North Carolina Child Custody Legal Questions

If the children are in an emergency situation he should definitely try to do something to help them.  He should make sure of his information and his sources before  filing for emergency custody.  He should talk to a qualified family law attorney before he files so that they can discuss in depth the issues and the evidence he will need. He should also think seriously about hiring an attorney to represent him in this matter because custody cases can get quite complicated.  ... Read More

I have never heard of anyone doing such a thing, and it is not a legitimate means for enforcement of a contract or court order. If there is a signed contract (signed, notarized agreement), then her remedy is an action for breach of contract. If there is a Court order that orders payment of the attorney fees (i.e., it is a document signed by the Judge), then her remedy is contempt. I don't believe that it is something that a debt collection agency can collect on. You should start by contacting the NC Attorney General?s office about this. You may also want to contact an attorney who deals with debt collections as part of his or her practice to get some advice. The penalties for improperly attempting to collect on debts can be severe.... Read More

In an adoption, a biological mother can consent to the adoption and allow her rights to be terminated. If there is no adoption proceeding, however, a biological parent cannot consent to terminate his or her parental rights in favor of the other parent. It can only be done as part of a contested hearing where the unfitness of the parent is proven to the court. North Carolina will not let biological parents escape their duty to support their children unless someone else is prepared to step into their shoes as an adoptive parent.... Read More

Child support and child custody are two separate issues. Child support requires a finding that the putative father. This does not necessarily mean that the person is the biological father. He is likely to contest paternity if he is irresponsible as you suggest. Nevertheless, custody is determined by what is in the best interest of the minor child. The court does not award custody merely on the basis that an individual pays child support.... Read More

You provided very little in the way of details in your question. I?ll try to answer the different possible scenarios: 1. If this was a guardianship that was imposed as a result of a Child Protective Services petition in Abuse/Neglect/Dependency Court, then I don?t think you can regain custody until CPS agrees to reunite your family. 2. If you agreed to sign some sort of guardianship agreement with your mother, and it is not an actual court order, then I believe you can revoke/rescind the guardianship any time. 3. If there is a custody order, or your mother was appointed guardian in a custody proceeding of some kind, then you will have to file a motion to modify the custody order and have it heard in Court.... Read More

If you are ordered to permit visitation at Christmas, then you have an obligation to do so. Because it is a Massachusetts order, and it appears he still lives in Mass., then the court in that state still has jurisdiction and can be asked to enforce the order. If he refused to return the child, you would be stuck trying to have him held in contempt and ordered to produce the child. That could take time. If you do refuse to allow the visit, then he could potentially ask the court to find that you violated the order and you would have to convince the judge that you were right to withhold visitation. You may want to consider filing a motion with the Mass. Court asking to be allowed to transfer the case to North Carolina so that you can modify the order in your home state.... Read More

It depends on what you signed. If you signed a consent order for temporary custody, then all you need to do is ask the Court to set the permanent custody hearing. If you signed a custody order that did not say temporary on it, then you will have to file a motion to modify custody and put in the motion what substantial change in circumstances requires a modification. You should also get an attorney. It sounds like there are some highly questionable financial transactions that occurred prior to signing the original agreement.... Read More

1. The stepfather has no legal obligation to support your child and his income is not counted toward child support calculations. However, if he is paying bills on your behalf, then some of that could be considered income to you. 2. The support continues to go to you until the court order is modified. Be aware that the grandmother, if she has custody of the child, can sue both you and the father for child support.... Read More

That is a huge question. There are plenty of quirks in the law that may change some of these answers, but in general: 1. You are entitled to half of the property acquired during the marriage. That includes land, houses, cars, savings accounts, checking accounts, investments, etc. 2. You are entitled to half of the military pension and/or other retirement earned during the marriage. 3. Child support is calculated using your income, his income and the North Carolina child support guidelines. Try going to the NC Child Support Enforcement home page. They have a free child support calculator that lets you put the information in and will give you the child support amount. With an active service member, there is also housing and other allotments to consider as income when calculating child support. 4. Child custody is something that depends on the circumstances with the parents. If he is planning to relocate, and the kids have been in North Carolina for most of their lives, you will have a good argument to keep them here with you and let him have visitation. Steve Palm? Please note our new address: The Palm? Law Firm, P.A. 5 W. Hargett St., Suite 507 Raleigh, NC 27601 Tel. (919) 803-4512 Fax (919) 803-4516 steve@raleighdivorcehelp.com www.raleighdivorcehelp.com Confidential - This electronic message and any attached files are confidential and are intended solely for the use of the addressee(s) named above. This communication may contain material protected by attorney-client, work product, or other privileges. If you are not the intended recipient or person responsible for delivering this confidential communication to the intended recipient(s), and/or you have received this communication in error, then any review, use, dissemination, forwarding, printing, copying, or other distribution of this email message and any attached files is strictly prohibited! If you have received this confidential communication in error, please notify the sender immediately by reply email message and permanently delete the original message. IRS Circular 230 Notice: To ensure compliant with requirements imposed by the IRS, we inform you that any tax advice contained in this communication or in any attachment herein is not intended or written to be used, and cannot be used, for the purpose of (i) avoiding tax-related penalties or (ii) promoting, marketing or recommending to any party any tax-related matter addressed in this communication or any attachment herein.... Read More

