Child Support Enforcement - Sarpy County Nebraska
Child Support Enforcement - Sarpy County Nebraska
Child Support Enforcement - Sarpy County Nebraska
You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles
YUMPU automatically turns print PDFs into web optimized ePapers that Google loves.
Willers v. Willers, 255 Neb. 769, 587 N.W.2d 390 (1998)<br />
Not a classic retro support case. Mother took minor child to Washington State, then filed for<br />
divorce. Washington State entered the divorce, but no support was ordered because the court<br />
lacked jurisdiction over the husband/father. Now father has been brought to court in <strong>Nebraska</strong><br />
and custodial parent sought support retroactive to the date of the divorce.<br />
A child born out of wedlock is entitled to child support retroactively to the date of<br />
birth, because it is upon the child’s birth that the parental duty of support<br />
commences.<br />
[T]he parental duty to support minor children can be enforced retroactively to the<br />
date of the divorce decree where a child is born in wedlock, the parents are<br />
subsequently divorced, but the divorce decree is silent on the issue of child support.<br />
67A C.J.S. Parent and <strong>Child</strong> 75 at 390 (1978)<br />
“While the right to child support may be barred by laches, an unreasonable delay in seeking<br />
support cannot waive the right of the child to support, or remove the obligation of the father to<br />
support the child”<br />
See Modification Issues.<br />
Review & Modification<br />
Same Sex Marriage/ Civil Union Related Issues<br />
§42-117. Marriage contracted out of state; when valid.<br />
All marriages contracted without this state, which would be valid by the laws of the country in<br />
which the same were contracted, shall be valid in all courts and places in this state.<br />
Source: R.S.1866, c. 34, § 17, p. 257; R.S.1913, § 1556; C.S.1922, § 1505; C.S.1929, § 42-117;<br />
R.S.1943, § 42-117.<br />
While many attorneys have long scoffed at child support law as being static and<br />
“boring”, we who practice in the area know that nothing could be further from the truth.<br />
Now, with a growing number of states† adopting same sex marriage laws or policies,<br />
including <strong>Nebraska</strong>’s neighboring State of Iowa, it is becoming clear that a whole new<br />
chapter is being written in the field of child support. This is an exciting time for child<br />
support and family law practitioners!<br />
Differences in state laws involving same sex marriages, separations and dissolutions<br />
will have to be addressed by child support offices nationwide, including here in <strong>Nebraska</strong>.<br />
The ink had barely dried on the new marriage rules in Iowa before one of our child support<br />
offices got a call from an attorney who has a client who pays support on a <strong>Nebraska</strong> child<br />
support order. He pays for his minor daughter, who planned on marrying her same sex<br />
partner in Iowa after she turns 18 years old. The inquiry was whether this marriage will<br />
serve to terminate the father’s ongoing child support obligation. Traditionally, when a<br />
minor child marries anywhere before their 19 th birthday, and the NCP provides proof of<br />
same, the marriage will serve to terminate the child support obligation as of the date of the<br />
marriage.<br />
- 168 -