For many, the holiday season is a time of joy, family gatherings, and shared memories. However, this time of year can also be rife with challenges, especially for those dealing with forms of domestic violence. Continue reading →
Parents have a protected right to care for their children in North Carolina, and that right affords them some significant protections when it comes to custody and visitation. For instance, third parties like grandparents can seek visitation and custody only in very limited circumstances.
However, when parents are involved in custody disputes, courts may limit or altogether deny visitation to a mother or father. Every North Carolina custody determination is based on one core principle: the best interests of the child. If a court believes that not having visitation with one parent is best for the child, then the court order will reflect that decision. Continue reading →
By Judi Rossabi
Divorce can be a heartbreaking experience. Everything changes, and even friends and family share in the ups and downs of a breakup. Back in the ’70s, a hit song by The Bee Gees lamented “How Can You Mend a Broken Heart.”
The song was a number-one hit and even became the title track of The Bee Gees documentary. The song is famous for such lines as:
“How can you stop the rain from falling down?”
“Tell me, how can you stop the sun from shining?” and most importantly,
“What makes the world go ’round?”
Continue reading →
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.
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.
As a good parent, you love your child no matter what, regardless of their gender identity or sexual orientation. Watching your child face discrimination and rejection is heartbreaking, and of course you want to protect them from that pain as much as you can. But what happens if that rejection is coming from your child’s other parent? How can you protect your child when the threat is so close to home? If getting full custody of your child, discussed in Parts 6 and 7 , isn’t an option, there are still steps you can take to minimize the damage of their other parent’s rejection. Continue reading →
Gender transition can be a tricky prospect for transgender adults, but it is even more complicated for transgender children and their parents. Parents of transgender children may be confused about what gender affirming treatment even means for a minor.
Children can start to identify as transgender very young. Children who are allowed to freely express and explore gender may go through different phases of gender expression, but it is important for a child’s future mental health that you believe and support them, no matter what gender they may be identifying as at the time. Continue reading →
June is Men’s Health Month, and after a messy separation you may imagine that health is not a priority. To help raise awareness of the topic, here are a few tips to get the mind and body back on the right track. After all, it can take a lot of energy to withstand the ups and downs of a contentious divorce case. Continue reading →
Laurel Harmon, Legal Assistant
May is National Mental Health Awareness Month. Mental health problems affect not just those with diagnosed mental illnesses. One in five adults will experience a mental health problem every year and one in twenty-five adults will experience a serious mental illness. When you are going through a difficult time, such as divorce and custody, your mental health can take a toll. Feelings of depression, anxiety, and anger are common during this time. Continue reading →
“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 →
“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 →
North Carolina Divorce Lawyers Blog