A 529 Savings Plan allows parents to put aside money for their kids’ college expenses under tax-favorable conditions. How should trial courts classify the money in a 529 Savings Plan that is created and funded during marriage when a couple is getting a divorce? Continue reading →
In a recent appellate court decision that discusses an aspect of North Carolina custody law, a mother appealed from an order that granted her and the father joint custody of teenage children pending the start of a reunification program. The program was supposed to fix the kids’ relationship to their father, which the court determined was damaged by the mother’s alienating conduct. Continue reading →
Growing up in a tiny town near Greensboro, N.C., I can remember being a kid and playing in the yard, getting skinned knees and bee stings. That’s what we did “back then.” I remember picking up pecans and climbing trees and riding my bike. We had a rotary dial telephone. What is that you ask? It’s a telephone that had a dial with holes in that had a handset attached to it with a curly cord, and the entire thing was attached to another cord that made it work! We did not have air conditioning until I was about 12 years old. Window fans were placed in our windows to draw the hot air out of the house, and indoor box fans blew hot air around inside the house. We had a gravel driveway, and I sometimes had to help fill in holes in the driveway with a rake or a shovel so we wouldn’t blow a car tire driving in and out of it. Listen to this; we did not have a weedeater!!! I can, believe it or not, remember using handheld clippers and having to go around the outside of the house and flower beds and trim the weeds BY HAND!! Continue reading →
The custodial parent must not decrease the status of the other parent in the child’s eyes. That is fundamental.
Also fundamental: Do not place the child in the middle of the parent’s dispute. Continue reading →
What is the best way to get your visitation suspended? Alienate your child or attempt to alienate your child from the other parent. Continue reading →
We are officially in the midst of the best season of the year. No, I’m not referring to the pumpkin-filled days of Fall. I’m talking about football season. But as we don our team colors and cheer on our favorite players, the on-field battles aren’t the only ones that family law attorneys are seeing this time of year. As concerns about the long-term effects of head injuries from football continue to mount, we are beginning to see football leaving the locker room and heading to the courtroom. Continue reading →
As autumn begins to creep across the Triad, it seems that the temperature isn’t the only thing dropping. According to a study done by the University of Maryland, the number of divorces in the United States is also on the decline. And the reason being attributed for the impressive drop, eighteen percent over the past ten years, might surprise you. Continue reading →
It’s summertime, and that means kids around Greensboro will be beating the heat. But they probably won’t be hanging out at the pool or lake like their parents did. It’s more likely they will be huddled around their electronic devices playing video games or watching YouTube. The World Health Organization has recently classified addiction to video games as a certified mental disorder. Our children are particularly susceptible during the summer months when they are out of school and have less structured activities. Continue reading →
Divorce is never easy. It turns your world upside down. Ending a relationship you thought was to last till death forces you to part is emotionally devastating. When you are a parent, and throw children into that emotional turmoil, then you have to deal with a hurricane of guilt and remorse. Continue reading →
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North Carolina Divorce Lawyers Blog