Nebraska: Filing for Custody (With or Without Divorce)
A Nebraska court determines custody, parenting time and child support when parents divorce or separate. Filing a family case is one of the most important decisions you'll make.
Before you start
To file for divorce, either you or your spouse must have lived in Nebraska for at least one year. If you don't meet that residency requirement yet, you can file for legal separation now and convert it to a divorce later. As part of your divorce, the court will consider custody, parenting time and child support if your child has lived in Nebraska for at least six months (or since birth, if an infant).
To file for child custody when you're not married to the other parent, your child must have lived in Nebraska for the last six months (or since birth, if an infant). Parenting time, child support and paternity can be addressed during your case.
Opening a case involves filing a few simple initial documents. Nonetheless, it's a good idea to seek legal advice. Many family cases turn out to be more complex than they first appear. A lawyer must be licensed in Nebraska to represent you in a Nebraska court.
If you represent yourself, the court will communicate with you by email. If you can't use email, you must tell the court why.
The parent who initiates the case is the plaintiff, and the other is the defendant.
What you'll pay
It costs about $160 to file for divorce or custody. Serving the other parent costs about $50 plus mileage (to the Omaha sheriff, for example), though you'll avoid this cost if the other parent agrees to accept the papers from you directly. If you can't afford these fees, submit an In Forma Pauperis form to ask the court to waive them.
You'll also have to pay for a parenting class, which could be online and is about $30 for each parent.
Parents who are arguing are usually ordered to try mediation to resolve their issues. (The process can be adjusted to address safety concerns if there's been domestic abuse.) Full price for mediation to help you agree on a parenting plan may be about $250, though the mediation center may charge on a sliding scale. You can check the rates of the mediation centers approved by the Nebraska Office of Dispute Resolution.
A lawyer charges several hundred dollars per hour. If you can't afford that, Legal Aid of Nebraska can advise you whether you qualify for reduced fee or pro bono (free) help.
Initial paperwork if you're divorcing
Once you've reached agreement with your spouse, fill out the forms for divorce:
- Complaint for Dissolution of Marriage (to be served to the other parent)
- Vital Statistics Certificate
- Confidential Employment and Health Insurance Information
- Social Security Information
If you can't reach agreement, consult a lawyer.
Initial paperwork if you're not married
Fill out the forms for custody:
- Complaint for Paternity, Custody, Parenting Time, and Child Support (to be served to the other parent)
- Confidential Employment and Health Insurance Information
- Social Security Information
Serving the other parent and responding to service
The other parent can agree to accept a copy of the complaint directly from you. If they do this, they must complete a Voluntary Appearance, in which they acknowledge that they received the complaint and waive their right to be formally served.
Otherwise, you must serve a copy of the complaint to the other parent. You can pay the sheriff or hire a private process server. You'll pay more if the other parent lives far away or is hard to find. If you can't find out their address, you can get the court's permission to serve them by publication, meaning printing the information in the newspaper.
The other parent has 30 days to respond to service.
If they don't respond, you still have to take the parenting class, and you can request a default hearing. They'll be informed that the default hearing has been scheduled, giving them another chance to participate. If they still don't respond, the court is likely to give you sole custody since the other parent isn't contesting it. In the future, if the other parent wants a visitation schedule, they must attend the parenting class and go to mediation.
If you're divorcing, from the date of service, there's a waiting period of 60 days before your divorce can be finalized. Your divorce may be over that quickly if the other parent (whether participating in the case or not) isn't contesting anything.
Absent parents
Even if one parent is uninvolved in the child's life, the court still considers parenting plan proposals and tries to address child support.
Some parents reach agreement that one of them will have limited visits and that the support amount will deviate from the guidelines. Either parent can propose a step-up parenting plan to the court outlining how the uninvolved parent may formally increase their involvement. But if the absent parent can't be found at all, the court simply orders sole custody and is likely unable to order child support.
Less commonly, a parent's rights may be terminated. A guardian ad litem makes a recommendation, and a judge makes the final decision. The court may not need the consent of an absent parent (if a stepparent wants to adopt) or an abusive parent, but otherwise, both parents' consent is needed. Termination of parental rights ends a child support obligation, but the court won't accept that as a motivation for giving up parenthood.
As your case continues
If you find it hard to speak directly with the other parent, consult Nebraska's roster of mediators. You can bring a draft of your proposed parenting plan to mediation, and the mediator can help both of you negotiate and complete the document. If you and the other parent can't agree on a mediator, the court may choose one for you. All Nebraska courts tend to order parents to try mediation, though the process varies by county.
Some counties, like Douglas County, have an office called Conciliation and Mediation that can provide further assistance with your parenting plan and send reminders to help you through your case. If your county doesn't have that kind of office, you may receive such communication directly from the judge.
Both of you are expected to take a parenting class. The court won't schedule a hearing until the plaintiff files their own parenting class completion certificate.
If you need to know how to co-parent while your case is ongoing, you can ask the court for a temporary custody order. Typically, you'll submit written testimony (an affidavit), and you'll have a short hearing (about 15 minutes) so the judge can issue the temporary order.
Your case may take months or even years if you continue to argue. Eventually, either you'll settle or you'll head to trial.
Once the court gives you a final order, you both must follow it. However, it's possible to change an order. If you have a significant change of circumstances (like a new job or health status), you can ask the court to modify custody and parenting time. There are also situations in which you can ask to modify child support.
Legal help in Nebraska
Legal Aid of Nebraska can help you find information and representation.
You may seek limited scope representation if you only need a lawyer for certain tasks.
The Nebraska court system offers language access (interpretation).
Preparing for what comes next
If you haven't turned in a parenting plan yet, keep trying to agree on one with the other parent.
If agreement isn't possible, make your own plan to propose to the court.
Either way, you can use the Custody X Change parenting plan template.
Try this with Custody X Change.
The Custody X Change online app suggests what to include while giving you the freedom to write custom provisions.
Turn to Custody X Change for a court-ready plan that supports your child and your custody request.
Our professional sources
Koenig|Dunne
Joshua Livingston
Omaha, NE
Walz Law Offices PC LLO
Heather Horst
Omaha, NE