Charlotte Divorce Lawyer Blog

A recent survey from Adoptive Families magazine found that nearly half of all those looking to adopt have been affected by the stagnant economy.

In recent years, many families wanting to adopt have looked to foreign countries, however, the costs associated with an adoption of a foreign child can be in excess of $40,000. Domestic adoptions on the other hand can be as much as 50% less expensive as compared to foreign adoptions and have therefore seen a recent rise in popularity.

Continue reading "Domestic Adoption in a Struggling Economy" »

The Louisiana House recently passed a bill authorizing casinos to withhold winnings for child support debts. The bill will only affect winnings of $1,200 or more which is the same level at which casinos have to issue a federal tax report document.

The bill will be enforced by the casinos referring to a list of deadbeat parents supplied by the state Department of Social Services. Proponents of the bill praise the bill based on the more than $1 billon in past due child support owed to children in Louisiana.

Continue reading "State Seeks to Garnish Gambling Winnings for Arrears; NC Soon to Follow?" »

A new study has shown, contrary to popular belief, that parents of children with autism are no more likely to separate than parents of children without developmental disabilities. Researchers analyzed 78,000 kids in order to settle the dispute over autism's contribution to the divorce rate. According to researchers, 65 percent of autistic children's parents are married as compared to 64 percent of children without the disorder.

Brian Freedman, clinical director of the Center for Autism and Related Disorders at Kennedy Krieger Institute in Baltimore stated, "while there are indeed stressors in parenting a child with autism, it doesn't necessarily result in the family breaking up more often than would occur in another family." The new finding, Freedman says, will hopefully relieve some of the stress parents of children with autism feel. Families he has counseled often tell him they feel they have gotten two diagnoses at once: a child with autism and a prediction of divorce, when they hear the oft-quoted figure of 80%.

Continue reading "Study Shows Divorce Rates Equal for Parents of Children with Autism as Without" »

Yes. In North Carolina, child support can be garnished from the unemployment earnings of a responsible parent. Due to the recent economic downturn and high levels of unemployment, many child support cases have one or both spouses receiving unemployment earnings. The important thing to remember is that unemployment earnings are not exempt from garnishment by the court.

According to North Carolina law, when a parent is under a court order or other written agreement to provide child support a court may garnish up to 40% of the responsible parent's monthly disposable earnings. North Carolina law defines disposable earnings as that part of compensation paid to the responsible parent for personal services that remains after deduction of any amounts required by law.

Continue reading "North Carolina Child Support: Can It Be Garnished from a Parent's Unemployment Earnings? " »

Representatives from the Gaston County commissioners' office have converged in Raleigh to drum up support for a resolution that would require North Carolina couples to wait 30 days before marrying so that they can obtain premarital counseling. Lawmakers from the region think such a requirement would make marriages stronger. Rep. Bill Current (R-Gaston) believes the legislature spends time trying to fix problems that result because of failed marriages.

For Gaston County, the resolution, which wouldn't require the waiting period for people who can provide proof they've already had premarital counseling, is aimed at reducing its divorce rate. The national average is 50 percent; North Carolina's average is 56%; and 59% of marriages fail in Gaston County.

Gaston County Rep. Wil Neuman (R) believes counseling would help couples prepare for problems down the road. In part, the resolution reads, "The emotional and financial impact to families, especially those involving young children, is devastating and leads to social, behavioral and physical maladjustments to be addressed by physicians, the clergy, social services, police, health and mental health and schools."

Continue reading "County Hopes to Require 30-Day Waiting Period to Wed in North Carolina" »

A recent US Supreme Court opinion has addressed child custody disputes that extend beyond US borders. The Court has established that a parent's ne exeat right creates in that parent a right of custody under the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction. A ne exeat right grants one parent the authority to consent before the other parent may take the child to another country.

In the case of Abbott v. Abbott, Chilean law granted the father, a British citizen, a ne exeat right. Soon after the father was given this right, the mother, a U.S. citizen, removed the child, also a U.S. citizen, from Chile without the father's or the court's permission.

The Court stated that the only remedy for violation of a ne exeat right is an order of return of the child. The Court supported their decision from international case law, which confirms broad acceptance of the rule that ne exeat rights are rights of custody that require a return remedy. Although a parent with a ne exeat right has such a remedy, a return order is not automatic if the abducting parent can show that an exception to the Hague Convention applies.

Continue reading "US Supreme Court Addresses International Child Custody Disputes" »

The North Carolina Court of Appeals has called a man's faith "irrelevant" to his duty to pay child support. After Alexander County ordered John Lee Shippen to pay his ex-wife, Shirley Ritchie Shippen, $1,106 per month for child custody, support and alimony, he quit his job as a corrections officer and joined a religious commune. When he failed to make payments, the court found him in contempt.

Shortly after he was ordered to make the monthly payments, he quit his job and joined a religious group called the Twelve Tribes of Israel, which provides communal living and bars its members from earning outside income. Arguing that he was following his beliefs and could not pay $6,290 to purge the contempt order, he appealed.

Continue reading "North Carolina Court Calls Faith 'Irrelevant' to Child Support" »

The first step in a child custody proceeding in North Carolina is to determine each parent's custodial rights. One or more qualifications must be met in order for the court to have jurisdiction to make an initial custody determination. Two ways a North Carolina court will have jurisdiction is if North Carolina is the home state of the child or if another state does not have home state jurisdiction or declines jurisdiction.

A North Carolina court can also have jurisdiction by implementing temporary emergency jurisdiction if a child has been abused or threatened with abuse. After jurisdiction in North Carolina is established, and the issue of custody is contested, the parents must mediate the dispute before going to trial. There are several exceptions to mandatory mediation, including allegations of abuse or neglect of the child and allegations of alcoholism, drug abuse, or domestic violence between the parents.

Continue reading "North Carolina's Child Custody Fundamentals" »