FAMILY LAW ARTICLES

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Vector drawing of man with a broken heart floating over his head behind a book entitled tips for surviving a breakup

Five Tips to Help You Survive Divorce

Marital relationships may take years to completely unravel. Spouses often make the final break after many unsuccessful attempts to salvage their marriage. Yet most people are surprisingly unprepared when the...
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Who Should Get the Family Dog?

Many people consider their pet as a member of their family, not just personal property. Consequently, when couples split up, there are sometimes disagreements as to which party should take...
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What is Arbitration?

Matrimonial arbitration can be used to resolve multiple or single family law issues which the parties agree by contract to submit to the arbitration process. Some parties are bound by...
Image of an Audi sedan with six pick axes stuck into it depicting revenge in divorce. Ouch.

The Danger of Plotting Revenge

The stress, anxiety, uncertainty, and emotional upheaval that come with the divorce process can bring out the worst in otherwise good people. Divorce attorneys are well accustomed to hearing clients...
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What is Alternative Dispute Resolution?

It is becoming very common for our clients to ask about alternative dispute resolution (ADR). In fact, in many judicial districts in North Carolina, the district court has adopted rules...

What Can I Do If My Former Spouse Does Not Comply with Our Separation Agreement?

A valid written separation agreement is a contract. How a separation agreement is enforced depends on whether or not it has been merged into a court order. If a separation...

Why You May Need an Accountant to Assist with Your Divorce

With the exception of child custody, family law cases are largely about financial issues – child support, postseparation support, alimony, and identification, classification, evaluation, and distribution of marital and divisible...

Attorney’s Fees Awards in Actions for Postseparation Support and Alimony

A spouse who is dependent upon another spouse for financial support may find herself/himself with little or no income and limited financial resources when the parties separate. Financial constraints can...

Tax Implications of Receiving (and Paying) Postseparation Support and Alimony

In North Carolina, there are no mathematical formulas for determining awards of postseparation support and alimony. The trial courts have broad discretion in determining the amount and duration of postseparation...

How Will Adultery Affect My Divorce Case?

What we generally think of as “adultery,” is referred to by North Carolina Gen. Stat. 50-16.1A(3)(a) as “illicit sexual behavior” which is defined as “sexual or deviate sexual intercourse, deviate...

What Is Considered “Marital Property?”

In North Carolina, the court ordered or agreed-upon division of assets and debts that occurs when spouses separate is called equitable distribution. All assets and debts that the parties accumulate...
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How Separate Property Can Become Marital Property

Transmutation is a term used in family law to describe property that has been transformed from a party’s separate property into marital property. In the context of equitable distribution, the...