Articles Posted in ClientVille

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Domestic Violence Protective Orders and Voluntary Dismissals

Suppose you have filed a complaint requesting a domestic violence protective order against your partner, and before the return hearing required by law you decide that you want to dismiss the complaint. Victims of domestic violence sometimes dismiss claims out of fear of further harm or retaliation. Or they dismiss…

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Co-Parenting During Pandemic Court Closures

On Friday, December 11, 2020, Chief Justice Cheri Beasley announced that in North Carolina non-essential, in-person court proceedings would be postponed for 30 days, beginning Monday, December 14, 2020.  Unfortunately, this has become the norm as the state continues to battle the widespread effects of the coronavirus pandemic.  With in-person…

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Military Disability Benefits and Distributive Awards

Generally, military disability benefits are exempt from distribution in equitable distribution actions. Here we see whether the court can consider these benefits as income to satisfy a distributive award pursuant to an equitable distribution order. (In this case, Plaintiff improperly filed a Rule 60 motion to set aside the judgment,…

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Affairs and Cheaters: Court of Appeals Allows Alienation Case to Proceed

Estes v. Battiston, ___ N.C. App. ___ (2020). In North Carolina, Alienation of Affections and Criminal Conversation are common law torts called “heart-balm” torts that put civil liability on a third party for causing a breakdown in a marriage. In recent years, attempts by defendants to challenge the tort have…

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Holidays and Child Custody in the Time of COVID-19

In 2020, the holiday season will be one of the most tumultuous in recent years now that Covid-19 rates are beginning to rise again. For parents with ongoing custody cases or custody orders already in place, it presents an especially trying time. Travel is a large component of every holiday…

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Registration of Foreign Orders: Mandatory or Optional?

So you’ve moved to Guilford County from Florida and up until your move you and your ex-spouse have been operating under a child custody order that was entered by a judge in a district court in Florida.  Now what? North Carolina General Statutes § 50A-305 provides guidelines for registration of…

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Child Custody at the Holidays

With the 2020 holidays rapidly approaching, newly separated and divorced parents may be experiencing increased stress over when and how to deal with spending the holidays sharing their children. The first thing to remember is that if you have a child custody order entered by the court, you must follow…

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Stock Options and Divorce

Stock options can be offered to employees as an incentive or reward for a job well done. They are typically offered up front as a future benefit after working at a company for a set amount of time and can be purchased at an option price that was previously set.…

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Third Party to Equitable Distribution

Crowell v. Crowell, 809 S.E.2d 325 (2018). In North Carolina, Equitable Distribution (ED) is one of the mechanisms by which former spouses separate their personal and real property. Sometimes property can be mingled in with third parties, such as in cases where either a trust or a third-party business entity…

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