Child Support Enforcement - Sarpy County Nebraska

A party seeking to modify a dissolution decree must show a material change of
circumstances which occurred subsequent to the entry of the original decree or a
previous modification which was not contemplated when the prior order was entered.
Modifying the amounts awarded to a parent in the decree, without following the
appropriate procedures for bringing and resolving an application to modify the
decree, was not appropriate.
Collateral Estoppel/Res Judicata
Note: The doctrines of both Res Judicata and Collateral Estoppel relate to new court cases filed
that attempt to refute findings in an earlier case. Contrast with the concept of the Law of the
Case, which is used in the original case to prevent previously settled issues from becoming
unsettled in the same case.
Jensen v. Jensen, 275 Neb. 921, 750 N.W.2d 335 (2008)
[W]e have never held that the absence of a child support worksheet provides a
basis for a collateral attack on a final judgment. Once the [child support] order
became final, even without a worksheet, it was enforceable.
if a trial court fails to prepare the applicable worksheets, the parties are required to
request that such worksheet be included in the trial court’s order. Orders for child
support or modification which do not contain such worksheets will on appeal be
summarily remanded to the trial court so that it can prepare the worksheets as
required by the guidelines.
McCarson v. McCarson, 263 Neb. 534, 641 N.W.2d 62 (2002)
The applicability of the doctrines of collateral estoppel and res judicata is a question
of law.
When a court of competent jurisdiction renders a final judgment affecting the issue of
paternity, the decision of that court is res judicata to the parties absent a fraud upon
the court. See Neb Rev. Stat. §25-2001 and §25-2008.
State v. Yelli, 247 Neb. 785, 530 N.W.2d 250 (1995)
A judgment in a civil paternity adjudication is res judicata as between the same
parties in a subsequent civil action such as a support modification proceeding.
Common Law Marriages
States that authorize common law marriage: Alabama, Colorado, District of
Columbia, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Montana, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Texas, and Utah.
Sonya C. Garza, Common Law Marriage: A Proposal for the Revival of a Dying Doctrine, 40
New Eng. L. Rev. 541, 545 (2006).
Nebraska is not a “common law state,” however Nebraska will recognize the validity of
common law marriages formed in jurisdictions that allow for them. For more information on this
issue, see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common-law_marriage_in_the_United_States
Essentially, in a common law marriage, two persons create a valid marital relationship
without the benefit of a legal marriage ceremony performed according to statutory requirements.
Denise K. Mills, Common Law Marriage in Colorado, 16 Colo. Law. 252 (Feb. 1987).
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