North Carolina Divorce Lawyers Blog

Articles Tagged with family law specialist

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Family law and child custody have once again been brought to the forefront of Hollywood news with the recent announcement that Judge John Ouderkirk has decided to award Brad Pitt joint custody of his children with Angelina Jolie.  The decision applies to five Jolie-Pitt children who are all under the age of eighteen (18).  A recent filing revealed that Jolie planned to appeal the decision, although sources say she does not object to the joint custody decision but instead objects to “other issues that are of concern.” Continue reading →

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CRAVEN CTY. V. HAGEB, 2021-NCCOA-231

Child support in Greensboro is most often calculated using guidelines and worksheets that provide a formula based on income, overnights with the child, and some other factors. A failure to follow the guidelines is error that can be appealed. Most often, the biggest factors are going to be gross income and custodial schedule. North Carolina courts require more than unsubstantiated conclusions about gross income. Below is a case that discusses what more is needed to support an Order for child support. Continue reading →

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For full text of S. 397 click here

June is Children’s Awareness Month, and on the occasion a bill (S. 397) was introduced into the United States Senate titled the Safe Home Act. What this bill aims to do is curtail the “unregulated custody transfers” that occur incident to adoption. The bill defines this transfer as “the abandonment of a child by the child’s parent, legal guardian, or a person or entity acting on behalf, and with the consent, of such parent or guardian,” by placing the child with a person who is not the child’s parent, step-parent, grandparent, adult sibling, adult uncle or aunt, legal guardian, or other adult relative; or an adult family friend; or a member of the federally recognized Indian tribe of which the child is also a member. There must also be an intent to “severing the relationship between the child and the parent or guardian of such child” without “reasonably ensuring the safety of the child and permanency of the placement of the child, including by conducting an official home study, background check, and supervision” and “transferring the legal rights and responsibilities of parenthood or guardianship under applicable Federal and State law.” Continue reading →

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There are two main types of child custody in North Carolina: joint and exclusive/sole. In our state, the court’s job is to determine which parent serves the best interests of the child, after hearing and weighing all the evidence. The standard is probably uniform across all jurisdictions at this point. But what still fluctuates is when the court should award non-joint custody. Continue reading →

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Baldwin v. Baldwin, unpublished (2021).

After separation and divorce, it is not unheard of for one spouse to move out of state. If the former couple had minor children together, then the question is which spouse is primarily going to have custody of the children? Many factors may come into play when making the determination, such as improvement to quality of life. These are complicated cases, and the parent seeking custody needs to demonstrate that relocating the children to another state best serves the development and growth of the children. Continue reading →

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In North Carolina, people who are in a personal relationship can apply for a protective order under chapter 50B of the statutes called domestic violence protective orders. This amounts to an Order of the court that directs the defendant to refrain from certain acts, excludes them from physical locations such as a residence, and awards temporary custody of minor children to the nonoffending party. However, the 50B actions are only applicable to parties that are in a personal relationship, meaning spouses and former spouses, dating partners, current and former household members, parents, and a few other categories. The common thread is that there is personal and private history between the parties. Continue reading →

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Recently, I have been giving thought to how increases in separate property values through the active work of a spouse is considered during equitable distribution. As a refresh, the goal of a trial court in divorce is to classify all property owned on the date of separation, value it, and then distribute it between the parties; only marital property is distributed. Generally, increases in value to separate property during the course of a marriage are still separate property. However, the analysis does not end there. Continue reading →

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Dechkovskaia v. Dechkovskaia, 232 N.C. App. 350 (2014)

Equitable Distribution is a mechanism by which former spouses separate their personal and real property. Sometimes the spouses may have some marital (or divisible) interest in a third party’s property. One example is when a couple resides at one spouse’s parent’s residence, and the spouses make some improvement on the land that increases property value. That likely creates an interest in the improvement on the home, which can be attributed to one or both spouses in some manner. Continue reading →

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“Nothing is so painful to the human mind as a great and sudden change.” – Mary Shelley.

Change can be positive or negative. Everyone will experience it, and everyone grows from it. Divorce and separation are very big changes. For some, it is an upheaval of life itself, and of personal identity. For others, it may be welcome relief. Moving forward after a big change can be difficult, even if positive. While nothing can replace trusted professional care, some tips can help the mind process the change. Continue reading →

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“My marriage has fallen apart…I must be a failure as a spouse.” Perhaps that thought that has run through your head while enduring the divorce process. These intrusive thoughts have a name: cognitive distortion. They are inaccurate, overly broad thoughts that reinforce negative thinking. It is thought that people developed these distortions as a coping mechanism for negative events they experience. An interesting evolutionary theory suggests that early in human history it was a useful shortcut to analyzing for threats, thereby increasing the likelihood of survival. Obviously in the modern age, this quick-thinking threat analysis has much reduced benefit. Some common types of distortions are below: Continue reading →