Charlotte Divorce Lawyer Blog

Just days before his Pittsburgh Steelers were set to face the Denver Broncos in an AFC Wild Card matchup, 23-year-old receiver, Antonio Brown, was sued for child custody in Miami, Florida. Brown, who shares 4-year-old son, Antonio, Jr., with Shameika Brailsford, has been accused of running off with the boy and refusing to return him.

Dismissing the allegations, Brown said, "My son is a happy kid. That's not something I'm worried about. My kid is here for a reason. I'm a good father. He's a happy kid if you've ever seen him."

Continue reading "Steelers' Receiver Facing Custody Suit As Playoffs Loom " »

An attorney for Laura Walsh, ex-wife of Tea Party darling and first-term US Rep. Joe Walsh (R-IL), says the congressman is behind more than $100,000 in child-support payments. Ms. Walsh, who has returned to court numerous times since filing for divorce in 2002, argues Rep. Walsh has failed to meet his court-ordered child-support obligations, at times paying half of the ordered amount or nothing at all. Her ex-husband claimed he had no money and was unable to make payments as ordered.

She first became suspicious last year when Rep. Walsh made a $35,000 contribution to his own congressional campaign, contradicting his claims he was broke. Her attorney filed the Motion for Contempt and sought an Order to Show Cause. Cook County Circuit Judge Raul Vega agreed to issue show cause order, which will force Rep. Walsh to prove he doesn't owe the money or face being held in contempt.

Continue reading "Tea Party Favorite Delinquent with Child-Support Payments" »

Under a plan proposed by an advisory committee appointed by the Kansas Supreme Court, parents will see an increase in child-support payments. The state last adjusted child support figures in 2008, and the changes have been designed to reflect higher costs associated with caring for children.

The committee, which is currently taking public comments on its proposals until October 24, says the payments would vary by age, with the biggest increases applying to those between 6 and 11.

Continue reading "Kansas Considers Changes to Child Support " »

Mel Gibson, who has faced claims of domestic violence lodged by ex-lover Russian pianist Oksana Grigorieva, has come to an agreement over custody and child support of the 22-month-old child, Lucia, the two share. Although specific details of the custody agreement haven't been released, it's assumed Grigorieva will continue to have primary custody of their daughter.

And less than two weeks after they agreed to the child's custody, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Peter Lichtman announced Gibson will pay periodic payments to Grigorieva totaling $750,000 and establish a trust for their child.

Continue reading "Gibson and Baby Momma Hash Out Custody, Child Support" »

While many continue to feel the pinch of a bad economy, the same cannot be said for some jurisdictions that have seen child-support payments increase dramatically over previous years. Mississippi's Division of Child Support Enforcement reported increases of 61% in collected payments between fiscal year 2003 and 2011, from $195 million to $314 million. The division's director, Walley Naylor, credits more confirmations of paternity and more aggressive tactics to foil deadbeat parents.

The agency received high marks for cost efficiency in 2002, but faced heavy penalties and fines for failing to meet federal standards in establishing support orders and determining paternity. It's efforts have paid off. In 2009, the division received honors as the Most Improved Program Award from the US Department of Health and Human Services' Administration for Children and Families. A year later, Naylor was honored with the ACF's Office of Child Support Enforcement Commissioner's Award for Exemplary Leadership.

Continue reading "State Sees Rise in Child-Support Payments" »

A Pennsylvania divorced dad of two boys has been ruled by a Bucks County judge to close down his blog criticizing his ex-wife and their on-going custody battles. Family Court Judge Diane Gibbons last month ordered Anthony Morelli, 42, to shut down thepsychoexwife.com, a blog he began in 2007, saying, "This is about children. You may say anything you would like to say. You may publish it. You may put it on a billboard. But you will not have your children, because that is abusive."

In response, Morelli has hired an attorney to appeal the ruling, arguing the decision violates his First and Fourteenth Amendment rights. "In my view, the judge crossed the legal line, from determining custody to controlling [his] behavior. My client's actions are protected by the First Amendment," attorney Kevin Handy said. Morelli said he started the site not to "bash" his ex-wife, but the inflammatory style is to attract other people with similar problems. He claims about 200,000 people visited the site each month.

Continue reading "Man to Fight Order to Shut Down Blog About Ex" »

Before the US Supreme Court began its summer recess, it issued a divided ruling on child support - whether poor people facing jail time for failing to pay child support are entitled to court-appointed lawyers. In the contested 5-4 ruling that divided along ideological lines, the Court said a parent facing civil contempt has no automatic right to representation, at least when the parent seeking to collect child support does not have a lawyer.

The case at issue involved a South Carolina man, Michael D. Turner, who was repeatedly held in civil contempt and jailed for as much as a year at a time for failure to pay child support. Turner contended that he was too poor to stay current on his obligation and that an attorney would've been able to convince the judge that jailing him was impermissible. Justice Breyer's majority opinion, although sympathetic to Turner, was wary of "an asymmetry of representation" when the custodial parent seeking child support has no lawyer.

