North Carolina Lawyers Weekly

Despite being on notice that DSS and the guardian ad litem were recommending that the trial court change the primary permanent plan for “Jimmy” and “Lola” from reunification to guardianship, the respondent-father failed to assert before the trial court his ...

not preclude the court from determining that termination of respondent’s parental rights was in “Scott’s” best interests. The trial court’s findings demonstrate that it considered the dispositional factors set forth in G.S. § 7B-1110(a) and performed a reasoned analysis weighing ...

Even if the respondent-mother – who lived in Ohio – received only five days’ notice of the exact date the termination-of-parental-rights hearing was scheduled to occur (February 10, 2021), since she had known for months that the hearing would occur ...

The respondent-father does not argue that he had any contact with “Becky” in the six months before the petitioner-mother filed a petition to terminate respondent’s parental rights; instead, respondent contends he had no way to contact or locate Becky. However, ...

following the case plan designed to address the issues that led to Brian’s removal: domestic violence, substance abuse, mental health, stability, parenting, employment and medical care for Brian. Furthermore, respondent’s therapist testified that respondent was not capable of parenting, and ...

Although this termination-of-parental-rights case was already outside its 90-day window, since (1) the respondent-father sought just a few days’ continuance until a Covid-19-related lockdown at his West Virginia prison was lifted, (2) his testimony was relevant to many of the ...

Although the respondent-father tested positive at some of his drug screens, he also completed most of the other requirements of his case plan, including having employment and suitable housing; paying child support; attending almost all visitations; and completing substance abuse, ...

A mother who left her children with their paternal grandmother for three years – making infrequent visits and no support payments – acted inconsistently with her constitutionally protected status as a parent. We affirm the Court of Appeals’ decision to ...

Although the respondent-father challenged some of the trial court’s findings of fact, the trial court’s unchallenged findings show that, while domestic violence was clearly identified as the reason for “Kenny’s” removal and respondent engaged in services required by his case ...

In this custody action, G.S. § 50-13.6 allowed the trial court to award attorney’s fees to the intervenors, and its award was enforceable by contempt. However, since the award was made pursuant to § 50-13.6, the trial court lacked the ...