In North Carolina, you and your spouse have to be separated from one another with the intent of at least one of you to remain permanently separate and apart.  Once you reach the one year’s separation, filing for divorce is fairly straightforward. But SHOULD you file just because the year has passed?  Things you should consider before filing are:  (1) will you lose health insurance coverage under your spouse’s plan?(2) do you have property you want distributed to you or debt you want distributed to your husband or wife?(3) do you need financial support in the form of alimony from … Continue reading →

Although every retirement plan has its own rules, generally all of your assets and debts are added up and divided. North Carolina is a “no fault” property state so in most cases, all marital assets and debts will be divided equally. If you or your husband or wife has retirement benefits but one has more or is receiving more assets from other sources such as real property or bank accounts, a rollover from one spouse to the other can be used to equalize the spouses’ assets. The rollover is a non-taxable transfer and practically the non-participant spouse gets an account … Continue reading →

Most of the rules you learned in kindergarten apply in child custody cases: for example: 1) be kind to others; 2) if you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all; 3) be respectful and 4) share your toys. Child custody cases are emotionally charged and it is normal to want to show the court you are a great parent and your spouse is a terrible parent if you are trying to win primary physical custody of your children. But, judges are looking for the parent who puts his or her children first and who is not fighting for … Continue reading →

If you are fortunate enough to have a pension through a present or previous employer, some or all of it may be marital property subject to division upon separation and divorce from your spouse if you worked for the company offering the pension during your marriage. A pension plan is a type of annuity that will pay the employee a monthly benefit upon retirement. If the employee separates from his or her spouse prior to retiring, the non-employee spouse may want to be compensated for half the value of the pension because it is subject to a division pursuant to … Continue reading →

Most couples decide to designate 529 college savings as the children’s funds to be used for college expenses. If there is no such agreement, the court will include any 529 college savings plan in the marital assets, to be divided or distributed to one party. Most likely, the court will assign savings to one parent or the other to manage the funds for the children and not reduce their share of the marital assets.  Although, the Court could choose either parent to manage the funds, it is likely that the court would choose the party most interested in the child … Continue reading →

Are you considering separating from your husband or wife and not sure whether you should move out of the house? There are several things to consider in deciding on whether you should move out of the house prior to a written agreement with your spouse. Do you have children? Are you financially able to afford another place to live? Might you have alimony obligation to your spouse? Did you get a house prior to your marriage? These are just a few of the questions you want answer before your move. Call one of the attorneys at Law Firm Carolinas in our … Continue reading →

The North Carolina Court of Appeals has struggled with its interpretation of the divisible property statute since its enactment in 1995.  This statute, codified at G.S. Section 50-20(b)(4), provides for the division of certain assets and debts that were acquired after the date of separation.  The first issue they have incorrectly decided on a number of occasions was the implementation of Section 50-20(b)(4)(d) which currently provides that “divisible property” includes “all passive increases and passive decreases in marital debt and financing charges and interest related to marital debt.”  The error the Court of Appeals repeatedly made was to distribute assets … Continue reading →

In North Carolina, biological parents maintain superior rights to custody of their children which is a fundamental right protected by the Fourteenth Amendment to the US Constitution.  However, there may be circumstances that exists in which a parent loses those superior rights and a grandparent is able to intervene and request custody of their grandchild.  Before a grandparent can be considered as a custodian for their grandchild, the grandparent must be granted standing by the Court to pursue custody.  In order to be granted standing to pursue custody, the grandparent must show by clear, cogent and convincing evidence that the … Continue reading →

One of the largest assets in many marriages is the retirement plan of the spouse who was employed outside of the home during the marriage.  Each spouse is presumptively entitled to one-half the net marital estate under North Carolina equitable distribution law, which typically involves distributing a portion of the retirement plan to the non-employee spouse. Retirement plans are divided by a court order which instructs the Plan Administrator to transfer a portion of the retirement plan to the non-employee spouse.  An order is required because the retirement plan is listed under the social security number of the employee spouse, … Continue reading →

Our North Carolina family law specialist, Ashley D. Bennington, represented a husband in an appeal before the North Carolina Court of Appeals where the question was whether the wife could refile her claims for equitable distribution and alimony arising from the first marriage of the parties.  The Court of Appeals affirmed the trial court’s decision and ruled in favor of our client determining that the wife’s claims were time barred.  A copy of the opinion of the Court of Appeals can be found here:  https://appellate.nccourts.org/opinions/?c=2&pdf=35539.  In the instant case, the parties were separated and divorced in the years 2005 and … Continue reading →

After practicing family law for 31 years, I have noticed that many of my clients have common misconceptions about family law.  Some of the most frequent questions the family lawyers at Law Firm Carolinasreceive are: If my wife and I are sleeping in separate bedrooms, does that count for the one-year separation required for absolute divorce?     Parties must be physically separated and have separate addresses to count as “separation” for purposes of the one-year requirement for absolute divorce. Does my wife have to account for how my child support payments are used?    Child support is supposed to cover … Continue reading →

People often call our offices at Law Firm Carolinasasking about grandparent rights.  In North Carolina, grandparents do not have unlimited access to their grandchildren and there is no formal acknowledgement of grandparent rights.  For instance, if the mother and father of your grandchild are married and decide at some point that they do not want you or certain other  grandparents to spend time with or otherwise have access to a child, the grandparents are left with limited legal options to seek access to their grandchild. Absent a showing of unfitness or acts inconsistent with a parent’s constitutionally protected status where … Continue reading →

This is probably one of the most frequent questions we as family law attorneys at Law Firm Carolinashear when meeting with clients in our initial consultation. Movies and television shows have led viewers to believe that before you are separated from your spouse, you must have an agreement in place or some other document signed by both spouses declaring that you are separated. While this may be the case in some states, in North Carolina no document or other writing is required in order for spouses to be considered separated.  Spouses are considered separated under North Carolina law when the … Continue reading →

Each parent has a duty to support their minor children. As most of us know, when the parents no longer live together the parent that has the child most of the time has the right to request child support from the other parent. An Order for child support is often entered by the Court requiring that one parent pay the other parent a monthly amount for support of the child or children. So, the question is then raised: When does my obligation to pay child support in North Carolina end? North Carolina General Statute Section 50-13.4 states that the Order terminates automatically when … Continue reading →

I am stealing one of David Letterman’s acts to tell you why you might want to arbitrate your family law case.  North Carolina is behind the rest of the country in many areas of the law but not in the area of family law arbitration.  In fact, we were the first state to enact the Family Law Arbitration Act (FLAA), G.S. §§ 50-41 et seq., largely due to the efforts of Raleigh attorney, Lynn Burleson, and Wake Forest University Law Professor George Walker.  Other states have subsequently adopted our statutes. What is arbitration?  Arbitration is a proceeding where a private … Continue reading →

Many times when I have met with clients in Greensboro or Charlotte the first question that is asked is “How do I get my Husband or Wife to leave the home because I need to stay there for the children?” Absent proof of “domestic violence,” what can be done? If the home is owned by both or really even just one of the parties, getting the separation to occur often times is very difficult especially if the “other” party does not want the separation or even if he or she is willing to end the marriage they simply don’t want … Continue reading →