Divorce can be stressful. The process of dividing property that has accumulated between you and your ex-spouse is a given. Questions regarding how you will split all that you have shared – the marital residence, cars, custodial time with the children – are all commonplace questions individuals ask themselves when…
World Mental Health Day helps raise mental health awareness and promotes proactive measures individuals can take to care for their mental health. World Mental Health Day acknowledges the stigma around mental health and is working to alleviate it. Focusing on mental health and allowing individuals to have conversations about their…
ZIMMERMAN V. ZIMMERMAN 2021-NCCOA-485 Previously, we have written about the use of stipulations in a case to maximize efficiency and what is required in an oral stipulation in the context of Equitable Distribution. (Our courts have held, for an oral stipulation on Equitable Distribution to be valid, that the parties…
October is Adopt a Shelter Dog Month. Dogs are our best friends. Some seem to be made entirely of boundless energy and unconditional love. Studies have shown that in the presence of our four-legged friends, stress lowers, our happiness-promoting hormones increase, our blood pressure lowers, and our self-esteem increases. During…
North Carolina will soon decide whether to make gambling on sports legal. There are two bills, one in the North Carolina House, the other in the Senate. House Bill 631 of the 2021 Session is a bill to authorize and regulate sports wagering. Senate Bill 688 looks to be a…
Stewart v. Shipley, 825 S.E.2d 684, 264 N.C.App. 241 (N.C. App. 2019) You might imagine your civil court case as a game. All games have rules, and the handbook that tells you how to play the game is the Rules of Civil Procedure. And you can’t break the rules without…
Matthew Taylor Coleman and his wife, Abby Coleman, were living a picturesque life in their Santa Barbara, California home with their two young children—Kaleo, a two-year-old boy, and Roxy, a ten-month-old girl— when events took a turn for the worse. While the family was packing for a camping trip, Matthew…
WALTER V. WALTER 2021-NCCOA-428 The language contained in a consent order should be unambiguous and clearly state what each party is required to do under the order. When the reading of the order leads to multiple reasonable interpretations, it may become impossible to enforce through contempt. Below is a custody…
Wall v. Wall, 536 S.E.2d 647, 140 N.C. App. 303 (N.C. App. 2000) There are various legal mechanisms by which former spouses separate their personal and real property. One mechanism is Equitable Distribution (ED). Practically speaking, however, no division of property should be accomplished without first obtaining an Order/Judgment from…
Divorces among the stars continue to spark gossip throughout Hollywood, but recent developments in Kelly Clarkson’s divorce from Brandon Blackstock are turning heads. The couple divorce papers were filed in June of 2020, after seven years of marriage. Blackstock served as Clarkson’s talent manager during the marriage. Recent reports note…