Family Law

GHMA | LAW Partners included in North Carolina Super Lawyers 2020

GHMA | LAW Partners included in 2020 Edition of NC Super Lawyers

January 22, 2020

Dave Hillier, Patrick McCroskey, and Janet Amburgey have been listed in the 2020 Edition of North Carolina Super Lawyers.

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Patrick McCroskey in his office in Asheville with the 2020 Legal Elite Logo in the bottom left corner.

Patrick McCroskey included in the Legal Elite for the 7th Consecutive Year

January 8, 2020

GHMA | LAW is pleased to announce that Patrick McCroskey has been included in the Business North Carolina Legal Elite 2020 Family Law Section for the 7th consecutive year. Patrick McCroskey is a North Carolina Board Certified Legal Specialist in Family Law and Fellow in the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers. He is also consistently recognized through peer review in the Family Law Section at Best Lawyers in America where he has been named Lawyer…

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Image depicting children in a brightly lit school corridor.

Which Parent Gets to Choose Where the Child Goes to School?

July 10, 2017

The beginning of a new school year is a time when many parents are faced with making a decision regarding where their child should be enrolled in school. Where a child attends school may impact the quality of the child’s education, as well as the child’s happiness and overall development. Parents often feel strongly about decisions that can have a long-term impact on their child.

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Image of a bright child wearing oversized glasses and holding a clipboard denoting support of children.

Can a Stepparent Be Required to Pay Child Support for a Current or Former Stepchild?

June 14, 2017

Under North Carolina law, the legal parents (either biological or adoptive) of a child are deemed to be primarily responsible for the child’s financial support. As such, a stepparent has no legal duty to pay child support for the benefit of a stepchild in the event the stepparent’s marriage to the child’s parent ends, either by death or divorce. However, a stepparent who has acted “in loco parentis”

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Photograph of a grandfather and preschool granddaughter walking away on a wide path through a path

Grandparents’ Rights to Custody and Visitation in North Carolina

May 5, 2017

Under N.C. Gen. Stat. § 50-13.5(j), either parent of a child or an interested party (including a grandparent) may petition the court for a modification of child custody or visitation in any action in which custody previously has been determined. Under this statute, the grandparent must be able to show that a substantial change in circumstances affecting the welfare of the child has occurred since the entry of the prior custody order.

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