Family Law
In North Carolina, interests in retirement accounts or benefits that are earned during the marriage are considered marital property that is subject to division between the parties upon divorce. There are many different types of retirement plans and accounts. In order to divide certain types of retirement plans between spouses incident to divorce, federal law requires that a special court order be entered directing how the retirement plan administrator or trustee is to assign the…
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 agreement is merged into an order or judgment of the court, then the effect is that the court has accepted and adopted the separation agreement as part of its order and, upon proper application made to the court, the court may enforce the agreement by…
Decades ago when men were traditionally the breadwinners of the American family and women were typically stay-at-home moms, permanent alimony was not an unusual financial result in divorces. The days of permanent or indefinite alimony awards are not over, but they are less common than they were in the past. In general, alimony awards today are more likely to be for a specified duration with an emphasis on a period of time that allows a…
The unequivocal answer is “no.” Under North Carolina law, child support and visitation are separate matters and a parent’s failure to pay child support is not a legal justification to deny or suspend visitation. Likewise, a parent who is being denied visitation with their child is not entitled to discontinue paying child support. If you are the parent receiving child support, it may be tempting to want to punish the non-supporting parent by withholding their…
Many couples keep cash savings on hand for an emergency. Cash may be stored in a cookie jar, under the mattress, safe deposit box, or some other place for safekeeping. Any marital monies that the parties have at date of separation are subject to accounting in the distribution of the parties’ marital property. Problems can arise when couples separate and there are disagreements as to how much money was in the proverbial cookie jar and…