North Carolina Divorce Lawyers Blog

Articles Posted in Living

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A Judge in New York imposed sanctions on two attorneys and their law firm for submitting a legal brief containing six fictitious case citations generated by an artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot called ChatGPT.

The judge, P. Kevin Castel, found that the lawyers acted in bad faith, consciously avoiding the truth and presenting misleading statements to the court. Consequently, they were fined a total of $5,000.

The law firm, in response, expressed their disagreement with the court’s assessment, claiming their mistake was a result of a good-faith error, that of underestimating the possibility for a technology like ChatGPT to fabricate cases. Continue reading →

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Co-parenting can be a challenging journey, but when done successfully, it can provide stability and support for children growing up in a separated or divorced family. Effective co-parenting requires cooperation, communication, and a commitment to putting your child’s well-being first. Here are seven valuable tips to help you navigate the path of successful co-parenting. Continue reading →

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SHEPENYUK V. ABDELILAH, 2023-NCCOA-______ (2023)

  • Facts: Plaintiff and Defendant were “married.” On August 25, 2015, the parties were the host of a religious wedding ceremony officiated by Defendant’s brother. This brother was not ordained or legally authorized to officiate a ceremony. The parties themselves failed to obtain a marriage license prior to the ceremony. Six years later, in September of 2021, Plaintiff filed for a domestic violence protective order and alleged that she and Defendant were not married. Multiple other pleadings, including complaints and answers/responses to a partition action as well as a complaint for equitable distribution (ED) and alimony were filed, wherein it was essentially admitted that the parties were not legally married. Plaintiff amended her ED and alimony complaint to ask that the court treat the parties as presumptively married. Defendant moved to dismiss. Trial court dismissed for lack of a claim for which relief could be granted, finding that the parties were not married and an “equitable marriage” theory was unwarranted.

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A question that sometimes arises in family law is whether a marriage in North Carolina was valid. Here, we discuss one of the prerequisites of marriage: solemnization before a proper officiant. 

The statute can be found below: 

  • 51-1. Requisites of marriage; solemnization. 

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Tiger Woods and Erica Herman were a couple for nearly six years.  The couple split in October 2022.  While together, the couple resided in Woods’ home in Jupiter, Florida.  Herman has sued the Jupiter Island Irrevocable Homestead Trust for at least $30 million after Woods asked her to move out of his home following the split.  Herman claims Woods controls the trust.  Woods filed a Motion to Intervene as a defendant in the matter Herman filed with the 19th Judicial Circuit Court in Martin County, Florida.     Continue reading →

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February is known as National Weddings Month.  So, without further ado, here are a few celebrity couples that have recently said “I do.”   

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By: John S. Davis, NCCP
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It’s likely that you have heard of disc golf or, as many call it, Frisbee golf. (I’ll get to why the latter is illegal shortly.) The sport is a simple derivation from traditional golf, where the player uses a club to hit a ball until it rolls into a hole. Instead, disc golf players throw flying discs into special targets. In both games, the object is to complete the hole in the fewest number of strokes (or throws). Having played competitively since 1979, I can attest that disc golf is immensely engaging and, I will argue, has many clear advantages over what we call ball golf.

History of the Discs Used in Disc Golf

First, you should not call it Frisbee golf. “Frisbee” is a registered trademark of the Wham-O Corporation, and Wham-O no longer makes discs for the sport. No one today plays disc golf with Frisbees, although discs made at one time by Wham-O for disc golf are highly prized as collectibles. For a time, Wham-O’s Midnight Flyers, all curved-edge discs similar to the original Frisbee, were the standard for competitive play.

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Helpful Information on How to Update Gender Identity on Government-Issued IDs
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A person’s gender identity is defined as their innate sense of belonging to a particular gender. It specifically differs from the gender assigned at birth, which is based on the presence of external genitalia. Gender identify is something that develops biologically along with the body and mind. Accordingly, a transgender person is someone whose gender identity does not match their gender assigned at birth. Such misalignment can result in gender dysphoria, a medical diagnostic term for a condition in which someone experiences clinically significant distress persisting for at least six months.

The treatment for gender dysphoria is not limited to pharmaceutical or surgical procedures. Rather, one of the first steps is to transition socially. This can mean using the pronouns that the transgender person identifies with. A large step forward in treatment is when one’s gender identity is acknowledged by others, including the government by way of allowing updates to government issued identification.

Four Options to Change Gender on a NC Driver’s License

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Every January 1, countless people make resolutions to change the type of person they will be for the next calendar year. Favorites areas for improvement are health, education, and motivation. I will exercise at the gym every day. I will become vegan. I will read 100 novels by the end of the year. I will argue before the Supreme Court. All of these are very good, very productive, very intense goals. The funny thing is that these resolutions have one thing in common: they all kind of lack fun. Think about it, isn’t that why they are resolutions and not habits by now? So, while I certainly applaud lofty resolutions, here are a few that are less intensive and more fun. Continue reading →