Philip Spradling

What does someone with a master’s degree in philosophy and degree in physics do when searching for a new career? They enter law school of course. Having completed both degrees and dirtying his hands with a half dozen careers (philosophy teacher, condensed matter researcher, and restaurant manager) Philip decided law school was the answer. Attending UNLV Boyd School of Law, Philip was sure to participate in as many areas of law as possible. This exposure led him to family law. It was an exciting area because regular people need personal assistance. Philip wasn’t as excited helping corporation X dissolve from corporate Y than helping regular people with legal problems. Philip is admitted to practice law before all District Courts in the State of Nevada. One of the funnier stories explaining Philip’s personality comes from third grade. For extra work his teacher asked him to hand write words and their definitions from a dictionary. Philip’s excitement from learning new words was so contagious, soon the whole class was following suit. Imagine a class of third graders excited about the dictionary.

UNLV William S. Boyd School of Law

J.D. (2013)

2013

Principal Attorney

Momentum Family Law

2024 - Current

Founder, Attorney at Law

Las Vegas Divorce and Custody Center

2023 - Current

Associate Attorney

Standish Law Group

2018 - 2023

Divorce Attorney

Right Lawyers

2015 - 2018

State Bar of Nevada  # 13590

Member

Current

Nevada

Since 2015

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Q. My husband owes about $4000 in arrears her in NV. His ex wife wants to forgive them. How would he move forward with that

November 8, 2024

A: How to forgive child support arrears?

The right way: the parties should enter file a stipulation in whatever court the child support was ordered. In Nevada, the stipulation should state that the obligation has been satisfied, and the means by which it has been satisfied. If the obligation is satisfied by incurring an obligation to do something in the future, then it should state what that obligation is. It should then state why this stipulation is in the children's best interest.

The quick (but wrong) way: the parties file a stipulation simply waiving those child support arrears. Although the judge should refuse to sign such a stipulation on behalf of the children for whom the child support is supposed to benefit, most judges are too busy to give it a second thought and will simply adopt the stipulation. As long as no one changes their mind in the future, then it will probably work.

The stipulation should be filed in the court where the child support order was adjudicated, in the same case as the child support order. In all likelihood, in this case the child support order is still in Indiana - the child support order was not transferred, only the enforcement of the order was transferred. ... Read More

Q. Can a family attorney request pending criminal discovery, to use in a family law trial? Nevada

November 8, 2024

A: Normally yes, a family attorney can requesting pending criminal discovery. Criminal discovery is not protected from discovery in family law cases.

If there is some reason that a party should not receive discovery, then you need to request a protective order. Or, if a subpoena has already been issued, then the party should file an objection to the subpoena and send a copy of the objection to the party that has been served the subpoena along with a request that the information not be disclosed until there the court rules on the objection. The objection will then be ruled upon by the discovery commissioner.

I have occasionally seen discovery in family law cases limited in order to protect a criminal defendant's rights. In most instances, the discovery is merely postponed until after the criminal case is finished - which may in effect put an end to the discovery, as most parties in family law cases aren't willing to wait. But on occasion entire family law cases are put on hold for years.

In all honesty, if you are intending to do something like this, then you need to hire an attorney. Discovery is a very technical field, and you will need to explain how release of the information will violate the father's rights as a criminal defendant. Its possible the attorney in the criminal law case can ask for a protective order in the criminal case, which if received would be a straightforward way to block discovery in the family law case. But there is the timing issue, as it will probably take longer to get a ruling on the protective order in the criminal case than the it takes to get documents through a subpoena. So the objection would then request time to seek relief from the criminal court... it gets very complicated very quickly.

In Nevada, an objecting party has only seven days to object to a subpoena - and that is calendar days, not business days. So you and your attorney(s) will need to act quickly. ... Read More

Q. I pay for the cell phone for my 14 years old twins, can dad take their phones cutting off communication between us?

October 29, 2024

A: Cutting off communication is, in general, not a good move for Dad. One of the factors a Court must consider when deciding what is in the best interest of the child is "which parent is more likely to allow the child to have frequent associations and a continuing relationship with the noncustodial parent." If a parent is taking away cell phones and cutting off communication, that parent does not seem to be likely to allow frequent associations and a continuing relationship.

That being said, unless you have a court order stating that Dad must allow the children the use of their cell phones to communicate with you, there is nothing expressly prohibiting it.

The solution is to get a court order. As an attorney, I would send a letter expressly requesting that Dad allow the children to contact you with their cell phones while in Dad's custody, and if that does not work, file a motion with the Court for such an order. In most cases, a judge will grant such an order. I suppose if you are constantly calling and harassing the children and Dad with the cell phones, or calling at inappropriate times (such as while in school), or using the phone for other things (such as tracking them), then use of the cell phones might be limited. But a few phone calls a week is normally seen as a good thing. ... Read More