North Carolina Lawyers Weekly

The trial court was statutorily obligated to accept a defendant’s tendered plea agreement, even though defendant maintained his innocence, where defendant had made an informed decision to plead guilty, there existed a factual basis to find defendant guilty, and the ...

The trial court properly made conclusions of law that grounds existed for termination of parental rights where all the trial court’s findings of fact had a sufficient basis in the evidentiary record and were relevant to the trial court’s analysis. ...

The trial court properly found grounds for terminating parental rights where it had already adjudicated the child neglected and found that parent’s failure to make progress on his reunification plan was indicative of the likelihood of future neglect if the ...

The county agency of the county where a child was presently located had standing to file a neglect petition where the child had not yet lived outside North Carolina long enough for another state to become his home state. We ...

The trial court erred in terminating parental rights where it failed to state the standard of proof it used in adjudicating findings of fact and where petitioner’s evidence was insufficient to support finding any grounds for termination. We reverse the ...

Parent’s long documented history of allowing individuals with sexual abuse convictions unsupervised access to her children and refusing to acknowledge the abuse of her children supported termination of parental rights. We affirm the trial court’s judgment terminating respondent’s parental rights ...

Termination of parental rights was in error where trial court failed to make detailed findings of fact in support of finding grounds for termination. We vacate and remand the termination of respondent’s parental rights due to the insufficiency of the ...

The trial court properly found grounds for termination of parental rights where parent’s refusal to acknowledge substance abuse problems or remain consistent with treatment created likelihood of future neglect due to the safety issues posed by parent’s substance abuse. We ...

The record supported termination of parental rights on grounds of abuse and neglect where parent failed to comply with mental health treatment obligations or to secure and maintain stable housing and childcare. We affirm the trial court’s order terminating respondent’s ...

The trial court erred in terminating parental rights on grounds of neglect and delinquency where it failed to resolve factual issues concerning whether parent’s lack of contact was willful or the result of interference by the child’s guardians, or whether ...