North Carolina Divorce Law – Raleigh Divorce Lawyer
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Quickly find the answers you’re looking for as it pertains to Child Custody in North Carolina.
Recent contact is also important with regard to the witnesses you have testify on your behalf. Witnesses should be chosen on the basis of not only their own involvement with you and your child and their possible expertise on your child’s needs, but also on the basis of the recency and frequency of their contacts […]
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North Carolina’s Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act requires that any party, any parent whose parental rights have not been terminated, and any person who has physical custody of the child must receive reasonable notice and opportunity to be heard before the court can make a non-emergency award of custody. Motions for custody in an […]
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The court will order that child support be paid to the custodial parent by the non-custodial parent. In North Carolina child support payments are based on guidelines. These guidelines are adhered to by the court in the typical case; however, the court may deviate from the guidelines. The non-custodial parent is ordered by the court to […]
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The timeline for bringing claims or motions for child custody and visitation is long, stretching throughout a child’s minority. The child custody action can be brought either independently or it can be joined with an action for absolute divorce, divorce from bed and board, annulment, or alimony without divorce. With regard to absolute divorce, the […]
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Welfare of the child. The dominant principle in all child custody actions, including actions to modify custody, is that custody will be awarded to the person or institution who “will, in the opinion of the judge, best promote the interest and welfare of the child.” This language from the statute about the judge’s opinion gives the […]
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The trial court’s discretion. A judge, not a jury, hears child custody matters in civil district court. Because the trial judge has the opportunity to see the parties and witnesses firsthand, the judge may exercise broad discretion in making a custody determination. The lesson here is to know one’s judge prior to trial and to […]
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The non-custodial, secondary parent’s time with the child is commonly referred to as visitation. Visitation is viewed in North Carolina as a lesser version of custody. Hence, the same principles apply to custody as to visitation in regard to the best interests of the child, parental rights, the child’s wishes, and the discretion of the […]
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It almost never happens in North Carolina that the non-custodial parent is denied any visitation time with a child. In fact, there is a strong preference in our state for family court judges to order custody be shared by each parent. Sometimes however, circumstances exist that will result in a judge deviating from this preference. […]
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A parent’s right to custody. The right of a parent to have custody of his or her minor child is substantial and, while not absolute, cannot be interfered with unless the best interests of the child clearly demand it. Thus, as against other relatives and third parties, a child’s natural parent is entitled to the custody […]
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Most custody battles, of course, are not between one parent and some non-parent relative or third party. Most custody fights are between the child’s biological parents. As between the parents themselves, our statute also makes it clear that there is no presumption favoring either the mother or the father. North Carolina has abolished, as have many other […]
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