Nevada Child Custody

Part of my Nevada Family Law Overview.

By Ronald W. Brilliant, Attorney at Law · Licensed in Idaho, Nevada & California · Last reviewed: September 2026 against Nevada Revised Statutes Title 11, chapters 121 through 130 (current through the 2025 legislative session and 2026 special session revisions)

In This TopicNevada Family LawTopic 9 of 15: Child Custody

Nevada’s child custody statutes are in chapter 125C of NRS. The Legislature has declared it the policy of Nevada to ensure that minor children have frequent associations and a continuing relationship with both parents after the parents end their relationship, separate or divorce, and to encourage parents to share the rights and responsibilities of child rearing (NRS 125C.001).

The parent and child relationship extends equally to every child and every parent, regardless of the parents’ marital status (NRS 125C.0015(1)). If no court has decided custody, each parent has joint legal custody and joint physical custody of the child until a court of competent jurisdiction orders otherwise (NRS 125C.0015(2)).

Legal Custody and Physical Custody

Nevada statutes treat legal custody and physical custody as separate decisions, and the court may award joint legal custody without awarding joint physical custody (NRS 125C.002(2)). Nevada’s interstate custody chapter defines “physical custody” as “the physical care and supervision of a child” (NRS 125A.145). Chapter 125C does not itself define legal custody.

Joint Legal Custody

When deciding legal custody, there is a presumption, affecting the burden of proof, that joint legal custody would be in the child’s best interest if (NRS 125C.002(1)):

• The parents have agreed to joint legal custody, or so agree in open court at a hearing on legal custody; or
• A parent has demonstrated, or has tried to demonstrate but had his or her efforts frustrated by the other parent, an intent to establish a meaningful relationship with the child.

Joint Physical Custody

When deciding physical custody, there is a preference that joint physical custody would be in the child’s best interest under the same two conditions: the parents agree, or a parent has demonstrated (or tried to demonstrate but was frustrated by the other parent) an intent to establish a meaningful relationship with the child (NRS 125C.0025(1)). To help decide whether joint physical custody is appropriate, the court may direct that an investigation be conducted (NRS 125C.0025(2)).

Primary Physical Custody

The court may award primary physical custody to a parent if it determines that joint physical custody is not in the child’s best interest (NRS 125C.003(1)). Joint physical custody is presumed not to be in the child’s best interest if (NRS 125C.003(1)):

• The court determines by substantial evidence that a parent is unable to adequately care for the child for at least 146 days of the year;
• The child was born out of wedlock and the rules described below apply; or
• Subject to certain exceptions, the court finds by clear and convincing evidence, after an evidentiary hearing, that a parent has engaged in one or more acts of domestic violence against the child, a parent of the child or any other person residing with the child. This presumption can be rebutted.

For a child born out of wedlock, the court may award primary physical custody to the mother if she has not married the father, no court judgment or order (or order entered through an expedited process) determining paternity has been entered, and the father either is not subject to any presumption of paternity under NRS 126.051, has never acknowledged paternity under NRS 126.053, or has had actual knowledge of his paternity but has abandoned the child (NRS 125C.003(2)(a)). The court may award primary physical custody to the father if the mother has abandoned the child and the father has provided sole care and custody in her absence (NRS 125C.003(2)(b)).

“Abandoned” here means a parent has, for a continuous period of at least 6 months, failed to provide substantial personal and economic support to the child, or knowingly declined to have any meaningful relationship with the child (NRS 125C.003(3)(a)). For establishing paternity, see Nevada Parentage.

The Best Interest of the Child

In any action to determine physical custody, the sole consideration of the court is the best interest of the child (NRS 125C.0035(1)). No parent may be given preference for the sole reason that the parent is the mother or the father of the child (NRS 125C.0035(2)).

Best-Interest Factors

In determining the best interest of the child, the court must consider and set forth its specific findings concerning, among other things (NRS 125C.0035(4)):

1. The wishes of the child if the child is of sufficient age and capacity to form an intelligent preference as to his or her physical custody.
2. Any nomination of a guardian for the child by a parent.
3. Which parent is more likely to allow the child to have frequent associations and a continuing relationship with the noncustodial parent.
4. The level of conflict between the parents.
5. The ability of the parents to cooperate to meet the needs of the child.
6. The mental and physical health of the parents.
7. The physical, developmental and emotional needs of the child.
8. The nature of the relationship of the child with each parent.
9. The ability of the child to maintain a relationship with any sibling.
10. Any history of parental abuse or neglect of the child or a sibling of the child.
11. Whether either parent or any other person seeking physical custody has engaged in an act of domestic violence against the child, a parent of the child or any other person residing with the child.
12. Whether either parent or any other person seeking physical custody has committed any act of abduction against the child or any other child.

