North Carolina Divorce Lawyers Blog

Articles Posted in ClientVille

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Joseph Maldonado-Passage, aka Joe Exotic and the star of the Netflix hit Tiger King, is set to marry a former fellow inmate, John Graham, pending his divorce from current husband, Dillon Passage.  Joe was convicted of a failed murder-for-hire plot that targeted his archenemy, Carole Baskin.  Baskin was also featured in the Netflix hit Tiger King.  Joe was also convicted of violating wildlife laws in the operation of his zoo, the Greater Wynnewood Exotic Animal Park, located in Oklahoma.  Joe was originally sentenced to 22 years in prison.  In January 2022, a judge reduced his sentence by one year to 21 years.

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Foxx v. Foxx, 2022-NCCOA-223 (5 April 2022) (unpublished).

Some statutes and case laws in North Carolina have a time component. In modifications of child support and custody, the trial court is sometimes required to make comparisons between the old facts and circumstances with the current ones in order to find whether there has been a substantial change in circumstances. Sometimes the old facts and circumstances just don’t exist because the prior order was a consent order. In these cases, trial courts ought to make findings about the facts in play at the time of the prior order, so as to make acceptable comparisons. In equitable distribution, one such statute asks the court to compare the income and estates of the parties at the time of the division of property. Again, it asks for a comparison at a specific point in time. Below is a case where the trial court did not make such comparison. Continue reading →

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In Part 1, we talked about the best way to protect your choices about your frozen embryos before the in-vitro fertilization (IVF) process takes place, but what can you do if you’re already past that point? As IVF becomes a more common technology, more and more couples who froze embryos during IVF are getting divorced. Many of those couples didn’t make plans or sign agreements about the possibility of divorce. Others have changed their minds since their agreements were originally made or just didn’t pay attention to one more form in the flurry of paperwork they signed at the clinic.

Is There Case Law in North Carolina?

Unfortunately, North Carolina doesn’t have any statutes or published case law on what happens in those situations. We have to look to other states to get an idea of what will happen in cases like this. Approaches in other states fall into three categories: the pure contract approach, the balancing test, and contemporaneous consent. It is unclear where North Carolina will eventually fall on this spectrum, but for now these will likely be decided case by case depending on the judge who hears the case. Continue reading →

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Samantha S. Erks, JD

Are you dreaming of a healthy, happy baby and planning to use in-vitro fertilization (IVF) to get there? You are far from alone. Over 80,000 babies are born from IVF every year in the United States. During the IVF process, embryos are created and implanted into the intended birth mother’s uterus, but usually there are more embryos than needed. The average couple who goes through IVF has about seven embryos left, resulting in over a million frozen embryos in storage in the US. There are several options for those remaining embryos, and you and your partner need to consider what will happen to yours. Continue reading →

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Samantha S. Erks, JD

Same-sex dating relationships are just like opposite-sex relationships in many respects: meeting, dating, and, hopefully, moving on to something deeper. Sometimes, however, just like in opposite sex relationships, same-sex relationships eventually do not work out. And sometimes, same-sex relationships REALLY do not work out and, just like in opposite sex relationships, things can get scary. When that happens, when someone is threatening or stalking their ex, one would hope that an LGBTQ victim would be able to rely on the courts to protect them through a domestic violence protective order in the same way that a straight victim could. Until this year, however, that was not the case. Continue reading →

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Wayne Hopper, Legal Assistant

When an issue is winding its way through the court system, you may feel as if time stands still. Family law cases can be especially trying due to the emotions they elicit and the time it takes to see them through to the end. Family law cases not only come with a monetary cost, they can be costly in time and emotional currency. The prolonged drama of hearings and motions and continuances takes a toll on a family’s financial and emotional well-being. And the backlog in family court has been exacerbated by court closures stemming from the Covid-19 pandemic. Continue reading →

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Maddukuri v. Chintanippu, 2022-NCCOA-128 (1 March 2022)

Stipulations are often used to expedite portions of a case/trial so that there is no time wasted on them, allowing the court to focus on the issues that are actually in contention. The use of stipulations of fact is pretty common. It removes the inconvenience of having to show evidence of facts that no one contests. Stipulations can also be used for settlement. These allow for the concession between parties of some rights in return for others. Below is a case where the Court dealt with the potential withdrawal of a stipulation. Continue reading →

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Walker-Snyder v. Snyder, 2022-NCCOA-97 (2022)

In North Carolina, domestic violence is not always caused by a physical act. Under the 50B statutes, actions that meet the definition of stalking can also result in the granting of a domestic violence protective order, even though the court must find that an “act” of domestic violence has occurred. Below is such a case, where it was not a physical altercation but rather words that resulted in a trial on domestic violence. Continue reading →

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Helpful Information on How to Update Gender Identity on Government-Issued IDs
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A person’s gender identity is defined as their innate sense of belonging to a particular gender. It specifically differs from the gender assigned at birth, which is based on the presence of external genitalia. Gender identify is something that develops biologically along with the body and mind. Accordingly, a transgender person is someone whose gender identity does not match their gender assigned at birth. Such misalignment can result in gender dysphoria, a medical diagnostic term for a condition in which someone experiences clinically significant distress persisting for at least six months.

The treatment for gender dysphoria is not limited to pharmaceutical or surgical procedures. Rather, one of the first steps is to transition socially. This can mean using the pronouns that the transgender person identifies with. A large step forward in treatment is when one’s gender identity is acknowledged by others, including the government by way of allowing updates to government issued identification.

Four Options to Change Gender on a NC Driver’s License

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Wayne Hopper, Legal Assistant

Risen v. Risen, COA19-342 (N.C. Court App. 2020)

The legal term “contempt of court” describes situations when an individual either willfully refuses to follow or otherwise fails to obey a legally binding order issued by a court. North Carolina recognizes two types of contempt: criminal contempt and civil contempt. Criminal contempt is used when a party violates a court order (or otherwise showing disrespect for the court) and to deter future acts of contempt. Civil contempt is intended to provide a remedy for an injured party or to force compliance with an existing court order. But does contempt have limits? In North Carolina a trial court judge threatened two minor children with civil contempt during a custody dispute between their parents. Continue reading →