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Prescription Drug Abuse and Pilot Logs

Dear Readers, let me hear from you regarding prescription drug abuse and its effect on your family.  In the second Ask Carolyn today, I touch on the Sharon and Ozzy Osbourne divorce and Prince’s death.

 

Dear Carolyn,

I am a pilot going through a divorce.  My ex is holding my pilot log books hostage.  I have asked her nicely to please give me the log books, and she simply will not do so.  How do I get my log books back from here in this divorce? Does she have any “marital rights” in my log books?

 

Carolyn Answers….

As a pilot myself, I am incensed by your logbook being held hostage by your ex.  Logbooks contain a record of flight time and training required by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).  Logged flying time reflects currency as a pilot and eligibility for certificates and ratings.  In certain instances, the FAA has the right to demand to see a pilot’s log book.  A pilot log book contains original signatures of various examiners and instructors and is ancillary to the Pilot Certificate itself.  (For the record, while people commonly say a Pilot’s License, it is technically a Pilot’s Certificate.)

While I cannot cite a case in North Carolina where the issue of “classification” of pilot log books as “marital property” or “separate property” has been decided, it is my opinion that your log books are your separate property.  Your pilot certification, my my opinion, is separate property, much like a doctor’s medical licenses and a law license are separate property.  Your pilot logbook is a required document, just like your medical certificate, to maintain the validity of your pilot certificate. The property division statute in North Carolina says:

“All professional licenses and business licenses which would terminate on transfer shall be considered separate property.”  NCGS 50-20(b)(2).

So, since you have the right to the exclusive control of your Log Books, how do you get the Log Books back?  I would first write an official demand letter stating that the Log Book needs to be returned in ten days or you will have no choice except exercising your rights under the Equitable Distribution Act, which states:

“Upon application of by the owner of separate property which was removed from the marital home or possession of its owner by the other spouse, the court may enter an order for reasonable counsel fees and costs of court incurred to regain its possession, but such fees shall not exceed the fair market value of separate property at the time it was removed.”  NCGS Section 50-20(i1).

Tell her you will be asking for your attorney fees.

 

Dear Carolyn,

I am a mother of three children, and I think the father is a prescription drug addict.  His doctor prescribes him Percocet for pain, and he is taking quite a lot of it. I think he takes four Percocet a day.  Quite frankly, I don’t think there is pain, and he previously used illegal drugs, until he found he could get the same thing legally.  I don’t want him driving our children.  Really, he acts erratically, and passes out.  What do I do?  We are divorced, and we do not have a custody order.

 

Carolyn Answers,

I think that prescription drug addiction is one of the biggest problems facing the American family today.  You need a custody order, and you need to make sure the facts of the addiction are presented clearly to the judge.  You have the right in a custody case to examine the fitness of the father for visitation.  You have a right to his medical and prescription records and the right to present these records as evidence.  Perhaps the visitations should be at Harmony House, a supervised visitation center in Jamestown.  I certainly would not want him driving with the children.  This father will have to decide if the Percocet is more important than his children, I hope.  You need to link improper parenting to the drug addiction.

Percocet is an opiate (opioid), like heroin.  Percocet is highly addictive.  It can cause respiratory distress and death when taken in high doses or when combined with other drugs or alcohol.

In the few days before Prince’s death, he had received emergency treatment for an opioid overdose.  Rumors abound that Percocet was found in Prince’s bloodstream and in the elevator where he died, but the official toxicology report has not been released.

I think of the sad situation with Black Sabbath rocker Ozzy Osboune who has struggled with drug addiction all of his adult life.  They have been married since 1982.  Ozzy said in an interview with Spin magazine, that drug dependency is a “killer disease”.  He indicates he has accepted that he has a problem, and this is the first step.  He further claims that he has been completely sober for three and a quarter years, although there is chatter that the divorce discussions caused him to “fall off the wagon.” Rumors abound about an affair with a celebrity hairdresser.  But, last Saturday they were photographed together in Beverly Hills.

Keep your children safe.  Prescription drug addiction is a real threat to the safety of your children.

 

 

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This blog is revised from a previous Ask Carolyn in The Rhino Times.

Send your questions on family law and divorce matters to “Ask Carolyn…” at askcarolyn@rhinotimes.com, or P.O. Box 9023, Greensboro, NC  27427.  Please do not put identifying information in your questions. 

Note that the answers in “Ask Carolyn” are intended to provide general legal information, and the answers are not specific legal advice for your situation.  The column also uses hypothetical questions.  A subtle fact in your unique case may determine the legal advice you need in your unique case.  Also, please note that you are not creating an attorney-client relationship with Carolyn J. Woodruff by writing or having your question answered by “Ask Carolyn.”