Order of Preference for Physical Custody

Unless the best interest of the child requires otherwise in a particular case, the court must award physical custody in this order of preference (NRS 125C.0035(3)):

Priority	To whom
1	Both parents jointly under NRS 125C.0025, or either parent under NRS 125C.003 (NRS 125C.0035(3)(a))
2	A person or persons in whose home the child has been living and where the child has had a wholesome and stable environment (NRS 125C.0035(3)(b))
3	Any person related to the child within the fifth degree of consanguinity whom the court finds suitable and able to provide proper care and guidance, whether or not the relative lives in Nevada (NRS 125C.0035(3)(c))
4	Any other person or persons whom the court finds suitable and able to provide proper care and guidance for the child (NRS 125C.0035(3)(d))

If either parent applies for joint physical custody and the court does not order it, the court must state in its decision the reason for denying the application (NRS 125C.0035(3)(a)).

Before awarding custody to anyone other than a parent without the parents’ consent, the court must find that an award to a parent would be detrimental to the child and that an award to a nonparent is required to serve the child’s best interest (NRS 125C.004(1)). The court may exclude the public from any hearing on this issue (NRS 125C.004(3)).

Domestic Violence, Abduction and Other Presumptions

Domestic Violence

Except as provided in NRS 125C.210 and 125C.220, if the court finds, after an evidentiary hearing and by clear and convincing evidence, that a parent or other person seeking custody has engaged in one or more acts of domestic violence against the child, a parent of the child or any other person residing with the child, there is a rebuttable presumption that sole or joint custody by that person is not in the child’s best interest (NRS 125C.0035(5); NRS 125C.230(1)). The court must then set forth findings of fact supporting the determination, and findings that the custody or visitation arrangement it orders adequately protects the child and the parent or other victim who resided with the child (NRS 125C.0035(5); NRS 125C.230(1)). “Domestic violence” means an act described in NRS 33.018 (NRS 125C.0035(10)(b); NRS 125C.207).

If the court finds that more than one party committed domestic violence, it must, if possible, decide which person was the primary physical aggressor, considering factors such as prior acts of domestic violence, the severity of injuries, the likelihood of future injury and self-defense (NRS 125C.230(2)). If the court cannot tell who was the primary physical aggressor, the presumption applies to each party; if it can, the presumption applies only to that party (NRS 125C.230(2); NRS 125C.0035(6)).

Abduction

A finding, after an evidentiary hearing and by clear and convincing evidence, that a parent or other person seeking custody committed any act of abduction against the child or any other child creates a rebuttable presumption that sole or joint custody or unsupervised visitation by that person is not in the child’s best interest (NRS 125C.240(1); NRS 125C.0035(7)). If the presumption is not rebutted, the court may not order sole or joint custody or unsupervised visitation for that person (NRS 125C.240(1)).

A conviction, a plea of guilty or nolo contendere, or an admission to the court of the charged facts for a violation of NRS 200.310 to 200.340 or 200.359, or a similar law of another jurisdiction, is conclusive evidence that an abduction occurred (NRS 125C.240(2)). If a magistrate later finds probable cause that a person with custody or unsupervised visitation committed an abduction, the court must reconsider the custody order upon a motion to modify it (NRS 125C.240(3)).

Other Specific Rules

• Sexual assault: If a child was conceived as the result of a sexual assault and the person convicted is the natural father, he has no right to custody or visitation unless the natural mother or legal guardian consents and it is in the child’s best interest (NRS 125C.210(1)). If the convicted person was the victim’s spouse at the time, that rule does not apply, but if they later divorce, the conviction creates a rebuttable presumption that sole or joint custody by that person is not in the child’s best interest (NRS 125C.210(2)).
• Murder of the other parent: A parent’s conviction for first degree murder of the child’s other parent creates rebuttable presumptions against sole or joint custody and against visitation by the convicted parent, which may be overcome only in the ways the statute lists (NRS 125C.220(1)-(2)).
• Disability or registry identification card: A court may not deny custody or visitation rights solely because a person is deaf, is blind or has another physical disability, or holds a valid registry identification card for the medical use of cannabis or as a designated primary caregiver (NRS 125C.215).
• Military deployment: In a proceeding for custodial responsibility of a child of a service member or civilian employee, the court may not consider a parent’s past or possible future deployment in itself in determining the child’s best interest, but may consider any significant impact of the deployment on the child’s best interest (NRS 125C.0647).