You must file a petition to terminate his parental rights. It is heard in Abuse, Neglect, Dependency Court and it can be complicated. You must meet the requirements of the statute and prove it in Court. Criminal non-support and abandonment are two of the grounds for a TPR. Alternately, he can consent to the adoption and be cooperative in that process. A completed adoption involves terminating parental rights.... Read More

It depends on why she lost custody. If it was because of an abuse, neglect or substance abuse problem or because she has mental health problems that make her unfit as a custodial parent then it probably would make it more difficult to get custody of a child from a current relationship. The difficulty is not because she has had custodial problems with another child but because she has very serious underlying issues that make her unfit or nearly unfit to have unsupervised contact with any child. When an issue like that comes up, most attorneys will look at the court pleadings and orders involving the other child to determine what mom's serious problem is. You will need to prove that whatever the problem is, that problem has a direct and adverse effect on your minor child.... Read More

1. This is really a criminal issue and not a family law issue. An adult having sex with anyone under the age of 18 is illegal. An adult having sex with a 13-year-old is considered statutory rape at the very least. It is a serious felony and this woman should be criminally prosecuted. Tell your parents, tell your school guidance counselor or principal, or contact law enforcement in the county where you live and file a criminal complaint. Do this immediately. 2. You can sue for custody when the child is born. As part of a suit for custody you can demand a DNA test to establish paternity. Because you are a minor, you will need your guardian to act as a litigant and sign on to the lawsuit on your behalf. Your guardian is your parent(s) or the person(s) who have legal custody of you. If you are emancipated?legally emancipated, not just moved out?then you can act on your own. If you have no guardian that can assist you, then you can ask the court to appoint one. 3. Contact an attorney.... Read More

The DSS lawyer is correct. A party who is represented by counsel cannot be contacted directly by opposing counsel unless that party and opposing counsel expressly authorized direct contact. The reason for this rule is so that people who are represented by lawyers get the benefit of that representation by prohibiting other lawyers or opposing parties from going behind the attorney's back and frightening the opposing party or trying to coerce that party into making secret deals or disclose sensitive information they are otherwise not required to disclose and wouldn't disclose but for the advice of counsel. If you really think it necessary to make contact with the opposing party or the opposing parties lawyer personally, you will need your lawyer to put that in writing so that everyone knows that permission has been given.... Read More

In North Carolina, if you have full legal custody you do not need the father's consent to move and take the child with you unless your court order or other agreement specifically requires you to do so. This is especially true under the circumstances you have describe, where the father has directly told you he wants nothing to do with either of you. In fact, if he has had no contact and expressed no interest in being in the child's life for a sufficient period of time (usually several years) you can petition to have his parental rights terminated. However, if you do this his obligation to pay child support will also terminate.... Read More

As far as the legal consequences for your DWIs are concerned, a criminal attorney can answer that for you. The situation sounds extremely serious, however. There is certainly the possibility that the case could be referred to Child Protective Services and they may decide to take action in Abuse/Neglect/Dependency Court (AND court). If the father is not present, however, and CPS does not get involved then you may only need to make care arrangements if you go to jail.... Read More

You have the right to contact law enforcement, a teacher whom you trust, your school?s principal, any guidance counselor or therapist, or your doctor and report the physical abuse and ask for help. You should do this before you do anything else. Let your Aunt and your mother worry about hiring a lawyer and solving the other problems.... Read More

It is going to be difficult. You can try to go to the Clerk of Court's Office in your county. Some Clerks are very helpful to unrepresented parties, while others simply tell you that they cannot give legal advice. Bottom line the Clerk of Court has jurisdiction over adoptions in North Carolina. Each county has its own Clerk of Court. Also, you are going to need the father's consent unless you first terminate his parental rights (which I would think is very close to impossible to accomplish without hiring an attorney, even if the facts support the termination).... Read More

There are a lot of factors that go into what your status is regarding these children, however even an unrelated 3rd party (which is what you technically are) can still state a claim for custody if he or she has (1) created a substantial relationship with the minor children and (2) the biological parents have acted inconsistent with their protected status as parents. From the limited description you gave, it sounds like you have a substantial relationship with the children. As for part 2, you can make an argument that Mom's allowing you to act as father to the children and exercise decision making over their health, education and welfare is an act inconsistent with her protected status as a parent. You will need an attorney. Third party custody is a complicated area of the law.... Read More

If you have a custody order, then your ex would have to file a motion, go to Court, and convince the Judge to modify the order giving him primary custody by showing the Court that (1) there was a substantial change in circumstances since the last order was entered and then (2) that the change had an adverse effect on the child and then (3) that it would be in the child's best interest to have custody switched to Dad. It is a relatively complicated process for him. The short answer is no, he cannot make your son live with him if there is an order that limits his custodial time to every other weekend.... Read More