Board Certified Family Law Specialist Matt Arnold answers the question: “When do you get alimony?”
When a married couple decides to file for divorce, a divorce attorney helps the couple determine if alimony (also called “spousal support”) is an appropriate factor to consider. When a spouse remarries, it can have implications on alimony. Read on for more information.
Board Certified Family Law Specialist Matt Arnold answers the question: “How will the judge divide our property?”
Board Certified Family Law Specialist Matt Arnold answers the question: “How should I prepare if I intend to file for divorce in the near future?”
Unsurprisingly, marriage is seen as a nonnegotiable prerequisite to divorce. A court cannot grant a divorce and divide marital property without an underlying marriage. Though this would seem to make sense, there are instances where though a marriage may not be legally valid, it is recognized by courts as having occurred. We have previously discussed issues surrounding common law marriage, but this post deals with something a little different: the putative marriage doctrine.
Board Certified Family Law Specialist Matt Arnold answers the question: “How will the judge divide our property?”
Millennials continue to remake various institutions across the country, not the least of which is the institution of marriage. Millennials have already been shown to put off marriage to a much later age than previous generations, preferring to cohabitate rather than take the plunge. A recent study identified another area in which Millennials are different: their interest in prenuptial agreements.
Board Certified Family Law Specialist Matt Arnold answers the question: “Can I sue someone for breaking up my marriage?”
Many people have heard about common-law marriage, believing incorrectly that if you only live with a person for a certain number of years you can become legally married despite never going through the formal steps. While common-law marriage does exist, it does only under very limited circumstances and only in a small number of states. In fact, these days a variety of legal hurdles have been constructed to ensure that it is very rare for a court to acknowledge the validity of a common-law marriage.
Board Certified Family Law Specialist Matt Arnold answers the question: “What can I do to gain custody of my child in North Carolina?”
A recent article discussed the trend among some couples, celebrity and otherwise, to consider new approaches to co-parenting post-divorce. One such trend, known as “birdnesting”, has been around for years, but appears to be enjoying particular popularity at the moment. Gwyneth Paltrow and her ex-husband Chris Martin do a version of birdnesting, while Anne Dudek, from “Mad Men”, and her ex publicly announced that they would pursue a birdnesting arrangement once their split is final.
Board Certified Family Law Specialist Matt Arnold answers the question: “What does uncontested divorce mean?”
The family from television’s “Sister Wives” is back in the news after a federal appeals court restored Utah’s state ban on polygamy this month. In 2013, a federal district court had struck down main parts of that state law against bigamy, or holding more than one marriage license at once. The 2013 ruling found that the state law violated the polygamists’ right to religious freedom and privacy.
Charlotte Divorce Attorney Matthew R. Arnold of Arnold & Smith, PLLC answers the question “Does adultery affect my divorce case?”
Have you ever thought about paying a partner for their fidelity? A recent case tells the tale of a couple who tried to contract for just that. It ends with the scorned lover suing his ex-girlfriend to recover over $700,000 in gifts that he gave her throughout the relationship and reporting the gifts to the IRS as income payments.
Charlotte Divorce Attorney Matthew R. Arnold of Arnold & Smith, PLLC answers the question “What does uncontested divorce mean?”
As same-sex couples in the Tar Heel State and elsewhere fight in courts and legislatures for the right to marry, other people have been seeking “mutually beneficial” relationships short of marriage.
According to the chief executive officer of one Charlotte company that links older men looking for “love” with young women looking for money, the “sugar daddy” business is booming.
Brandon Wade, founder of SeekingArrangement.com, told WBTV that a “sugar daddy” is a man who is both successful and generous and who is willing to foot the bill for a high-class lifestyle for a young, attractive person, in exchange for that person’s friendship or companionship. Data gathered by SeekingArrangement shows that about one per every 250 Charlotte men is a sugar daddy.
Old is, as the saying goes, in the eye of the beholder, and the average sugar daddy may not be as old as some suspect. Wade said the average North American sugar daddy is about 44-years-old and has a net worth of just under $8 million. On average, sugar daddies spend about $4,000 per month on their sugar babies.
Charlotte-area sugar daddies make around $250,000 per year and are worth some $4.1 million, on average. They spend just over $3,000 per month on their sugar babies.
Board Certified Family Law Specialist Matt Arnold of Arnold & Smith, PLLC answers the question ” I’m not getting along with my husband. We’ve been married two weeks and it was a mistake. Can’t I just get an annulment?”
Dating, courtship, friendship, getting to know someone—whatever you call it—it’s nothing new. Also not new is the idea that knowing someone comes first, marriage second. Or third, or long after you’ve gotten to know someone and, perhaps, learned to love a person.
Many couples—famously Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell, formerly Susan Sarandon and Tim Robbins, and don’t forget Branjelina—have carried on years-long love affairs without going through the business of tying the knot. A recent study may show our movie stars reflect our reality: so-called Millennials are marrying later—and less of them are marrying—than each of the previous three generations (described by the Pew Research Center as “Gen X,” “Boomer” and “Silent.” On average, an American woman in the 1950s married at age 20; the average man at age 23. Today the average American woman marries at age 27, the average man at 29.
Some families like the Duggars—stars of TLC’s hit show “19 Kids and Counting”—have adopted and implemented dating rules consistent with their religious faith, by which children of dating age “date with a purpose,” always in the presence of a chaperone, and save kissing, hand-holding, body-on-body hugging and virtually every other form of physical contact for marriage. So far, the Duggar “courtships” have been short, lasting a few months and ending in a proposal to marry, and so far the kids are marrying young.
The Duggars may seem like a throwback to a bygone era, but many observers bemoan the weakening of the institution of marriage, caused perhaps by intergenerational prosperity which has caused both men and women to lose the motivation to marry and have children. Perhaps that is why Jamie Otis had such a hard time finding a man who was ready to commit. She said guys in New York City—where she lives—were just players until they hit their late thirties.
Charlotte Divorce Lawyer Blog