Limits on Reunification Orders and Professional Testimony

During a child custody proceeding, the court may not remove a child from, or restrict contact with, a parent or litigant solely to improve the child’s deficient relationship with the other parent, if that parent or litigant is capable of meeting the child’s needs, is protective of the child, does not physically or sexually abuse or neglect the child, and is a person with whom the child is bonded or to whom the child is attached (NRS 125C.243(1)(a)). The court may order a child to receive reunification treatment only if it makes specific findings that generally accepted and scientifically valid proof shows the treatment is safe, effective and of therapeutic value and will not harm a child, and the treatment is not based on isolating the child from such a parent or otherwise prohibiting contact with that parent (NRS 125C.243(1)(b)).

When a parent is alleged to have committed domestic violence or child abuse, expert evidence on those allegations may only be admitted from a professional with demonstrated expertise and substantial clinical experience that are not primarily of a forensic nature, meaning not primarily court-ordered work for litigation (NRS 125C.245(1)(a), (3)(c)). In making any finding on such an allegation, the court must consider all relevant and admissible evidence of that parent’s past domestic violence or child abuse, including arrests, convictions and protection orders (NRS 125C.245(1)(b)).

Custody Orders

In a custody action, the court may make orders for the custody, care, education, maintenance and support of the child during the case, at the final hearing, or at any time during the child’s minority, as appears in the child’s best interest (NRS 125C.0045(1)(a)). A party may proceed without a lawyer (NRS 125C.0045(4)). The court may, when appropriate, require the parents to submit a plan for carrying out its custody order (NRS 125C.005(1)).

An order giving a party a limited right of custody must define that right with sufficient particularity, including all specific times and other terms (NRS 125C.0045(5)). “Sufficient particularity” means stating the rights in absolute terms, not with the word “reasonable” or similar terms open to different interpretations (NRS 125C.0045(5)).

Every order authorized by NRS 125C.0045 must contain a warning that abducting, concealing or detaining a child in violation of the order is punishable as a category D felony (NRS 125C.0045(6)). These orders must also state that the terms of the Hague Convention of October 25, 1980, apply if a parent abducts or wrongfully retains a child in a foreign country (NRS 125C.0045(7)).

A parent may not be denied access to the child’s records, including medical, dental and school records, because the parent is not the custodial parent (NRS 125C.005(2)). For child abduction safeguards in custody orders, see Nevada Child Abduction Prevention.

Changing a Custody Order

The court may modify or vacate its custody order at any time, even if custody was decided in a divorce obtained by default (NRS 125C.0045(1)(b)). A joint custody order may be modified or terminated on the petition of one or both parents, or on the court’s own motion, if the child’s best interest requires it (NRS 125C.0045(2)). If either parent opposes the change, the court must state its reasons in its decision (NRS 125C.0045(2)).

A custody order from another state may be modified to an order of joint custody at any time, subject to the jurisdictional requirements of chapter 125A of NRS and Nevada’s deployed parents provisions in NRS 125C.0601 to 125C.0693 (NRS 125C.0045(3)). For those interstate rules, see Nevada Child Custody Jurisdiction (UCCJEA) and Continuing Jurisdiction and Modification.

Summary Proceeding for Custody

Parties who agree on custody may use a summary proceeding if, when it begins, a court has jurisdiction under chapter 125A of NRS, the parties have signed a sufficiently particular agreement covering the custody, medical or other care, education, maintenance and support of the child, using the procedure is in the child’s best interest, and the parties waive written notice of the order, appeal, findings of fact and conclusions of law, and a motion for a new trial, and want the court to enter a custody order (NRS 125C.008). The agreement must also comply with chapter 125A of NRS, NRS 125C.0045 and other custody law (NRS 125C.008(5)).

The case begins with a joint petition signed under oath by both parties, and either party may revoke it before the order is entered (NRS 125C.0083(1); NRS 125C.0085). An order entered this way does not bar either party from later asking the court to modify or vacate it (NRS 125C.0087(2)).

Attorney’s Fees and Related Topics

Except as provided in NRS 125C.0689, in an action to determine legal custody, physical custody or visitation, the court may order reasonable fees of counsel and experts, and other costs of the proceeding, to be paid in proportions and at times the court determines (NRS 125C.250).

For visitation schedules and moving with a child, see Nevada Visitation and Relocation. For support, see Nevada Child Support. For which state’s court can decide custody, see Home State Jurisdiction.

How I Can Help

I help parents understand how Nevada courts weigh the best interest of the child, prepare custody agreements and parenting plans with the specific terms Nevada orders require, and present or respond to custody requests, including cases involving allegations of domestic violence. I also assist with motions to modify existing custody orders. Request a consultation to discuss your situation.

This page provides general information about Nevada family law, based on the Nevada Revised Statutes as currently revised, and is not legal advice. Court rules, regulations (including the child support guidelines), and case law also affect family law matters. Every family is different; consult an attorney about your situation. Reading this page does not create an attorney-client relationship.