Law

When you are engaged, it is one of the happiest times of your life. You are planning a future with this person and are eager to start. But life doesn’t always turn out the way you plan. We recently read a story about a 27-year-old woman who was planning a future with her fiancé when…

As a citizen of the United States and of North Carolina, you have the right to timely access to the legal system and justice. You should be able to depend on the system to help settle your family law or personal injury disputes in a fair and equitable manner. Of course, over the past year,…

When establishing child custody and visitation arrangements in North Carolina, the ultimate goal is to account for the best interests of all children involved in order to facilitate healthy relationships between them and each of their parents. Given that family dynamics can vary significantly from case to case, however, there are instances where children are…

The prevalence of divorce in the United States has helped researchers gather data on how divorce impacts families. In this post, Epperson Law Group will discuss pertinent statistics concerning how divorce impacts children. We hope you can use this data to help your kids through your divorce process. Children & Divorce Statistics Educational Impact Divorce…

Psychologists are frequently brought in during child custody proceedings to support an award of child custody to one parent over another. Psychologists are also useful in supporting decisions related to guardianship, abuse, neglect and the termination of custody. The American Psychological Association’s Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of Conduct offers guidelines to psychologists to use when…

If you’re a member of the lesbian, gay, bi-sexual, transgender, queer (LGBTQ) community in North Carolina, you’re well aware of the fact that LGBTQ parental rights haven’t been high on our state’s legal agenda. However, last month, the North Carolina Court of Appeals issued a ruling that supported the cause of same-sex spouses, and particularly…

Making sure your child has appropriate medical insurance and adequate health care is not something that you ever want to leave up to chance. However, if you don’t pinpoint what you and your ex-spouse’s responsibilities are when it comes to providing medical coverage, you may open the door for serious disagreements later. This often becomes…

Often, in a divorce, issues of child support and child custody can be difficult and even contentious. Resolving issues of which parent receives legal and/or physical custody of the children can be complicated enough to figure out at the time of your divorce – but what if, sometime down the road, circumstances change? There are…

What Is the 60/40 Child Custody Split? There’s a common perception in child custody cases that North Carolina courts favor the mother, almost always awarding them primary custody. However, over the past decade or so, this “default” has fallen out of favor and courts are moving toward more equitable custody arrangements. With the numerous logistical…

Not all parents can make an equal, 50/50 parenting schedule work. A 50/50 schedule usually requires two parents who have the typical “9-to-5” work schedule, live close to one another and their children’s schools and can diplomatically communicate with one another. If these conditions aren’t true for you and your ex, then you might consider an 80/20…

Every person who has been through divorce proceedings in North Carolina reached a point at which they realized the end of their marriages were inevitable. In some cases, the decision might be yours to get a divorce. In others, it might be your spouse’s decision. Alternatively, the decision might be mutual. If you’re currently undecided…

A lot of spouses enter into marriage fully confident that they have protected themselves — and their financial situation — with a prenuptial agreement. However, not all prenuptial agreements will hold up in court, so it’s important for future spouses to educate themselves on what constitutes a valid prenup. For one thing, both you and…

Now that your marriage is coming to an end, you’re probably looking to your best friends for extra support. If one of those best friends happens to be your dog, and your spouse has as strong of a connection to the animal, you could be facing a pet custody battle in divorce court. A lot…

Let’s say your marriage has been on the rocks for the last five years, but you stayed together for financial reasons. However, you recently received a $2 million inheritance and now you have the financial independence you need to break free. The worry is: Will your soon-to-be-ex-spouse get to take half of your inheritance money?…

During divorces, child support and custody are often two of the most contentious areas for former spouses to agree on. All too often, divorcing parents let their emotions control their decisions, leading to poor decision making. If you are the non-custodial parent, arguments and disagreements during or after the divorce process could result in your…

North Carolina parents live busy lives, and sometimes it’s hard to juggle schedules and – for non-custodial parents — this might cause them to miss a designated child visitation time. However, other times, missing parenting time with one’s children is the result of that parent’s irresponsibility and/or lack of interest in his or her children.…

It goes without saying that one of the most challenging aspects of divorce for most people is not having to make spousal support payments each month, move out of the family home or even split their retirement savings in two. Rather, the hardest thing is adjusting to a life in which they see their children…

From shopping for must-have items and scheduling regular trips to the doctor’s office to picking a name and preparing the nursery, the days, weeks and months preceding the birth of a child are often nothing less than hectic. Yet no matter how exhausting this can be, these efforts will pay dividends in the long run,…

Thanks to advancements in modern technology, instant gratification has recently become the rule of the day — at least as far as goods and services are concerned. Indeed, with a decent wireless network and a just a few keystrokes, we can order virtually anything from anywhere on the planet and have it on our doorstep…

North Carolina has long adhered to a collection model known as “income withholding” in recognition of the degree to which custodial parents rely on child support payments to help make ends meet. Havoc results when noncustodial parents fail to meet their payment obligations. What happens in North Carolina if you don’t pay child support? If…

The topic of child support may be a contentious or difficult point for many divorced parents in Charlotte. Unfortunately, it is not uncommon for non-custodial parents to attempt to avoid paying their child support obligations. At Epperson Law PLLC, our divorce and family law team understands how frustrating it is if you aren’t getting child support from…

Marriage extends a number of legal obligations and rights to couples across Charlotte, North Carolina, and the entire country. Many other couples, however, are not entitled to any legal protections in the event of death or separation for the simple fact that they are not married under the law. In these cases, heterosexual and same-sex…

Unless or until they have experienced domestic abuse personally, many people do not understand that it only takes an instant for an altercation to become violent. Domestic violence protective orders are issued in many cases involving domestic assault as a way to prevent victims from coming in contact with their alleged abusers for a specific…

Many of the divorce proceedings that take place in Charlotte get very emotional, particularly when there are children involved. For those parents who fear the possibility of losing custody of their kids, the temptation to flee with them may be strong. At the same, the parent being awarded custody may have concerns about his or…

Child custody arrangements can be difficult enough when both parents live in Ballantyne, North Carolina, but when one parent lives out of state or even out of the country, things can become much more complicated. This was the case when two parents divorced in 2007 in Pennsylvania. The father moved to Texas while the mother,…