Modification of child support may be an option if there has been a material change in circumstances. Parents often use a change in income to justify a recalculation of child support, but this is not always a relevant reason. Continue reading →
Court orders cannot typically require nonparties to act. When a court issues an order, the requirements of the order involve only the plaintiff and defendant or the petitioner and respondent. People who are not named in the case cannot generally be ordered to do anything.
If the court determines that someone not named in the case is a necessary party, they may be able to join that person to the case and order them to do or not do something. Stepparents are often central figures in their stepchildren’s lives, making cases like child support more complex. Continue reading →
In civil cases, such as child custody proceedings, either party can serve discovery requests on the other party. Discovery is the term used to describe the process of exchanging documents and information. It can include various methods, including interrogatories, requests for production of documents, requests for admission, and depositions.
Parties in child custody cases can use discovery to obtain information relevant to the case, but there are limitations.
Custody decisions are largely based on the best interests of the children. This may sound like a simple decision-making process, but the variables involved are complex. Courts must consider the child’s physical and mental health, physical safety, and developmental needs. Moral standards are also relevant when deciding custody.
It is well-known that parental conflict can significantly impact a child’s mental health, as well as their physical safety in some scenarios, but how does such conflict impact changes to child custody in North Carolina? Continue reading →
There have been many cases in North Carolina that establish the strength and importance of a parent’s constitutionally protected right to the care and control of their children. Another recent decision in the North Carolina Court of Appeals has further established this right for biological parents, showing that it is not easy for nonparents to be awarded custody.
Parents have a constitutionally protected right to take care of their children, which includes making decisions about whom their children will spend time with. It is difficult to overcome this parental presumption. Grandparents who wish to seek visitation with their grandchildren should be aware that there are strict rules in North Carolina about when they can file and on what factors a decision will be based.
In a recent North Carolina Court of Appeals case, Evans v. Myers, Mother appealed after the trial court granted Paternal Grandparents legal and physical custody of her child while only awarding her limited visitation.
Grandparents can only file for visitation during an ongoing custody dispute between the parents or if they can prove the parents are unfit. What happens if the parents’ custody case is resolved before the court has a chance to decide on grandparent visitation? This was the question at the center of a recent North Carolina Court of Appeals case.
There must be a substantial change of circumstances in order to request a modification to a child custody order in North Carolina. Additionally, that change must affect the child or children’s welfare. Conflict between parents certainly does impact a child, but does it satisfy this requirement if this conflict has existed between the parents for a while? Continue reading →
Modifying court-ordered custody arrangements in North Carolina requires a substantial change in circumstances and an impact on the child caused by those circumstances. What evidence must parents or guardians provide when showing a change has occurred? It depends completely on the specifics of each case, but one requirement is that the evidence must not be based on anything of which the court is already aware. Continue reading →
North Carolina and almost every other state uses the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act (UCCJEA) to determine jurisdiction. The UCCJEA uses four elements to determine jurisdiction in initial custody cases:
North Carolina Divorce Lawyers Blog