Continue reading "US Supreme Court Rules on Child Support" »

Earlier this month, Melanie Paige Smith, one the multiple women with whom NFL wide receiver Terrell Owens has a child, filed contempt papers, arguing the player has failed to remain current on his $5,000 per month child support obligation. At the time of the filing, during which a July 26 hearing date was set, her attorney, Georgia's Randall Kessler, said he hoped to resolve the matter without a hearing.

It looks like Kessler got his wish. The wide receiver, most recently with the Cincinnati Bengals, but because of free agency and the pending NFL lockout can't sign with a team, is reportedly current with the payments. Earlier this week, the Associated Press said the contempt motion filed against Owens' was dismissed because he made the payments.

Continue reading "T.O. Resolves Child Support Delinquincy" »

Supermodel Linda Evangelista, who has graced catwalks and magazine covers galore, has revealed that father to her son, four-year-old Augustin James, is wealthy businessman Francois-Henri Pinault, husband of Salma Hayek. Evangelista always claimed Augustin's father was a New York-area architect, despite ending a five-month relationship with the 49-year-old Frenchman just before he started dating Hayek and she revealed her pregnancy.

Now now she has filed a petition in court seeking an unspecified amount in child support. Evangelista filed in New York, and New York law states that a non-custodial parent pay 17% of income as child support.

Continue reading "Supermodel Reveals Baby Daddy is Billionaire" »

Durham County (NC) Judge Nancy Gordon has surprised many by awarding custody of two children to their father because their mother was diagnosed with Stage IV breast cancer. "The course of her disease is unknown. Children who have a parent with cancer need more contact with the non-ill parent," Gordon write in her ruling.

The children, aged 11 and 5, will be relocating to Chicago, where their father resides. The move and the ruling trouble 33-year-old Alaina Giordano. "The judge knows that I don't have the means to be flying to Chicago to visit them, pay for a place to stay, or to fly them here on any sort of regular basis.

Continue reading "North Carolina Woman Loses Custody Because of Breast Cancer" »

In October 2004, Alaska's then attorney general, Gregg Renkes, opined that Alaska had sole jurisdiction over all child-custody proceedings in its state, including over Native tribes' custody proceedings. But after a seven-year battle, Alaska's Supreme Court ruled that tribal courts can initiate child-custody hearing for their own members.

According to the state's Office of Children's Services, the court decision "opened the door" so the agency can honor tribal-court orders and provide records tribes have requested. It's also given OCS the impetus to update its policy manual, which OCS and the state's Department of Law are working to bring the manual in line with the ruling.

Continue reading "Alaskan Tribes Get Jurisdiction Over Custody Cases" »

During its fifth annual raid, the Baltimore City Sheriff's Office arrested 22 parents who owe more than $300,000 in back child support. The two-day warrant sweep, which is usually held in the days leading up to Mother's Day, targets people wanted on child support warrants.

Typically, most of the arrested parents are men; this year, five of the parents taken into custody were woman, the highest number since the sweep began.

Continue reading "Baltimore Sweep Nabs Parents Who Fail to Pay Child Support" »

Ajit Kumar Bhargava, his wife, Nisha Bhargava, and their daughter, Runjhun Bhargava of Yorba Linda, California were arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement last week on suspicion of visa fraud at their Cerritos-based immigration consulting business. The three, who face up to five years in federal prison, are suspected of filing fraudulent marriage and work visa petitions on behalf of foreigners who paid fees as high as $60,000.

According to federal officials, the three operate an immigration consulting business, called MPEagle Consultants, which caters primarily to Indian nationals. They are accused of recruiting unemployed and low-income U.S. citizens with promises of $2,000 payments in exchange for marrying MPEagle's foreign clients.

Continue reading "Family Jailed Over Fake Marriage Visa Fraud" »

In a decision published earlier this month, the Rhode Island Supreme Court has unanimously overturned a lower court's ruling concerning child support, saying that a parent's entire income should be used to determine child support, not just what is taxed by the Internal Revenue Service.

The Court decided that Family Court General Magistrate John J. O'Brien, Jr. erred when he excluded military entitlements and bonuses and rental income when calculating how much a father owes the mother of the 5-year-old he fathered in an extramarital affair. Furthermore, the Court condemned O'Brien's conduct in the matter because he conducted many off-the-record conferences "leading to a confusing and incomplete record" and made improper comments regarding the mother's daycare provider and her immigration status. O'Brien wouldn't allow her to testify and told the father he wouldn't be made to pay for childcare there after he alleged the provider was paid under the table and not reporting her income to the IRS.

Continue reading "Rhode Island's High Court Says Entire Income Should Figure in Child Support" »

The attorneys for six Georgia parents jailed for failure to pay child support have filed a class-action suit against the state, claiming the parents shouldn't have been jailed in the first place.

According to Sarah Geraghty, a senior attorney with the Southern Center for Human Rights, which filed the suit, Georgia state law bans authorities from jailing a parent who can't pay child support. "Children are not served when parents who are searching for work to support their families are repeatedly carted off to jail. Dividing families while preventing parents from finding jobs is fundamentally unfair and ineffective social policy."

Continue reading "Jailed Parents Sue Georgia Over Child Support Jail Time" »