In a previous blog post back in November 2015, we posed the question whether a divorce decree in Nevada has a shelf life. As luck would have it, the Nevada Supreme Court has now answered that question. And the answer is, “Yes.” A divorce decree in Nevada does have a shelf life.
In the published decision, Davidson v. Davidson, the Nevada Supreme Court concluded that the family courts do not have the authority to endlessly enforce divorce decrees. The Nevada Supreme Court also concluded that the accrual time for the limitations period in an action on a divorce decree commences “from the last transaction or the last item charged or last credit given.
In Davidson, the decree was entered in 2006 and required the wife to execute a quitclaimdeed to the marital home. In exchange, the decree required the husband to pay the wife one-half of the equity in the home. Approximately two weeks after the parties divorced, they reconciled and lived together in the home until 2011. But they never remarried.
In 2014, the wife filed a motion to enforce the decree, claiming that she never received her half of the equity in the property. The husband opposed the motion, arguing that he had paid the wife and that the six-year statute of limitations on the enforcement of judgments barred the wife’s claims. Without deciding whether the husband paid the wife, the family court denied the wife’s motion concluding that an action to enforce a decree of divorce must be commenced within six years pursuant to statute.
On appeal, the Nevada Supreme Court agreed with the husband and affirmed the family court’s decision to deny the wife her requested relief. The Nevada Supreme Court noted that the Legislature did not intend for parties to endlessly “sit” on claims even if those claims arise from a divorce decree. In this regard, the Nevada Supreme Court held that the wife’s claim for her share of the equity expired six years after the date she gave her husband the quitclaim deed.
The wife argued that the Legislature did not intend for a divorce litigant to receive a windfall for the full value of marital property by waiting for the six-year limitations period to end and then selling the property and retaining the full value of the proceeds. While acknowledging the merits of this argument, the Nevada Supreme Court noted that the wife always had the option to renew the divorce decree under NRS 17.214 in order to prevent the husband from allegedly receiving a double windfall.
The Take Away. Your Nevada divorce decree does have a shelf life. If you are waiting for your ex to fulfill his or her obligations to you after your divorce, be on notice that you have a limited time to take action on them. To this end, you might want to consult with your family lawyer to see whether you should take action to enforce or, at least, renew your decree. If you wait too long or timely fail to renew your decree, your post-marital rights may very well disappear forever.