Blue v. Bhiro, 2022-NCSC-45 (2022) In North Carolina, our Rules of Civil Procedure govern many aspects of civil trials. This includes the vast majority of the actions you will see incident to divorce and separation, such as child custody, child support, alimony, and equitable distribution. Under these rules, there are…
Part 8: Supporting your LGBTQIA+ Child When Others Won’t As a good parent, you love your child no matter what, regardless of their gender identity or sexual orientation. Watching your child face discrimination and rejection is heartbreaking, and of course you want to protect them from that pain as much…
Part 7: Trans Children in Custody Battles In Part 6 we talked about gender affirming treatment for trans children. Unfortunately, gender affirming treatment, and even the idea of trans children at all, can be controversial. If you have a trans child, you and your child’s other parent may have very…
Part 6: Trans Kids and Gender Affirming Treatment Gender transition can be a tricky prospect for transgender adults, but it is even more complicated for transgender children and their parents. Parents of transgender children may be confused about what gender affirming treatment even means for a minor. Children can start…
Part 5: Custody Cases Involving LGBTQIA+ Children Parenting LGBTQIA+ kids can be difficult; trying to protect your child from bullies and bigots is enough to give any parent a sleepless night. Supporting your child, especially if you aren’t familiar with the LBTQ community, can mean working hard to expand both…
Part 4: Palmore v. Sidoti (466 U.S. 429 (U.S. Apr. 25, 1984)) In custody battles between straight/LGBTQIA+ couples, one of the most common arguments that is brought up against the LGBTQIA+ parent is the concern that the child will face social stigma or bullying because the child resides with a…
Part 3: Family Law and Adoption Many LGBTQIA+ couples and individuals choose to grow their families through adoption. LGBTQIA+ couples are more than six times more likely to adopt than straight couples and represent an important placement resource in the foster care and adoption communities. The biases and discrimination that…
Part 2: Trans Parent Custody This is PRIDE month, and we are looking at family law issues that are specific to the LGBTQIA+ community. In Part 1, we discussed the difficulties LGBTQIA+ parents face in custody cases. Those issues can be daunting enough, but for transgender parents custody cases can…
A couple in India, Sanjeev Ranjan Prasad and his wife Sadhana Prasad, are retired and longing for a grandchild. The couple have one son, who received pilot training in the United States and is currently a pilot. Approximately six years ago, Sanjeev and Sadhana arranged for their son to marry…
Surrogacy and in-vitro fertilization are generally not possible without gamete donors. However, like surrogacy contracts, gamete donation isn’t addressed by North Carolina statutes or cases. Both donors and intended parents need to protect themselves under North Carolina’s contract laws by making sure they have a strong contract addressing their interests.…