You’ve decided to seek a divorce and perhaps to seek child support for your children, or you’re looking at equitable distribution of your marital assets. You’ve researched, met with, and retained your attorney. Now the attorney or a member of the attorney’s staff is calling or sending emails asking questions…
In the past, married couples had to show that their spouse committed marital misconduct to get a divorce. In a no-fault state like North Carolina, neither party must show any reason for the request for divorce nor show that the other spouse was at fault. N.C General Statute § 50-6…
Potential clients often seek an attorney’s help for what they call a “simple divorce.” The circumstances may seem simple because the only claim the potential client wishes to make is one for absolute divorce, thereby choosing to forgo claims for equitable distribution, post-separation support, and alimony. Sounds simple enough, right?…
Attorneys in the Piedmont Triad are seeing an increase in calls about separation and divorce. This increase may be a result of families forced to spend more time together or of instability due to one spouse or the other losing their employment from the COVID lockdowns. Families are experiencing more…
The rules of Jenga are simple. First, you stack the 54 wooden blocks to create a tower; then, you slowly begin removing blocks from the tower and move them to the top of the tower. The player who removes a block from the tower, causing it to topple over, loses…
With many North Carolina families forced to spend more time together as a result of lockdowns or unemployment from COVID-19, some couples are finding they no longer want to be married. Spouses are experiencing fear of being exposed to COVID, fighting over finances, and many other minor issues. If you…
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…
In re Kiley, 595 B.R. 595 (Bankr. D. Utah 2018) (a) Facts: Husband and wife were divorced in Utah. The divorce decree awarded the wife a lump-sum payment from the husband’s retirement plan and ordered that she be named as the plan’s survivor beneficiary. The wife then declared bankruptcy. The…
Hoak v. Plan Adm’r of Plans of NCR Corp., 389 F. Supp. 3d 1234 (N.D. Ga. 2019) (a) Facts: Two wives were divorced from their husbands. Both husbands were members of a senior executive retirement plan. The plan provided that survivor benefits would be paid to the “eligible spouse” of…
Metro. Life Ins. Co. v. McDonald, ___ F. Supp. 3d ___, 2019 WL 2419659 (E.D. Mich. 2019) (a) Facts: Husband wife were divorced in Florida. Their divorce decree incorporated a property settlement agreement providing that the husband would name the wife as beneficiary of his employer-provided life insurance. Despite the…