In re JBD, 2022-NCCOA-353 (unpublished). In North Carolina, termination of parental rights (TPR) cases exist to remove one parent’s complete rights to their child. The grounds for doing so include abuse and neglect of the minor child. The evidence must prove those grounds by clear and convincing evidence, a burden…
Blue v. Bhiro, 2022-NCSC-45 (2022) In North Carolina, our Rules of Civil Procedure govern many aspects of civil trials. This includes the vast majority of the actions you will see incident to divorce and separation, such as child custody, child support, alimony, and equitable distribution. Under these rules, there are…
Part 7: Trans Children in Custody Battles In Part 6 we talked about gender affirming treatment for trans children. Unfortunately, gender affirming treatment, and even the idea of trans children at all, can be controversial. If you have a trans child, you and your child’s other parent may have very…
Part 5: Custody Cases Involving LGBTQIA+ Children Parenting LGBTQIA+ kids can be difficult; trying to protect your child from bullies and bigots is enough to give any parent a sleepless night. Supporting your child, especially if you aren’t familiar with the LBTQ community, can mean working hard to expand both…
Part 4: Palmore v. Sidoti (466 U.S. 429 (U.S. Apr. 25, 1984)) In custody battles between straight/LGBTQIA+ couples, one of the most common arguments that is brought up against the LGBTQIA+ parent is the concern that the child will face social stigma or bullying because the child resides with a…
Part 2: Trans Parent Custody This is PRIDE month, and we are looking at family law issues that are specific to the LGBTQIA+ community. In Part 1, we discussed the difficulties LGBTQIA+ parents face in custody cases. Those issues can be daunting enough, but for transgender parents custody cases can…
Part 1: Custody Battles for LGBTQIA+ Parents Every parent involved in a custody battle harbors at least some fear that they may lose custody of their child, no matter how unlikely it is. This fear is even greater for LGBTQIA+ parents, and understandably so. While acceptance for LGBTQIA+ individuals may…
A couple in India, Sanjeev Ranjan Prasad and his wife Sadhana Prasad, are retired and longing for a grandchild. The couple have one son, who received pilot training in the United States and is currently a pilot. Approximately six years ago, Sanjeev and Sadhana arranged for their son to marry…
Surrogacy and in-vitro fertilization are generally not possible without gamete donors. However, like surrogacy contracts, gamete donation isn’t addressed by North Carolina statutes or cases. Both donors and intended parents need to protect themselves under North Carolina’s contract laws by making sure they have a strong contract addressing their interests.…
As we discussed in Part 2 of our series, North Carolina doesn’t have statutes or case law protecting surrogates and intended parents, so the best way to protect yourself, no matter your role in the process, is to have an ironclad surrogacy contract. A surrogacy contract should be reviewed by…