Divorce and Criminal Questions Asked and Answered with Louis Schneider

Some legal information that we offered for free on our last show.

When getting an amicable divorce (also called uncontested divorce) in Las Vegas, even though Nevada is a community property state, the parties can divide up the assets and debts any way they want because of the constitutional right to contract that Nevada takes very seriously, even among spouses.  There are several caveats, however, such as that the agreement should have waivers and full disclosure clauses. When undergoing an uncontested divorce, a Las Vegas family law attorney is recommended.

When someone dies without a will in Nevada, the property is divided according to the intestate succession statutes per stirpes.

Marijuana is legal in Colorado and Washington.  What if a person uses it in one of the states that it is legal in and then comes to Nevada and gets injured on the job?  Can the person be fired for having the pot in his system?  If you smoked a joint five days ago, you would still be under the influence according to Las Vegas DUI laws--it would still be in the blood stream.

Domestic violence in Las Vegas

Domestic violence in Las Vegas is a criminal charge that, for the first charge, would likely result in a misdemeanor.  However, even a misdemeanor conviction of domestic violence in Las Vegas can have long lasting and far reaching effects.  It is important to consider that if you have been charged with domestic violence and you plead guilty just to get it over with, you will no longer be permitted to own a handgun.  You may not care because you may not possess a hand gun. However, a guilty plea or verdict in your domestic violence case fill foreclose a future desire you may have to own one.

A domestic violence conviction also can impact your chances of gaining custody of your children in family court and employment opportunities.

DUI arrest after driving home from a party requires

Halloween is the beginning of the holiday season. For the next several weeks, Las Vegas metropolitan police officers will search for clues that a driver should not be behind the wheel. Las Vegas officers will pull over motorists for everything from a wrong turning moving to stopping past the stop line at intersections. Motorists become distracted over the holidays, but those are also clues that could mean someone is impaired.

If you get arrested on suspicion of DUI, call us as soon as possible for a confidential consultation.

Visitation with the children over the holidays.

If your ex is already talking about denying you visitation of your children over the holidays, you need to hire a Las Vegas family lawyer as soon as possible to get before a judge.  The holiday season sometimes brings out the worst in people, and the worst in parents is usually their treatment of their children and the other parent.

Let us assist you in dealing with your ex, the other parent, in a Las Vegas family court.  You should not procrastinate, especially if your rights to see your child are pretty limited already.

What are high asset divorces?

Now that the stock market is recovering, investment accounts are rising in value, and deferred compensation is returning, high-income individuals facing divorce are again dividing assets instead of only debts.

The courts call divorces involving retirements and high-income individuals, “high asset divorce cases,” and it is crucial to retain a qualified divorce attorney who is experienced with both family law and high-income individuals due to the complexity of the assets involved. Married couples with accumulated property and wealth are considered “high asset” when there are pensions, cars, boats, real estate, securities portfolios, business partnerships, stocks, investments and bonuses to be considered in a divorce.

After you have hired your family law attorney, it is time to consider hiring a tax accountant and financial/tax specialists.

In high asset divorce cases, issues to consider include:

·      Actual legal ownership of all property prior to divorce
·      The actual legal ownership in the event of a settlement
·      The actual legal ownership following a trial and judgment
·      The tax considerations of dividing assets
·      Worth or value of all assets
·      Security clearance for certain jobs and the consequences of divorce, debts, bankruptcies, and foreclosures
·      Community Property
·      Separate Property
·      Gifts
·      Prenuptial agreements and ante-nuptial agreements
·      Post-nuptial agreements and marital settlement agreements
·      Which of the three would be most productive: trial, mediation, or settlement negotiations

When you want equal custody of your child or children in Las Vegas...

When you are facing a Las Vegas family law matter involving dividing your child or children, you must consider your parenting plan schedule that will work with your work or school schedule and that of the other parent. You may want to equalize the time-share, creating a fifty-fifty arrangement. We include below some examples of fifty-fifty time-share arrangements. 

Please realize, however, that you can have as low as forty-sixty time-share and still be consider a joint physical custodian of your child or children.   Also, the forty percent calculation is determined by looking at an entire year, not a week-to-week basis.  This law comes from the Nevada decision in Rivero v. Rivero.

Below we use “Parent F” and “Parent M” to refer to the two parents in a child division negotiation.

Alternating Weeks Parenting Schedule

This fifty-fifty parenting schedule is where the child is in the care of Parent F in Week 1 and in the care of Parent M in Week 2. This results in the child living with Parent M for 7 days in Week 1 and with Parent M for 7 days in Week 2.

5-2-2-5 Child Custody Schedule

This fifty-fifty parenting schedule is where the child is in the care of Parent F every Monday and Tuesday (2 days) and Parent M every Wednesday and Thursday (2 days) each week. The weekend time Friday through Sunday would be alternated (3 days) between the parents. This results in the child being in the care of Parent F for 5 days and Parent B for 2 days in Week 1 and in the care of Parent M for 2 days and Parent M for 5 days in Week 2.

