Mussa v. Palmer-Mussa Bound by the district court’s uncontested finding that Kareem was not authorized to perform marriage ceremonies in North Carolina. From this finding it follows that plaintiff failed to show that his marriage to defendant was bigamous because he could not demonstrate that defendant married Braswell during a marriage ceremony that met the requirements of section 51-1. As a result, the district court properly dismissed plaintiff’s annulment action.
Three Campbell Law School professors argue that while Amendment One is not written as well as it could have been, courts are more likely to interpret it in a way that minimizes changes to the state’s family law.
Of the 55 words in North Carolina’s proposed constitutional amendment on marriage, three carry much potential for confusion: “domestic legal union.” As family law attorneys ponder how the amendment, if approved on May 8, would affect practice in areas like domestic violence, child custody and end-of-life decisions, they tend to focus on that phrase.
By PAUL THARP, Staff Writer paul.tharp@nc.lawyersweekly.com When John M. Button Jr. asked his attorney if he could get remarried on Memorial Day in 2008, the attorney, John N. McClain Jr., allegedly told Button his 2005 divorce decree was valid. Button was concerned because his ex-wife had filed a motion for relief from the divorce judgment a [...]
Matters at the heart of the practice of family law in North Carolina are the focus of several bills pending in the state's legislature this spring. Two bills address the payment of child support by non-parents, two would alter provisions relating to protective orders and one would mandate the awarding of attorney's fees to prevailing defendants in cases.
On Thursdays, a telephone at the Legal Aid of North Carolina office in Raleigh rings off the hook.
The callers aren't the usual questioners who might need help with things like foreclosures or consumer-protection issues. This is Legal Aid's Battered Immigrant Project, a highly focused area where the intersection of immigration law and family law helps address the specific needs of immigrant women who are victims of domestic violence. The project formally began in 2002 with one full-time attorney and has since grown to five attorneys and three paralegals. It was initially an interest of Deborah Weissman, former executive director of what is now LANC.
The table in the conference room down the hall from Mark Springfield's office is round. Not oval. Not oblong with round edges. Completely round. "There's no position of power," said Springfield, taking a seat. Springfield's practice of collaborative divorce sets him apart from the traditional adversarial-style attorney who practices family law.
By PAUL THARP, Staff Writer paul.tharp@nc.lawyersweekly.com An Asheville lawyer may face trial on allegations that she helped her client execute a malicious-prosecution scheme against his then-spouse. The Court of Appeals’ ruling in her case could open the door to more lawsuits against lawyers. In the March 15 first-impression opinion of Chidnese v. Chidnese (Lawyers Weekly No. [...]
By MARK E. SULLIVAN and CHARLES R. RAPHUN, Special to Lawyers Weekly mark.sullivan@ncfamilylaw.com and charlesr@ncfamilylaw.com A recent case in the North Carolina Court of Appeals illustrates an everyday error of judges and trial attorneys when dealing with alimony. This common confusion costs clients money – and always those who can least afford it. The plaintiff, [...]
By PAUL THARP, Staff Writer paul.tharp@nc.lawyersweekly.com To this day, Wilmington attorney James Lea III doesn’t know the underlying motive for Melissa Jarrell’s legal attempts to unwind the adoption of her biological son by her former partner Julia C. Boseman. “I don’t know what the basis of it is from Jarrell’s standpoint,” Lea told Lawyers Weekly. [...]
