Blog & Articles
Child Custody articles
43 articles on child custody from the family law team at Triangle Divorce Lawyers.
Unmarried Parents and Custody in North Carolina: Know Your Rights
Parenting comes with enough challenges—understanding your rights as an unmarried parent shouldn’t be one of them. In North Carolina, custody and visitation rights aren’t automatically determined by whether parents are married. But legal steps may be necessary to ensure your…
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Addressing Children With Special Needs In North Carolina Custody Agreements
When parents of a child with special needs face separation or divorce, the emotional challenges multiply. Beyond the typical concerns about parenting time and decision-making authority, these families must consider therapy schedules, specialized education plans, medical…
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The Role of a Guardian ad Litem in Child Custody Cases: Your Child's Voice in Court
When parents can't agree on custody arrangements, North Carolina courts sometimes appoint a Guardian Ad Litem to represent the child's best interests. If you're facing a custody dispute in Wake County, Johnston County, or surrounding areas, understanding what a Guardian ad Litem…
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Navigating Custody Battles: A Guide for Mothers
Nothing about divorce is easy. You may be dividing up assets, dealing with a loss of income, and struggling with feelings of loneliness. But if you have kids, navigating the ensuing custody battles is the biggest challenge you’ll likely face. In honor of Mother’s Day, we have…
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Child Custody FAQs for North Carolina Residents
Child custody is a confusing, complicated, and emotionally fraught process that no parent ever wants to put their child through. To obtain the outcome that is in your and your child's best interests, you need to work with an experienced Raleigh child custody attorney who can…
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What Are The Top 5 Child Custody Factors in North Carolina?
Overall, child custody and parenting time orders must be in the best interests of the child. Most good parents agree with that general principle. However, sometimes even great parents disagree on specific points. To help translate this rather obscure principle into everyday…
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Divorce: When Do We Create a Schedule for Our Kids?
Creating a schedule for your children and organizing your co-parenting plan is a critical part of a divorce. During this process, you may feel like you are neglecting your children and not giving them the proper attention they need and deserve. Depending on the relationship…
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Divorce: When Do We Create a Schedule for Our Kids?
Creating a schedule for your children and organizing your co-parenting plan is a critical part of a divorce. During this process, you may feel like you are neglecting your children and not giving them the proper attention they need and deserve. Depending on the relationship…
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What Are The Chances I Will Be Awarded More Than 50/50 Physical Custody?
In North Carolina, there is no presumption determining that the courts will rule more in favor of one parent over the other in a custody dispute. The primary factor taken into consideration for this situation is the “best interest” of the child. North Carolina introduced a new…
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When Can My Child Decide with Whom They Want to Live?
Divorce brings about the need to make many decisions, and none is more important than the issue of child custody. Many people believe there is a “magic age” when children can choose the parent with whom they prefer to live — or have the right to make that choice. In North…
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3 Common Child Custody Questions
Child custody is one of the two biggest stressors during divorce. (Money is the other one.) That’s why it’s often the source of most questions asked during our Raleigh divorce workshop each month. While of every situation is different, we rounded up three questions from our…
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How To Get Full Custody Of Your Children
Custody of the children is often one of the most contentious points in divorce. Unless one party fully agrees to give up custody, it can be a battle and will no doubt drive up the cost of your divorce. So if you want full custody in North Carolina of the children, the first…
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Custody Tips For Dads
For Dads, custody can be difficult to win, even though the courts do not discriminate against dads. Whether you are a father going for full custody or joint custody, you should be prepared for a difficult child custody battle, especially if the child's mother is also filing for…
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Child Custody And Planning For Summer
Believe it or not, summer is fast approaching. Before you know it, your kids will be out of school for the summer, and your normal custody arrangement will be changing for the summer. It’s especially important for divorced parents to plan ahead for the summer schedule. When…
Read articleAn Update On Custody Exchanges and COVID-19
The Wake County Family Court has issued a memo on court-ordered custody exchanges of minor children and how the COVID-19 pandemic affects it. The memo is below, or you can download the full PDF here. In light of Chief Justice Beasley’s recent announcement, the subsequent…
Read articleHow disputes can make child exchanges dangerous
When North Carolina parents have ended their marriage, they will likely still share custody of their children. At some point, they must physically exchange custody. The actual exchange of the children can be dangerous, especially if one or both parents are not able to resolve…
Read articleCompromising when one parent moves after divorce
North Carolina parents who get a divorce may initially focus on living near one another so that their children's lives are less disrupted, but that might change if one parent begins a relationship with someone who does not live nearby. That parent might eventually decide to move…
Read articleGrandparent visitation issues
In North Carolina and throughout the U.S., grandparents play an important part in the lives of their grandchildren. While relationships vary from family to family, in many cases, grandparents provide emotional assistance, child rearing help and even provide financial…
Read articleDifferent types of visitation after a divorce
When North Carolina parents are going through a divorce, disagreements over custody and visitation are not uncommon. However, knowing what to expect might help both parents make the transition more smoothly. In some cases, courts will order fixed visitation for the noncustodial…
Read articleJolie-Pitt custody agreement extended
North Carolina fans of actors Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt may be following their divorce and dispute over child custody. On Sept. 14, there was allegedly an altercation on a private jet involving Pitt. Less than a week later, Jolie filed for divorce. Pitt has denied that such…
Read articleDomestic violence and child custody issues
North Carolina parents who are getting a divorce and who are also dealing with domestic violence might want to consider some myths that surround abuse and child custody. For example, a separation does not always result in a child being safe from domestic violence. One expert…