3-4-4-3 Child Custody Schedule

This fifty-fifty parenting schedule occurs when the child or children is/are in the care of Parent F from Wednesday through Friday in Week 1 and Wednesday through Saturday in Week 2. The child would be in the care of Parent M from Saturday through Tuesday in Week 1 and Sunday through Tuesday in Week 2.

Sharing Holidays and Summer

It is common for the summer vacation time and holidays to be split between the parents. Many different manners of division of time-share for the summer time such as alternating weeks, alternating every two weeks, adding a larger block of time for vacation for each parent onto the regular schedule, etc. There are also many different ways holidays can be shared such as splitting the holiday time or alternating each year between parents. For example, the child can spend an agreed upon holiday with Parent F in even years and Parent M in odd years or visa versa.

The above are just examples of some common parenting plans for fifty-fitfy joint physical custody which can be altered and adjusted in many different ways to accommodate what’s best for the children, family situation and arrangements that are not an exact fifty percent timeshare.

Before you go to court or to mediation, you should consult with a Las Vegas family law attorney.  After your mediation and before you sign the agreement, you should consult with a Las Vegas family law attorney.  Failure to do so could result in legal consequences you may not have anticipated.

High asset divorce law firm

Couples facing divorce who have assets valued over $100,000, low debts, and no children, will likely fight over the division of these assets.  When love morphs to anger, an experienced divorce law attorney is important to provide objectivity and to fight for your rights.  If you do not get a divorce lawyer with years of experience, you risk losing your rights and could end up worse off than you were during the marriage.  Do not let this happen to you.

Call the Law Offices of Louis C. Schneider for assistance with your Las Vegas divorce.  Call as soon as possible and speak to no one else about your case except your Las Vegas divorce lawyer.  The more you talk about your divorce or child custody to people, the more potential witnesses there may be against you.  Do not post on Facebook, do not text, do not e-mail, and do not talk until you talk to us.

Call:  (702) 435-2121
Thank you for visiting our family law blog.

Dogs Smell Bad, why this Matters for your Drug Arrest…

Did the police use a dog to sniff out drugs and then arrest you in Las Vegas, Henderson, or Southern Nevada for possession or intent to distribute or sell? 

If so, you should immediately call a Las Vegas criminal defense attorney who has experience with dog sniff drug cases.  Say nothing to the police before, during, or after the arrest.  In fact, say nothing to everyone except your criminal defense attorney.  Failure to remain silent could greatly negatively impact your defense.

Can the police use a drug dog to sniff out narcotics or other contraband? 

Yes!

Why?

Because…under the plain smell doctrine, if contraband can be detected by smell, this provides sufficient cause for the police to conduct a search without a search warrant if exigency so demands.  (Exigency means that the search has to be done now because waiting would cause some problem—i.e. the evidence would disappear).   Often, though, and depending on State or federal law, the police officer will wait for a magistrate to sign a warrant to conduct the search.  The same rules apply if a drug dog detects the odor. The plain smell doctrine is articulated in the United States Supreme Court opinion of Johnson v. United States 333 U.S. 10, 13 (1948).  As you can see, this rule has been around since at least 1948.  It is an extension of the “plain sight rule” which says that evidence indicating a crime has occurred that is in the plain sight of the police officer can be used as evidence even absent a search warrant.

Recently, though, the courts are questioning this police dog plain smell rule.  In California, for instance, a package of marijuana reeked and the police conducted a warrantless search.  Upon conviction for possession, the defendant appealed and now the higher courts are deciding whether the plain smell rule is constitutional and a valid extension of the “plain sight” rule. People v. Robey (S197735). 

Plain smell is more problematic than plain sight. For instance, a package may smell of drugs because it was somewhere that drugs had been, but the package itself contains private belongings of an innocent person.  This is perhaps one of the more compelling reasons to prevent officers from relying on the sense of smell, whether by their own nosy noses or those of their dogs.

Attorney Louis C. Schneider has had recent success in a huge criminal case involving drugs, interstate transport of drugs, and police dog sniffing out drugs.  After rigorously reviewing the evidence, the police procedure, and filing a motion with the criminal court, it was apparent that the police procedure that the police officer and the police dog used was illegal.  Louis Schneider will use the same diligence in reviewing the evidence against you when a police dog results in your arrest for possession of drugs in Las Vegas, Henderson, Clark County, or Southern Nevada.

REQUIRED DISCLAIMER

The information about Las Vegas drug criminal charges contained on this page is not intended to be legal advice about criminal law.  A Las Vegas defense lawyer should always evaluate your criminal law matter as soon as possible.  You should treat your drug charge with the seriousness it requires.  Moreover, the information contained in this blog is not intended to guarantee any result.  Each case is unique and will require special attention by a criminal defense attorney.

When you say, I need a criminal defense lawyer in Las Vegas, call us.