resident for divorce purposes (and most other purposes).Only one of the parties to the divorce is required to live in Nevada. The other party can be located anywhere else in the world. Also, the party who is not the Nevada resident can sign the divorce documents anywhere else in the world, even if they don’t live there. For instance, your spouse might live in Chicago, but is on temporary assignment in Europe. He or she can sign their divorce documents there.
As a way to prove your residency, the court expects to see a local address on your divorce pleadings, but the main proof of residency is in the form of a resident witness affidavit. This is a legal document signed by any other Nevada resident, be it a relative, friend, co-worker, roommate, or neighbor, who knows you to have lived in Nevada for a minimum of six consecutive weeks before filing your divorce. The resident witness affidavit will also state that the resident witness sees you three to four times per week.
The Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) does require that incoming residents trade in their out-of-state driver’s license for a Nevada driver’s license before the first 30-day period of residency has expired.
That said, The Court generally does not ask to see your driver’s license unless you must make a court appearance for your divorce. However, it’s a good idea to corroborate your Nevada residency in any official form, especially if you expect that your divorce might be contested by your spouse.
If you have children with the spouse you are divorcning, and the children reside in Nevada with you, they must have resided in Nevada for a minimum of six months before the Nevada District Court will take jurisdiction over them.
You can read about this in more detail here.
Below is how Nevada defines a resident for divorce purposes:
NRS 483.141 “Resident” defined.
- “Resident” includes, but is not limited to, a person:
(a) Whose legal residence is in the State of Nevada.
(b) Who engages in intrastate business and operates in such a business any motor vehicle, trailer or semitrailer, or any person maintaining such vehicles in this State, as the home state of such vehicles.
(c) Who physically resides in this State and engages in a trade, profession, occupation or accepts gainful employment in this State.
(d) Who declares himself to be a resident of this State to obtain privileges not ordinarily extended to nonresidents of this State.
- The term does not include a person who is an actual tourist, an out-of-state student, a foreign exchange student, a border state employee or a seasonal resident.
How long does one have to wait before filing the affidavit resisdent witness form? I am filing for divorce and i filed already, I had my sister be my witness and we took all our step and it it notarized, then I filed everything for the divorce the next day, I was then denied because it said I filed out the Affidavit of resident form 1 day before filing? Do you have to wait a certain amount of time before filing that form?
Hi Ashlie,
the resident witness affidavit must be filed after either the Complaint for Divorce (if your spouse did not sign), or the Joint Petition for Divorce (if your spouse signed). We typically file the resident witness affidavit as soon as the court clerk has given us a case number after we filed either the Complaint or the Joint Petition.https://nevadadivorce.org/blog/wp-admin/edit-comments.php?paged=1&ids=403#comments-form
If your trying to divorce an immigrant, are you at all responsible for them after filing the divorce and it becoming legal.
Dee, if you’re asking whether you are legally responsible for your ex-spouse after the divorce because you sponsored him through Immigration, that will depend on what the Affidavit Of Support with Immigration says as far as how long you’ll be financially responsible. The divorce does not set that aside. If he were to apply for Welfare after the divorce, they’d look to you for his support first.
If you’re asking whether you’ll be responsible for credit card (and other debts) that he incurs AFTER the divorce, no, you will not be responsible.
If he incurred debts DURING the marriage, and the final decree of divorce states that he is to pay them back, it’s a different story. Third party providers (like credit card companies for instance) have the right to come after an ex-spouse if a debt was incurred during the marriage. This is because in a community property state like Nevada both spouses are responsible for the debts of the other. You share property and you share them.,
Mind you, in my experience, it’s rare that a credit card company will come after the other spouse, especially if the final decree of divorce states that your spouse is responsible for the debt, but they DO have the right to do so, and you never know when they’ll decide to exercise it.
Can my son who is in the Army file for a divorce if his legal residence is Nevada but he is stationed in Alaska
Hello Barbara, if your son’s LES is Nevada, then absolutely. He’ll need a resident witness and that can be you if you live in Nevada. https://nevadadivorce.org/residency-requirements/
Hello, is there residency requirements for witnesses? The reason I’m asking is because I just moved to Nevada and I’m helping my friend obtain a divorce. My friend asked me to be their witness.
Hello Donna,
a resident witness has to be a resident themselves, so you have to have lived in Nevada for a minimum of six weeks before you can be someone’s resident witness.