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.

DUI Experience, your advocate in court.

Not every lawyer who handles DUIs are equal in skill and experience. Surprisingly, the differences in pricing and services are not that dramatic, so you can literally get a half-assed lawyer for the same amount as an experienced DUI attorney.  For the person seeking legal representation in a standard DUI case, attorneys’ fees may be fairly competitive.

Judges are not lenient with DUI cases, even if it is your first offense.  As a result, it’s important to realize that hiring a lawyer is in your best interests despite the costs.  In general, you will already be paying hefty fines for the DUI charge and risk the suspension of your driver’s license, depending on which stage of the legal process you are in.  Some judges may waive part of the fines, but there is nothing that can be done to waive the conviction.  That is something that could stay with you for the rest of your life.

Louis Schneider has represented many DUI clients both in negotiating acceptable settlements and at trials when negotiations fail.  Call us for help with your Las Vegas DUI.

Remember, for misdemeanor crimes, you will not get a court appointed public defender.  If you want a criminal defense attorney to represent your interests, you will have to hire one in private practice. 

Parental rights termination proceedings require a clear judgment

Because even family law judges make mistakes in rendering family law rulings, it is best to have an attentive family law attorney represent you especially when your fundamental parental rights are at risk in a termination of parental rights action.

In April 2012, the Nevada Supreme Court ruled on a case involving termination of parental rights. The Nevada Supreme Court determined that the lower Nevada district family court must make express findings of fact in its written family court order, or on the record, when determining whether to grant or deny a petition to terminate a parent’s parental rights.  In that specific family case, the district court had failed to find facts by the clear and convincing standard required to terminate a parents rights:

The court stated:

A petitioner in termination proceedings has the burden to prove by clear and convincing evidence that termination is in the child’s best interest and that parental fault exists.  When a district court fails to make any findings concerning this standard of proof in its order or on the record, this court is unable to determine on appeal whether substantial evidence supports the district court’s ruling.  In the present case, neither the district court’s order nor the record contains findings of fact to support the district court’s conclusions, and thus, we reverse the order terminating appellant’s parental rights and remand this matter to the district court to enter its findings.  

 In re Parental Rights as to C.C.A., 128 Nev. Adv. Op. No. 15 April 5, 2012 

In this case, the family trial court had a two day evidentiary hearing and then failed to either give an oral ruling or a written ruling that explained the findings of facts and conclusions of law to warrant the court terminating your parental rights.

When you say to yourself, I need an attorney for parental rights, call us.

REQUIRED DISCLAIMER

The information about termination of parental rights contained on this page is not intended to be legal advice about termination of parental rights.  Your termination of parental rights matter should always best be evaluated by a Las Vegas family lawyer.  You should treat termination of parental rights with the seriousness it requires.  Just as you would not likely conduct surgery on yourself, you should not represent yourself in court regarding your termination of parental rights matter.  

At the very least, the best free advice a lawyer can give: consult with a local attorney—multiple times if necessary if you insist upon representing yourself.

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

Traffic Ticket Lawyer in Las Vegas, Henderson, and Nevada Federal Court

Many residents and tourists are charged with traffic violations each year in and around Las Vegas, but few of them realize the problems associated with being convicted of the traffic charges.

When a person who is given a traffic citation by the police pleads guilty to the traffic violation, pays a fine, and attends traffic school, they probably have not considered the following ramifications associated with pleading guilty to a traffic citation:

•          Every conviction for a moving violation likely will raise your insurance rates.

•          Multiple convictions for traffic violations will likely result in a driver’s license suspension or license revocation. In Nevada, if you are convicted of driving with a suspended license, you may 
be restricted from acquiring a new license for a full year.

•          If you were involved in an automobile accident, received a moving citation, and are being sued civilly, the conviction may be used in the civil lawsuit to show that you were per se negligent.

•          If you have a commercial driver’s license (CDL), you may lose your license and the ability to earn a living. 

•          If you handle the traffic ticket by yourself, you will probably take at least 1 day off from work to go to court to resolve the ticket, and it is not a pleasant experience. 

As a result of convictions for moving violations, like simple speeding tickets, you will likely pay fines, court administrative fees, increased insurance costs, and attend traffic school. Further, you could suffer possible suspension or revocation of you driver’s license. If your Nevada license is suspended, you will not be able to obtain a license in any other State until the Nevada suspension is completed. On top of this, you will need to miss a whole day’s pay, just to go to court!

So, how can you likely prevent the headaches associated with the above for some minor traffic infraction?  You hire a criminal defense attorney with experience negotiating thousands of citations.  Louis Schneider has negotiated plea deals for misdemeanor traffic citations for many years and will bring his knowledge to the court for your matter and you will likely have to do little more than pay his fee, give him a copy of the citation, and then pay the fine to the court upon a negotiated deal.

When you say, I need a traffic ticket lawyer in Las Vegas, 

Call us: (702) 435-2121

(702) 435-2121 "I got in trouble at Rehab at the Hard Rock." CALL.

Rehab at The Hard Rock is definitely the best place to be during the Las Vegas summer.  Young, good-looking partiers enjoy the pools, the drinks, and each other at the Hard Rock Rehab.  The police are undercover, though, and they are looking for drugs like ecstasy and marijuana that party goers bring to Rehab.  The police are also looking out for prostitution. Rehab is a pressure cooker of fun and good times and the police are there looking for crime or suspicious behavior.  Cheap thrills can become very expensive. 

You may be at Rehab at the Hard Rock for a bachelor party or bachelorette party, maybe even your honeymoon.  You may even tell yourself, “I’ve never done drugs before,” or “I’ve never solicited before,” but Rehab at the Hard Rock party atmosphere tempts you and you get busted.  You could have been having the best time of your life, too. If you are arrested or cited for any infraction of the law while at Rehab at the Hard Rock Hotel, be it drug possession, solicitation, prostitution, assault, battery, resisting arrest, trespass, DUI and you can afford to hire a private Las Vegas criminal defense attorney, you should hire the Law Offices of Louis C. Schneider, which has experience with tourists and locals in trouble at Rehab at the Hard Rock.

Rehab at the Hard Rock is the destination for a cheap, unique Las Vegas experience.  You should have the best time you can, but if something goes wrong, a criminal defense attorney will help. 

Criminal defense attorneys are not just for hardened repeat criminals.  You do not have to be a villain to require the legal help of an experienced criminal law attorney.  You can simply be a good person caught up doing something that someone else believes was against the law, such as having too good of a time at Rehab at the Hard Rock.  And, guess what, it may not have been against the law—but do not argue with your accuser (police or hotel guards).  Hire a Las Vegas lawyer who is trained to argue points of fact and criminal law, hire a Las Vegas criminal defense lawyer, especially one who used to be a prosecutor and understands the system and the players, and also, an attorney with experience dealing with situations arising from criminal activity at Rehab at the Hard Rock.

Many criminal judges are elected because they say they are, “Tough on crime,” or “Hard on criminals,”  and locals do not realize that this usually means the judge will be tough or hard on them for even minor mistakes or stupid, one-time experiments.  You need an attorney who understands how the system works so that you have the best shot to free yourself of the accusation or reduce punishment. If you are cheap and want to go with a free public defender, do not expect top notch representation and do not be surprised if you end up with many years of regret.

The Law Offices of Louis C. Schneider will not judge you, we will help you when others do. 

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

Call The Law Offices of Louis C. Schneider at (702) 435-2121 and mention that you saw this blog article.