Family Law

Depending on your reason for leaving your spouse, your spouse may have grounds to allege abandonment, which is sometimes referred to as desertion. In North Carolina, abandonment is considered an act of marital misconduct.

If you have signed your separation agreement or a judge has entered a Judgment of Equitable Distribution dividing your marital property and debts, you are probably feeling relieved that this stage of your divorce is over and looking forward to putting these matters behind you. However, this is a crucial stage of the divorce process in which you should take steps to protect your financial interests and implement the division of assets and debts between…

If you are separated and are relying on your estranged spouse to provide you with health insurance coverage through an employer’s group health insurance plan or other policy maintained by your spouse, your health insurance coverage may be in jeopardy. One concern is that your estranged spouse may be able to remove you as an insured, terminate your coverage, or allow your policy to lapse without your knowledge or consent. With the increasing cost of…

An issue that arises with some frequency in divorce cases involves allegations that a spouse has hidden or disposed of marital assets. Often, these are assets, such as jewelry, cash, or valuable coin collections, which neither party admits taking or having in their possession following the marital separation. Transferring or depositing funds into undisclosed financial accounts and/or taking cash withdrawals in advance of the separation is another ploy that a spouse may use to attempt…