In our practice in Greensboro, North Carolina, it is not uncommon for the parties in a divorce to agree verbally to a change in child support payments. Read on to see how such an apparent show of comity may not hold up in the eyes of the court. Baker v.…
Articles Posted in Children
Shak v. Shak: Shaking Things Up in Child Custody
Shak v. Shak, ____ Mass. _____, SJC-12748 (2020). Nondisparagement clauses are ubiquitous in custody agreements and orders. Generally, they are a blanket prohibition on a parent from “talking bad” about the other parent in a form that the minor child(ren) will understand (whether in their presence or on social media,…
It’s All in the Details!
Demar v. Comm’r, T.C. Memo. 201991, 2019 WL 3244301 (2019) (a) Facts: Husband and wife were divorced. The divorce decree, which was a consent judgment, provided that the child would reside primarily with the wife. The husband was permitted to claim the child as a dependent for tax purposes in…
Dependency Exemptions and Form 8332
Skitzki v. Comm’r, T.C. Memo. 2019106, 2019 WL 3946102 (2019) (a) Facts: Husband and wife were divorced. The divorce decree gave the father custody two weekends each month, one weekday per week if the mother was in Ohio, and three (before age four) or four weeks in the summer. It…
Qualifying Children and Tax Exemptions
Cook v. Comm’r, T.C. Memo. 201948, 2019 WL 2011087 (2019) (a) Facts: An unmarried couple had a child. A New York court awarded custody to the mother. The order was silent on the tax exemption for the child. The parties orally agreed that the father could claim the exemption. The…
Death before QDROs
Miletello v. RMR Mech., Inc., 921 F.3d 493 (5th Cir. 2019) (a) Facts: Husband and wife were engaged in divorce proceedings. A settlement agreement awarded to the wife $500,000 of the funds in the husband’s 401(k) plan. Before the husband complied with the order, he died. Two days later, the…
Revenge Porn
By: Carolyn Woodruff, JD, CPA, CVA, and North Carolina Family Law SpecialistSo, you have these sexual images of your ex in North Carolina that you think will embarrass him, but you should think twice before posting them on Facebook or publishing them anywhere else. Publication of naked pictures or other private images of a person without consent not only can subject…
“No Good Deed Goes Unpunished” : Non-Marital Relationships and Qualifying Dependents
Sharp v. Comm’r, T.C. Memo. 2017‑208, 2017 WL 4973234 (2017) (a) Facts: A woman lived with a man in California. The couple was not married. The man had a child by a prior relationship, and the child had two minor children. The man was, therefore, the children’s biological grandfather.…
Don’t Forget the Paperwork! : Dependency Exemptions
Seeliger v. Comm’r, T.C. Memo. 2017‑175, 2017 WL 4012872 (2017) (a) Facts: A husband and wife divorced in 2006. The decree permitted the husband to take the dependency exemption for the child in odd-numbered years provided that he paid all court-ordered support. In 2013, the wife had custody of…
Looking Out for Our Kids: QDROs and Employer-Provided Life Insurance.
Sun Life Assur. Co. of Canada v. Jackson, 877 F.3d 698 (6th Cir. 2017), cert. denied, 138 S. Ct. 2624 (2018) (a) Facts: The parties were divorced in 2006. The divorce decree, which incorporated a separation agreement, ordered the husband to maintain any employer-provided life insurance policies for the…