Lizeth E. v. Roberto E.

Lincoln, Nebraska family law lawyers represented mother and father in a child custody dispute.





In 2011, Roberto and Lizeth E., now known as Lizeth S., married and a child, Roberto E., Jr. (Roberto Jr.), was born to the marriage. Roberto subsequently adopted Lizeth's four children: Andres E., Angel E., Adrian E., and Adriana E.





In 2011, Roberto and Lizeth E., now known as Lizeth S., married and a child, Roberto E., Jr. (Roberto Jr.), was born to the marriage. Roberto subsequently adopted Lizeth's four children: Andres E., Angel E., Adrian E., and Adriana E.



In 2014, Lizeth filed a complaint in the Lincoln County District Court to dissolve the marriage. In 2017, the court entered a decree of dissolution. It awarded Lizeth physical and legal custody of all five children and ordered Roberto to pay monthly child support of $1,333 for all five children.



Juvenile Court Cases



While in Lizeth's custody, each child was the subject of a juvenile court petition alleging the child to be a "juvenile" as



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[317 Neb. 973] described in Neb. Rev. Stat. § 43-247(3) (Reissue 2016). As a result, the children were, at various times, put in placements outside of Lizeth's home.



•Andres was on probation and in out-of-home placements, including with relatives, from December 9, 2020, to February 5, 2021, and from March 16, 2021, to June 22, 2023.



•Angel and Adrian were removed from Lizeth's custody on August 4, 2021, were placed in foster care, and were returned to Lizeth's home in December 2022.



•Adriana was removed from Lizeth's custody on March 8, 2021, and has remained in foster care. In a June 2023 order, the juvenile court approved a permanency goal of guardianship.



•Roberto Jr. was removed from Lizeth's custody on August 4, 2021, was placed in foster care, and has remained in Roberto's custody since November 19.



Bridge Order and Orders Nunc Pro Tunc



In May 2022, the county court for Frontier County, acting as a juvenile court, entered a bridge order placing Roberto Jr. in the sole custody of Roberto. The order transferred jurisdiction to the Lincoln County District Court. Except for this bridge order, the record before us does not disclose any juvenile court order addressing child support or any attempt by any party in juvenile court to seek any such order.



Roberto subsequently sought an order nunc pro tunc to reflect the custody change. He attached to his motion an "accurate split custody child support calculation." The court entered the requested order, finding that the 2017 child support order should be "modified to reflect the Bridge Order split custody arraignment [sic]." The court attached to its order Roberto's split custody child support calculation.



Shortly thereafter, Roberto filed another "Motion Nunc Pro Tunc." He alleged that the child support calculation attached to the order nunc pro tunc was incomplete, because it contained only two of four pages. Roberto attached to his motion an updated calculation.



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[317 Neb. 974] In July 2022, the district court entered another order nunc pro tunc. It found that "[t]here has occurred a material and a substantial change in circumstances since the entry of the Decree of Dissolution of Marriage dated January 22, 2017." It stated that the updated split custody child support calculation modified a paragraph in the original decree and that the first payment was due and payable on December 1, 2021.



The district court attached to its order an updated split custody child support calculation. According to the worksheet, Roberto's child support obligation was $779 per month when four of the children were in Lizeth's custody and one child was in Roberto's custody. The worksheet showed the amount of support for each child was $353.20, with Lizeth's share being $126.80 and Roberto's share being $226.40. The worksheet indicated that Adriana was in Lizeth's custody.



Lizeth E. v. Roberto E., 317 Neb. 971, S-23-800 (Neb. Oct 31, 2024)

Affirmed in part.