North Carolina Divorce Lawyers Blog

Articles Posted in Divorce

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It is not rare in this day and age that a spouse “brings” a home into a marriage. This means that one spouse was the owner of a home before they got married. It also likely means that the spouse bringing the home into the marriage was paying the mortgage. It is typical that, upon marriage, all funds are co-mingled and “my money” becomes “our money.” That is the case even if the spouses keep separate accounts and only deposit their respective paychecks into their separate accounts. North Carolina is not a title-controls state. The acquisition of a piece of marital property is usually dependent on whether it was acquired during the marriage or not. (Note: law is complex and there are exceptions.) But what about the home? Continue reading →

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The divorce struggle between Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt continues, despite Angelina filing for divorce approximately six years ago.  It has currently come to light that major disputes abound that  surround Chateau Miraval.  Pitt and Jolie officially bought Chateau Miraval in France in 2012.  The couple had been leasing the Chateau for years prior.  The property includes olive groves, a vineyard, a private lake, and a chapel.  Pitt and Jolie were married at the chapel in 2014.

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Lawrence and Schanda Handley married in 2006.  At the time, Lawrence was a self-made millionaire living in Louisiana.  He made his millions through his endeavors in the technology industry and by launching several supplement companies.  Despite his monumental success – or perhaps in conjunction with it – Lawrence used and abused alcohol and cocaine.  By 2015, allegations of domestic abuse, stalking, and drug abuse surfaced in the midst of the couple’s divorce. Continue reading →

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Beavers v. McMican, 2022-NCCOA-547.

Facts: Plaintiff David Beavers was married to Wife Alison Beavers in 2004. Plaintiff discovered that Wife had an affair when he found texts and photos on Wife’s phone, sent to a contact labeled “Bestie.” Wife eventually admitted that she had engaged in sexual acts with the person, referring to him as Dustin, a co-worker. Wife later admitted to having intercourse with a co-worker but did not provide a name. Plaintiff became wary of Dustin’s existence and thought that Wife was still concealing information regarding her affair. Plaintiff and Wife separated. Continue reading →

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Between the war in Ukraine and the droughts happening world-wide, fuel and food prices have skyrocketed in recent months. The cost of living has seen a significant increase, even here in the United States, and a set amount of money buys less than it used to. Divorce is almost always tied up with personal finances, so anything that impacts financial situations so much will affect divorce too. Continue reading →

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Suozzo v. Suozzo, 2022-NCCOA-620.

Facts: Plaintiff wife and Defendant husband entered into a separation agreement wherein Defendant was to pay Plaintiff $200,000 in monthly installments over 240 months. This arrangement began in March 2006 and would terminate in March of 2026. For the first 18-36 months, Defendant made the monthly payment. Sometime in 2008, Defendant stopped making those payments. Plaintiff chose to file a breach of contract claim against Defendant but not until 2019, more than ten years since Defendant stopped paying. The trial court awarded Plaintiff $100,789 in damages, calculated by granting only the missed payments due within three years of the commencement of Plaintiff’s action—as any unpaid installments due prior to February 2016 were barred by the statute of limitations—and the payments that became due while the action was pending through judgment. Defendant appealed. Continue reading →

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Sherri Papini was originally reported missing by her husband in November 2016 after she left their home in Shasta County, California to go for a jog and never returned. Three weeks later on Thanksgiving Day, authorities found Papini on an interstate highway approximately 140 miles from home.  Continue reading →

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Hill v. Durrett, 2022-NCCOA-460.

Facts: Plaintiff and Defendant were married in a friend’s backyard in 2015, and just 14 months later the couple separated. The backyard ceremony was officiated by a Ms. Plante, who was a Reiki master known as Azera Moonhawk. Ms. Plante was Defendant’s friend and was a minister of the Universal Life Church but was not authorized to perform weddings. Plaintiff eventually filed a divorce and equitable distribution action. Plaintiff also sought to have the marriage annulled based on Ms. Plante’s insufficient ordination. Plaintiff did not survive the proceedings and died before they were concluded; his estate carried on with the annulment. Defendant was the one who arranged the entire backyard extravaganza. She was the one who was good friends with Plante/Moonhawk. She was the one who told Plaintiff that Plante was qualified to perform the ceremony. She was the one who confirmed with Plante whether she could perform the ceremony. The trial court annulled. Defendant appealed.

Issue: Was the Plaintiff (his estate) equitably estopped from seeking an annulment?

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Shropshire v. Shropshire, 2022-NCCOA-441.

Facts:

Plaintiff and Defendant separated and initiated a case for Equitable distribution (ED). Pursuant to a pretrial Order, the parties filed affidavits for the ED trial. Both parties listed retirement plans under the “marital property” section of the affidavit. This included the Plaintiff’s 401(k) plan. Furthermore, both parties designated that Plaintiff’s retirement plans had values to be determined for date of separation and “net” value. Under the section of the affidavit marked for “divisible property,” neither party listed any property.

In a hearing in August of 2018, the parties testified about ED. In October 2018, the trial court judge told the parties that evidence was going to be reopened so that evidence could be presented that showed the date of trial values for the retirement plans, as well as value of the marital residence. Plaintiff objected to the reopening and filed a motion to recuse.

The motion was denied in trial court and the reopening was allowed. The information was provided over objections, and a final ED order was entered. Plaintiff appealed. Continue reading →

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Wooten v. Wooten, 867 S.E.2d 767 (N.C. Ct. App. 2022)

Wooten v. Wooten came before the North Carolina Court of Appeals on Defendant Husband’s appeal of the trial court’s Summary Judgment ordering specific performance by both parties.

FACTS: The parties married in 1997 and divorced in 2016. When they divorced, they signed a Separation Agreement that stated that Defendant Husband would pay Plaintiff Wife $4000 per month and put $8500 per year into the children’s 529 educational savings plans. Continue reading →