Charlotte Divorce Lawyer Blog

Same Sex – Second Parent Adoption Case Decided by North Carolina Supreme Court

Published on: June 24, 2011 | On behalf of Arnold & Smith, PLLC

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.”

Equitable Distribution Appeal Ruled Interlocutory by North Carolina Court of Appeals

Published on: June 21, 2011 | On behalf of Arnold & Smith, PLLC

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.

Equitable Distribution Ruling by North Carolina Court of Appeals

Published on: June 17, 2011 | On behalf of Arnold & Smith, PLLC

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.

Divorce Rates Decline

Published on: June 14, 2011 | On behalf of Arnold & Smith, PLLC

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.

Separation and Divorce Impacted by Long Commute

Published on: June 9, 2011 | On behalf of Arnold & Smith, PLLC

According to an article on Yahoo.com entitled Study: Long Commute Could Lead To Divorce, Separation, a new study out of Sweden suggests that long commutes increase chances of a divorce by 40 percent. This study found that the impact of a long commute tends to be higher on women than on men and that the riskiest time for a divorce is during the first few years of the long commute.

Obviously, there is no one factor which is a perfect predictor of divorce. Other factors can include things like just the opposite: transitioning to working from home after the couple is used to working outside of the house.

Divorce Financial Tips (5 of 5)

Published on: June 7, 2011 | On behalf of Arnold & Smith, PLLC

Charlotte Divorce Lawyer Blog is exploring five Divorce Financial Tips which are outlined in an article on Yahoo.com entitled Getting a Divorce? 5 Ways to Ensure It’s Not a Financial Disaster. This final tip has more to do with one’s state of mind than it does with acts to be taken or avoided. Here it is suggested that the spouse have a mindset of fairness. Granted, what is, and is not, fair is often in the eye of the beholder.

But, the article points out that a willingness to compromise and the ability to settle things privately and out of Court can help you to avoid thousands of dollars in legal fees. Even if you can find a “Drive Thru Lawyer,” legal fees are typically pretty expensive.

Divorce Financial Tips (4 of 5)

Published on: June 2, 2011 | On behalf of Arnold & Smith, PLLC

According to Getting a Divorce? 5 Ways to Ensure It’s Not a Financial Disaster, the fourth bit of advice is to sell the house or other valuable assets if it is financially prudent to do so. Often times we will see people who want to hold on to the former marital home for emotional reasons. If you cannot afford it, it is typically wise to put the emotional issues aside and make the reasoned decision. This is something that a family law attorney can help you decide.

Divorce Financial Tips (3 of 5)

Published on: May 31, 2011 | On behalf of Arnold & Smith, PLLC

This is the third of five divorce financial tips discussed in the article Getting a Divorce? 5 Ways to Ensure It’s Not a Financial Disaster on Yahoo.com. You should pull your credit reports from all three credit reporting agencies before and during your separation and divorce.

There are several good reasons for doing so:

1) This can allow you to spot and correct errors early.

2) You will likely need to do an inventory of your assets and debts as part of your separation and divorce, this will give you one more resource for doing so.

Divorce Financial Tips (2 of 5)

Published on: May 27, 2011 | On behalf of Arnold & Smith, PLLC

This is the second of the five divorce financial tips from an article on Yahoo.com entitled Getting a Divorce? 5 Ways to Ensure It’s Not a Financial Disaster. Here the article recommneds that you close all joint bank accounts before the divorce and begin opening separate accounts. Again, this may seem like common sense and it is generally good advice. But, there is often more to the discussion than simply closing bank accounts and denying the other spouse access to “your money.” In particular, things get complicated when the issues of alimony and child support are involved.

Divorce Financial Tips (1 of 5)

Published on: May 23, 2011 | On behalf of Arnold & Smith, PLLC

As discussed previously in Divorce Financial Tips on Charlotte Divorce Lawyer Blog, there are strategies which can help to avoid the financial disaster which is so common in divorce cases.

The first such strategy which is discussed in the article on Yahoo.com is to make a realistic budget and figure out how your standard of living is going to change as a result of the separation and divorce. While it seems to be common sense that two people cannot live separately as economically as they can live together, North Carolina law says that both spouses have the right to continue to live at the same standard of living to which they became accustomed during the marriage. You may wonder: “how does that work?”