interspousal Torts - One spouse may sue the other for injuries arising out of the operation of a motor vehicle Neither the Nevada Legislature nor the Nevada Supreme Court has yet extended that permission to sue beyond motor vehicle cases but it appears likely that such a decision will eventually be made Thus while the question has not been tested in the Nevada Supreme Court the following crimes may give rise to a private cause of action sounding in tort transmission of venereal disease custodial interference by parent sexual assault and assault and battery
Joint Petition Divorces - Since 1983 Nevada has had some provision for summary divorce procedures By 1987 it had matured to the current Joint Petition Summary Proceeding law for the stated purpose of simplifying the procedures for divorce when both parties were in agreement and eliminating costly court proceedings for proper person litigants Forms for such divorces are even posted on the selfhelp centers website
Premarital/Postnuptial/Separation/Marital Settlement Agreements - Nevada adopted the Uniform Premarital Agreement Act UPAA in 1989 Premarital agreements sometimes called prenuptial agreements executed before then are evaluated under the case law decided previously A premarital agreement must be in writing and signed by both parties and can govern questions of property debts and alimony during life and upon death Such an agreement may not decide child custody visitation or support
Interest & Penalties - Any payments due for either child support or alimony become judgments by operation of law from the date they are due but unpaid Other payments due either periodic or lump sum do not have this automatic provision and if they were not formally reduced to judgment in the earlier proceedings constitute unliquidated damages until the person owed the money returns to court to reduce those sums to judgment
Annulment - There are two kinds of annulments under Nevada law those in which the marriage was void and those in which the marriage was voidable A marriage performed in Nevada is void automatically on either of two conditions that the parties are related by blood any closer than second cousins or if either party has a a former husband or wife then living
Separate Maintenance - Separate maintenance sometimes called legal separation can be used to determine and settle spouses financial responsibilities to one another and relating to custody visitation and support of any minor children without dissolving the marriage
Termination of Parental Rights - Nevada court can terminate the rights of a parent relating to a child declaring that child free from the custody and control of either or both of his parents In all such actions the best interests of the child is the primary consideration which is examined in conjunction with a finding of parental fault
Adoption - Nevada law allows for the adoption of both children and adults Any adult person or any two persons married to each other who are at least ten years older than the person sought to be adopted may petition to adopt a child
Paternity - In Nevada paternity may be established in a legal action brought by natural person or by the State As a result of legislation mandated by the Federal government in 1996 paternity may be established by the mother and father executing an affidavit for the acknowledgment of paternity which is often made available and signed at the hospital when a child is born Sixty days after it is signed an acknowledgment is deemed to have the same effect as a judgment or order of a court
Domestic Violence - Domestic violence sometimes called family violence is a problem cutting across all classes of American society It is surprisingly common usually by men against women and usually rooted in the exercise of power and domination by a stronger person against a weaker person Victims often experience guilt and selfblame which is part of the syndrome of domestic violence and blaming the victim is often a response by abusive spouses when they are confronted about their conduct
Family Law Ethics - Family Law requires attorneys to represent clients in many complex adversarial and challenging situations The attorney must fulfill a variety of responsibilities to clients to opposing parties to the courts and to third parties as well
How Our Law Firm Operates - We find that we can better serve each client if we tell them what they can expect from this law firm in advance Part of that communication is to inform all clients of our office operating procedures which we go over at an initial consultation but some of which are recapped here Our policies and procedures have been developed to save our clients money and time as well as obtain maximum results from our office
Consultation Policies - The purpose of an initial consultation is to obtain from a prospective client the factual details of the legal dispute or question and to explain to the degree possible what alternatives are available under the law
Published Works - The following links are to some of the published law review articles and other publications that the attorneys of the Willick Law Group have written and Continuing Legal Education CLE materials from some of the courses that the attorneys of the Willick Law Group have taught or presented
Appeals - The WILLICK LAW GROUP maintains an active practice in appeals of domestic relations cases and has done so for about 20 years both in appealing or defending cases in which we were trial counsel and accepting appeals that were handled by other law firms at the trial level We are admitted to practice in the Nevada Supreme Court the Federal Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals and the United States Supreme Court
Palimony/Cohabitation - The State of Nevada does not recognize common law marriage meaning a marriage that comes about without a marriage ceremony simply by cohabitation and the holding out by two people as married However in the past quarter century Nevada law has evolved so that much the same effect might be created at least as to the right to property acquired while a couple cohabits
Marshal Law Arrearage Calculation Program - Interest on accrued payments in family law cases is critical It sometimes amounts to enough money to pay all costs and attorneys fees while still enlarging the net award to the client Basically over the past twenty years or so interest has run at about 10 per year if it takes five years to collect a judgment after it accrues the sum owed increases by about 50 And that is just interest Child support also accrues a 10 per annum penalty when calculated and requested by the party owed the money
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Specialization - For many years Nevada did not recognize specialists in areas of law In December 2003 however the Nevada Supreme Court authorized the Nevada State Bar to certify legal specialists In February 2005 the Board of Governors of the Bar approved Standards for Certification of Family Law Specialists and recognized the existing Nevada Fellows of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers as certified specialists
Willick Law Center - In 2005 Marshal S Willick embarked on mission to create a stateoftheart facility for the modern practice of family law After many years of making do with the limitations of his current and former offices he decided to create from scratch an office designed to fully meet the needs of clients and staff
Attorney/Client Privilege - As a general proposition everything discussed between this office and any client or even potential client is and will be treated as confidential information protected by the attorneyclient privilege against disclosure
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Availability as an Expert Witness - Mr Willick is available to be hired as an expert witness in the areas of Nevada Family Law retirement benefits and certain related fields Retirement and pension benefits includes military retirement Civil ServiceOPM benefits under CSRS FERS or the TSP Nevada PERS benefits everything dealing with ERISA the REA and QDROs survivorship benefits under any private or governmental retirement plan including the military Survivor Benefit Plan SBP SGLI and VGLI insurance and disability awards under all those retirement systems
Mediation Services - The Willick Law Group offers the services of its attorneys as mediators to resolve family law disputes Several of our attorneys are experienced mediators who can often resolve cases bringing to bear both our disputeresolution abilities and our substantial experience with and knowledge of the issues in dispute including child custody and visitation child support alimonyspousal support and valuation and division of community and marital property
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QDRO/Retirement Orders - While the division of marital property generally is governed by state domestic relations law any assignments of pension interests must also comply with federal law For private company pensions that means the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 ERISA and the Internal Revenue Code For federal government employee pensions it means the Civil Service and Federal Employees Retirement Systems CSRS FERS
Military Retirement Benefits - military retirement benefits survivor survivorship DFAS DD 2656 death
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QDRO Checkup - The Willick Law Group has drafted QDROs COAPS and military retirement benefit division orders for our own clients for decades Over the last 10 years we have also reviewed hundreds of QDROs drafted by other attorneys accountants or actuaries Weve discovered that a large number of retirement division orders contain mistakes of math law or process preventing the intended beneficiary from actually receiving some or all lifetime or survivorship benefits
Uncontested Divorce - Annulment of a marriage entered into in Nevada does not require Nevada residency while a divorce would require residency here of at least one party to the marriage The distinction is explained on our web site The fastest cheapest and easiest method for an annulment is when both parties to the marriage will sign supporting affidavits as to the mutual mistake etc underlying the grounds asserted but obtaining an uncontested annulment is often still possible if only one party participates and the other does nothing
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