In the matter of D.H.H., the Father of D.H.H. had his parental rights terminated by the trial Court. The trial Court found three grounds on which it based its termination of Father’s parental rights. Father appealed and challenged only the first and second grounds on which his parental rights were terminated. Father did not challenge the third ground on which his parental rights were terminated.
As discussed before on Charlotte Divorce Lawyer Blog (Alimony and Child Support Payments in the Public Eye and Charlotte, North Carolina Family Law Lawyers and Court Address Confidentiality Provisions), there has been a continuing battle over whether the proceedings related to the Brian France domestic case will be kept confidential. According to a Charlotte Observer article (Secrecy in Frances’ bitter divorce is back in court) the case was back in Court this week. The lawyers for the Charlotte Observer were again asking a Mecklenburg County District Court Judge to unseal certain documents in the case.
According to the most recent Census data, North Carolina has more and more same-sex domestic partners. In fact, according to the data, the number of same-sex domestic partners in North Carolina has increased 68% in the last decade. Much of the growth has been in the western part of the State and along the coast.
It is difficult to tell whether the numbers have actually increased. According to the article, it is possible that the increased census figures are the result of more and more people being comfortable disclosing their status accurately on government forms.
This is, admittedly, a radical notion. Particularly in Charlotte, North Carolina and surrounding areas. For goodness sake, North Carolina still recognizes Alienation of Affection and Criminal Conversation lawsuits. But, a recent article in the New York Times thoroughly explores whether infidelity might actually be good for some relationships. In this article, the author thoroughly explores the ins-and-outs of this theory. Before the reader allows her blood pressure to boil, she should read the article. The author seems to have a realistic and honest approach to the issue. One of the more important points which the author makes is that infidelity in a marriage is not for everyone.
The North Carolina Court of Appeals reviewed an interstate child custody case in Bohannan vs. McManaway. This case is noted by the North Carolina Court of Appeals to be a “procedural quagmire” and this review will not recount all of the procedural history. Ultimately, the North Carolina Court of Appeals ruled that the trial court abused its discretion by denying Mother’s Rule 60 motion to set aside the 2007 Order. The North Carolina Court of Appeals ultimately vacated said Order, largely, because the evidence was undisputed that hte Order was entered without hearing any evidence. Further, there was a “patently false” finding of fact that Mother had not filed an answer in the case.
The North Carolina Court of Appeals issued a ruling in a child custody matter relating to a jurisdictional issue in Sherrick vs. Sherrick. In this case, the North Carolina Department of Social Services initiated an action alleging that the minor child was a neglected juvenile. Eventually, the custody of the minor child was granted to the child’s parents and the paternal grandparents via a Consent Order. This Consent Order also included a provision directing the Clerk of Superior Court to “treat this Consent Order as the initiation of a civil action for custody of the juvenile.” There was a subsequent hearing under a new file number at which custody was granted to the parents, the paternal Grandparents appealed.
The North Carolina Supreme Court ruled on the issue of same sex adoptions, or second parent adoptions, in the case of Boseman vs. Jarrell. This case involved a same sex couple who conceived a child together. After the child was born, the second parent adopted the child. The North Carolina Supreme Court ruled that the adoption decree was void ab initio because “the General Assembly did not vest our courts with subject matter jurisdiction to create the type of adoption attempted here.”
Another North Carolina equitable distribution case appeal was ruled to be interlocutory by the North Carolina Court of Appeals in Williamson vs. Williamson. Here the North Carolina District Court Judge announced its decision from the bench – meaning the Judge stated the ruling in open Court. When the wife appealed the equitable distribution ruling, the decision had not been reduced to a written Order and the issue of alimony was still pending before the Court.
The North Carolina Court of Appeals rendered a decision relating to equitable distribution. In the case of Bodie vs. Bodie, the plaintiff appealed an equitable distrubution order which indicated on its face that it was a final decision on the issue of equitable distribution. Importantly, alimony was still pending at the time of the entry of the equitable distribution order. The North Carolina Court of Appeals ruled that the language in question did not satisfy Rule 54(b) and, therefore, the order was interlocutory and not yet appealable.
According to an article on Yahoo.com entitled Census: Divorces decline but 7-year itch persists, couples are slightly more likely to reach their tenth wedding anniversary. This comes after decades of steadily increasing divorce rates. The study also finds that of the first marriages that fail, most fail somewhere around seven years of marriage. Of those who remarried and subsequently separated, the second marriages tended to last four years.
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