§ 41.2995 — When notice to parent is required

1. Unless the verified consent of each parent is stated in the petition, and except as otherwise provided in this section, upon the filing of the petition filed by the attorney representing the unemancipated minor in the legal custody of an agency which provides child welfare services, the attorney shall make out and procure a notice that must:
(a) State the fact of filing of the petition, its object, the unemancipated minor’s present name and the name which the minor will bear in the future; and
(b) Be personally served with a copy of the petition upon each parent whose verified consent is not stated in the verified petition.
2. If the attorney representing the unemancipated minor in the legal custody of an agency which provides child welfare services submits to the court an affidavit stating that notice cannot, after due diligence, be personally served on a parent, the court may grant an order that the service be made by publication. When the affidavit is based on the fact that the present address of the parent is unknown, it is a sufficient showing of that fact if the affiant states generally in the affidavit that:
(a) At a previous time the parent resided in a certain place (naming the place and stating the latest date known to the affiant when the parent so resided there);
(b) That place is the last place in which the parent resided to the knowledge of the affiant;
(c) The parent no longer resides at that place; and
(d) The affiant does not know the present place of residence of the parent or where the parent can be found.
Ê In such case, the affidavit shall be deemed to be a sufficient showing of due diligence to find the parent.
3. The order must direct the publication to be made in a newspaper, to be designated by the court, for a period of 4 weeks, and at least once a week during that time. When publication is ordered, personal service of a copy of the notice is equivalent to completed service by publication, and the person so served has 10 days after the service to appear and answer or otherwise plead. The service of the notice shall be deemed complete in cases of publication at the expiration of 4 weeks from the first publication.
4. Before a notice is published pursuant to subsection 2, the clerk of the court shall ensure that the name of the unemancipated minor is replaced with the initials of the minor in every instance where the name of the minor appears in the notice of hearing.
5. Whenever personal service cannot be made, the court may require, before ordering service by publication, such further and additional search to determine the whereabouts of the parent to be served as may be warranted by the facts stated in the affidavit to the end that actual notice be given whenever possible.
6. If one or both of the parents of the unemancipated minor are unknown, or if the name of either or both parents of the minor is uncertain, those facts must be set forth in the affidavit and the court shall order the notice to be directed and addressed to either parent of the minor, and to all persons claiming to be the parent of the minor. The notice, after the caption, must be addressed substantially as follows: “To the parents of the above-named person, and to all persons claiming to be the parent of that person.”
7. A parent who delivered a child to a provider of emergency services pursuant to NRS 432B.630 shall be deemed to have waived any right to notice pursuant to this section.
8. A court may waive the requirement to provide notice to a parent pursuant to subsection 1 or 2, as applicable, if the petitioner files a motion seeking waiver of such notice and presents evidence satisfactory to the court that waiving the requirement for such notice is in the best interest of the unemancipated minor based upon the factors listed in subsection 4 of NRS 41.2997 .

Legislative History

(Added to NRS by 2019, 2087 )