North Carolina Divorce Lawyers Blog

Articles Tagged with separation

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North Carolina courts base spousal support decisions on the financial requirements of each spouse and their respective incomes. This is the general approach taken whenever a party in a divorce moves for post-separation support. However, many spouses wonder if marital misconduct factors into temporary support obligations, and the answer is yes.

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Alienation of affection and criminal conversation may be available legal remedies in North Carolina if your spouse has an affair. Alienation of affection holds the paramour (the person your spouse cheats with) liable for interfering in a marital relationship. Criminal conversation holds that person responsible for engaging in sexual activity with someone else’s spouse.

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The US Constitution’s Full Faith and Credit Clause[1] requires states to honor certain orders from other states, including divorces, child custody, and spousal support. However, not every family law matter is straightforward, and moving to North Carolina from out-of-state may present some challenges and unexpected changes. Continue reading →

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Meeker v. Meeker, 2024-NCCOA-______ (2024).

Facts:   Husband and Wife married in 1982 and had two children. They separated in 2009 and finalized their divorce in May 2011.

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Salvadore v. Salvadore, 2021-NCCOA-680 (2021 unpublished)

  • Facts: Wife and Husband married in 1989. During their marriage, Husband would frequently change his job. Husband had a peculiar habit every time he changed jobs that required relocation to another state. He would stay in hotels and campgrounds in the new state while Wife would stay at the marital residence at the old state. Husband would also regularly return to the marital residence on weekends. This would continue until the couple bought a new home in the new state. When Husband accepted a new job in New York, he continued this habit. However, before he left, he asked for a separation on April 17, 2017. But true to habit, he stayed in hotels in campgrounds in New York, while returning to the marital residence in North Carolina on weekends. This happened until July 16, 2017—the last night he spent in the marital residence with Wife. As part of his appeal of an equitable distribution order, he argued that the date of separation should have been April 2017, not the July 2017 date.

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BROSNAN V. CRAMER, 2023-NCCOA-______ (2023). 

  1. Facts: The facts here are simple. Plaintiff and Defendant married in 2008. After years of marriage, Plaintiff filed claims for alimony, child custody, child support, equitable distribution, post separation support (PSS), and attorney fees on October 15, 2020. Defendant filed his response on January 20, 2021. Plaintiff filed her reply on March 15, 2021. Then Plaintiff filed a voluntary dismissal of her pending PSS claim on April 8, 2021. She dismissed her PSS claim without prejudice. Then in a separate lawsuit, Defendant filed a complaint for divorce on April 19, 2021. Plaintiff accepted service of that complaint and did not file any answer to the divorce complaint. As such, Defendant moved for summary judgment and a divorce was granted on June 9, 2021. A mere 20 days later, Plaintiff sought to resurrect her dismissed PSS claim by filing a motion in the cause. Defendant filed a motion to dismiss. Trial court denied the motion to dismiss and ordered Defendant pay PSS. Defendant appeals. 

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Can you be awarded alimony when your spouse abuses alcohol to the point that your life has become unbearable? Like all issues in the legal field, it depends. Continue reading →

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Let’s suppose that you provided funds, checks, cash, or other payments to your ex since separation. You have a claim pending for equitable distribution, which seeks to divide your marital property. But court is slow and it can take some time for the court to reach your case. When it does, how should the court treat those payments you made? Were they gifts, or were they something the court ought to consider in equitable distribution? Continue reading →

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Suozzo v. Suozzo, 2022-NCCOA-620.

Facts: Plaintiff wife and Defendant husband entered into a separation agreement wherein Defendant was to pay Plaintiff $200,000 in monthly installments over 240 months. This arrangement began in March 2006 and would terminate in March of 2026. For the first 18-36 months, Defendant made the monthly payment. Sometime in 2008, Defendant stopped making those payments. Plaintiff chose to file a breach of contract claim against Defendant but not until 2019, more than ten years since Defendant stopped paying. The trial court awarded Plaintiff $100,789 in damages, calculated by granting only the missed payments due within three years of the commencement of Plaintiff’s action—as any unpaid installments due prior to February 2016 were barred by the statute of limitations—and the payments that became due while the action was pending through judgment. Defendant appealed. Continue reading →