Read articleElectronic entertainment an uncertain factor in family law
It is not unusual for divorced parents in North Carolina to have divergent ideas about the best way to raise their children. In this modern era of constant electronic stimulation, that can mean the two parents have different conceptions of how much internet time is appropriate…
Read articleThe role of the primary caretaker in child custody decisions
If North Carolina parents who are going through a divorce cannot reach an agreement about child custody outside of court, a family court judge must rule on the matter. When a judge makes a ruling about primary physical custody, the judge typically favors the parent that is the…
Read articleAvoiding common child custody and visitation pitfalls
Divorcing parents often hope to avoid protracted and bitter legal disputes and get through the process amicably and quickly, but these hopes are sometimes dashed when it comes time to discuss child custody and visitation. These disputes can also place the children involved in a…
Read articleParental alienation issues in divorce cases
When a North Carolina judge deals with a contentious divorce situation involving issues such as one parent claiming that the other has abused their child, there can be challenges in assessing the validity of such a claim. In some cases, allegations of child abuse may be…
Read articleThe benefits of thinking about a parenting plan
When North Carolina parents who have young children go through a divorce, they may think a parenting plan is just another piece of paperwork to complete. However, these plans can have value when parents take the time to consider what will happen with their children once a…
Read articleWays a parent can help their child through a divorce
Children of divorced parents in North Carolina often have a hard time understanding their parents' decision to separate. Many children develop unhealthy thought patterns after the divorce when they start blaming themselves or taking sides with one parent. Parents can help their…
Read articleShepherd appealing parenting and support decision
North Carolina fans of "The View" may be familiar with the child support issues facing 48-year-old Sherri Shepherd, a former host of the television program. She went to court to challenge her responsibility for her child born through surrogacy, and the Pennsylvania Superior…
Read articleWays to deal with custody issues around the holidays
The holiday season in North Carolina can bring with it difficult decisions about how to juggle two separate households for the child or children of divorce. Even the wisest and most even tempered parents have a tough time figuring out the custody arrangements around significant…
Read articleClash between state and tribal courts in child custody case
North Carolina residents might like to learn about a story involving two contradicting rulings in a child custody case that started when the grandmother of a 5-year-old boy and an 8-year-old boy filed for custody in a tribal court, as the boys are members of the Northern…
Read articleTrick or Treat Tips for Divorced Parents
Pumpkin spice everything has arrived and that can only mean one thing.....Halloween is just around the corner. If you share custody of your children, holidays can be stressful especially if there is no Order or Agreement that divides the holiday or if your children are not…
Read articleActress and billionaire agree to settle custody dispute
North Carolina parents who are embroiled in a child custody dispute might take heart in the reality that these issues can affect anyone, including the rich and famous. Such is the case with movie actress Uma Thurman and her former fiancé Arpad Busson regarding their 3-year-old…
Read articleSocial media and child custody issues
North Carolina parents who are going through a divorce and negotiating child custody matters should be aware of a recent ruling that might set a precedent for the way social media posts are used in custody battles. The ruling involved using a Facebook profile as evidence in a…
Read articleKelly Rutherford's child custody case
A California judge has ruled that the state does not have jurisdiction to hear Kelly Rutherford's custody case. For child custody cases in North Carolina and other states, children must have some connection with the state in order for a court to have jurisdiction. In…
Read articleKardashian breakup raises child custody questions
North Carolina celebrity watchers may already be aware of the breakup between Kourtney Kardashian and Scott Disick, who had three children together. There has been speculation regarding the likelihood of a custody battle between the two, as well as regarding the potential impact…
Read articleThe problems of international child abductions
Child custody and visitation disputes are often a major concern of North Carolina parents when they go through a divorce. While most of these issues are resolved, some parents take the extreme action of taken the child to another country in violation of a court order. According…
Read articleChild custody for grandparents and other loved ones
Retaining custody of a child is not always an exclusive privilege of a parent. North Carolina grandparents, extended family members, or others who have a relationship with a child who is not biologically or legally theirs may be eligible for seeking custody of the child. Under…
Read articleSeeking emergency temporary custody
Not all North Carolina couples who decide that it is time to get a divorce make the decision amicably. In some cases that involve children, one parent may fear for the safety of their child or fear that the other parent may inhibit them from visiting their child. If there are…
Read articleNorth Carolina child custody and relocation
A custodial parent is generally not permitted to simply leave with any children in their custody, regardless of the reason. In divorce cases where children are involved, there is typically a clause that specifies that a custodial parent may not relocate outside of a given radius…
Read articleOverview of parenting agreements
Some parents in North Carolina who are going through a divorce or separation are usually able to agree on a custody arrangement outside of court. Many reach an agreement about child custody through informal negotiations while other parents use more formal mediation or…
Read articleMaking a parenting plan outside of court
If you and your spouse have minor children and are getting a divorce, you have to work out with whom your children will live and who has decision-making power regarding major decisions about their lives. In North Carolina, amicably agreeing to a parenting plan can save you from…
Read articleChanging a custody order in North Carolina
As the lives and circumstances of divorced parents change, child custody orders may be changed also so that as you and your children grow and change, so can the terms of your child custody order. The law allows parents to request modifications to previously issued child custody…
Read articleVirtual visitation is possible child custody matters
North Carolina is one of the first states in the country that have passed statutes giving courts the freedom to use virtual visitation when settling child custody issues. Several other state governments are looking at electronic communication tools as an option for…
Read articleThis website provides general legal information and is not legal advice. Every situation is different. Consult an attorney about your specific circumstances.
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