North Carolina Lawyers Weekly
Since the plaintiff-husband was awarded certain business assets as his separate property in the equitable distribution portion of the parties’ consent order, when the husband sold the assets and began receiving installment payments for them, this did not constitute ...
Read More »Domestic Relations – Child Support – Changed Circumstances – Business Sale – First Impression – Consent Order – Modification
Domestic Relations – Parent & Child – Jurisdiction – Neglect & Custody Actions – Changed Circumstances 
Although the juvenile court’s order in a neglect proceeding was insufficient to transfer jurisdiction to a pending child custody action, the order effectively terminated jurisdiction under G.S. § 7B-201. Upon the termination of jurisdiction in the neglect proceeding, the ...
Read More »Domestic Relations – Parent & Child – Guardianship – Oral Testimony Requirement
After a permanency planning hearing, the trial court awarded guardianship of the respondent-father’s children to a couple who are related to the children’s mother. However, at the hearing, the only evidence the trial court received were reports offered by ...
Read More »Domestic Relations – Parent & Child – Termination of Parental Rights – Petition Denial – Best Interests
Where the trial court carefully weighed the competing goals of (1) preserving the ties between two children and their biological relatives and (2) achieving permanence for the children as offered by their prospective adoptive family, we are satisfied that the ...
Read More »Domestic Relations– Civil Practice – Appeals – Wrong Judge’s Signature – Termination of Parental Rights
Judge Earwood presided over the hearing on a petition to terminate the respondent-mother’s parental rights, and Judge Earwood asked counsel to draft an order for her signature. However, Judge Leslie inadvertently signed the order. Even though respondent appealed the ...
Read More »Domestic Relations – Parent & Child – Termination of Parental Rights – Willful Abandonment – Incarceration – First Impression
Even though the respondent-father was incarcerated for part of the six months preceding the maternal grandparents’ filing of the petition to terminate his parental rights, (1) respondent failed to take advantage of free methods of contacting his daughter “Catherine” ...
Read More »Domestic Relations – Parent & Child – Support Arrears – Payment Schedule – First Impression
The defendant-father has the ability to pay his entire child support arrearage immediately; consequently, the trial court abused its discretion when it ordered the arrearage paid, interest-free, in $100 increments over a span of 20 years. We affirm ...
Read More »Domestic Relations – Parent & Child – Child Support Orders – UIFSA – Maryland Action
The defendant-mother moved from North Carolina to Maryland, obtained primary custody of the parties’ children, and paid all of the child support arrears she owed to the plaintiff-father pursuant to North Carolina support orders. Even though the mother then sought ...
Read More »Domestic Relations – Parent & Child – TPR – Appeals – No-Merit Brief – Independent Review
When parental rights are terminated and the parent’s counsel files a no-merit brief with the appellate court, the appellate court must independently review any potential issues counsel identifies in the no-merit brief. We vacate the Court of Appeals’ decision ...
Read More »Domestic Relations – Parent & Child – TPR – Lack of Progress – Reasons for Removal
Even though the event that precipitated the removal of the juvenile, “Bev,” from the respondent-mother’s care was an incident of domestic violence and an unexplained bruise on Bev’s arm, other factors contributed to Bev’s removal. Therefore, when the trial court ...
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