Julie Fowler

Nominated one of "10 Best" Attorneys for Nebraska by the American Institute of Family Law Attorneys in 2015. Winner of Michael W. Amdor Memorial Excellence in Legal Research Award.

Nebraska

Since 2007

Attorney

Law Office of Julie Fowler, PC, LLO

Current

Creighton University School of Law

J.D.

Michael W. Amdor Memorial Excellence in Legal Research Award

Fourth Judicial District, Douglas County, Nebraska

2009

Nebraska Bar Association  # 23649

Attorney

2007 - Current

Q. Can personal belongings affect child support obligation in Nebraska?

June 17, 2025

A: Child support is based off of income, not the value of your personal belongings. However, income for child support purposes is not the same as income for tax purposes. If you are self-employed or the owner of a small business, it is often a lot more complicated than just putting the amount showing on your paystubs or as your taxable income into a child support calculator. Especially if your income is relatively low on paper, the Court can calculate you at your earning capacity if your earnings are lower than your earning capacity.

Further, especially if you are in agribusiness, the Court can take into consideration that the land and the value of your business is growing due to your efforts even if your cash flow and traditional income is relatively low. You will want to retain an attorney that has experience with those in agribusiness if that fits your situation as there are special rules that sometimes apply in these situation.

If you are being denied visitation, you can still be ordered to pay child support. You can't withhold visitation with the child to try to get money. You can't withhold child support if visitation is withheld. Neither is putting the needs of the child first and the Court is very consistent on this in Nebraska caselaw. If you would like court-ordered custody or parenting time, you will need to file a custody/parenting time action. Generally, you can do this within the same case as the child support case but you have to file the appropriate documents to add these issues to the court case. You need to speak with an attorney about your rights and your options. ... Read More

Q. How to file for divorce living in different states with agreed child custody and no assets?

June 16, 2025

A: If there isn't a prior custody order in place, then the custody case generally needs to be filed where the children have been residing the last 6 months. Thus, if the children have been residing with you in Nebraska for at least 6 months, then you would probably be able to file the custody case here.

Usually the custody case is filed as part of the divorce case. However, the rules as to where to file a divorce action are different from those regarding custody. It is possible that you are required to file a divorce in one state and the custody action in another state, although this is relatively rare.

Each state has their own requirements as to residency in order to file a divorce action there. In Nebraska, a spouse has to have lived in Nebraska for at least 1 year with the intent to remain residing in Nebraska at this time. Thus, if you've been living in Nebraska with the children for the last year, you can probably file your divorce action here in Nebraska and include the custody part of the case as part of the same divorce filing.

If you haven't met the one year mark, sometimes people file a legal separation in Nebraska so that they can get a temporary order of custody and support in place. Then, once the 1 year of residency is met, you convert the pending legal separation action into a divorce action. It stays within the same case number and you finalize the case as a divorce within the same case number. ... Read More

Q. Which state's guidelines apply to my child support payments after the order moved from CA to NE?

June 16, 2025

A: When a child support order is moved from one state to another, you get into a hold set of choice of law rules. Some of the rules of the new state apply and some of the rules of the original state still apply. Generally, the age of majority from the original order stays the same for child support purposes even if a parent moves to another state with a different stop date for child support. Thus, if the original order had child support terminating at 18 years old, then Nebraska generally still terminate the child support at 18 years old, even though support normally goes until 19 years old in Nebraska. You posted from New York and report the child lives in Texas. The order may need to be moved to the appropriate jurisdiction at this time if there is no longer a Nebraska connection. There are also exceptions to most rules so you would need to speak with an attorney about the specifics of your situation to get a specific stop date for your case. ... Read More