In North Carolina, visitation is considered a type of custody. Anyone who believes they have or should have the right to visitation may sue for custody. Usually, a custody lawsuit must be in the county where the child resides. Like any type of lawsuit, there is special language that needs to be in... View More

In North Carolina the requirement for divorce is that parties must have lived separate and apart except in rare circumstances. It requires that only one party needs to have had the intent to live separate and apart. To contest the divorce you would need to show you have not lived separate and... View More

According to statute in North Carolina any adult may file to adopt a child. If you want to adopt a child the clerk or judge dealing with special proceeding actions will Order a Home Study. The home study will include the following:

physical and mental health, financial information, the... View More

First you should call the clerk of court to find out if an Order has been entered. You should have been served, but it is possible that an Order was entered without you being served. The clerk will be able to inform you of the status of the case. If there is no actual written Order in the file,... View More

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answered on Sep 12, 2022

A custody agreement may be formed between parties without the involvement of a court, but it carries no enforcement mechanism if a court is not involved. When co-parents are getting along, these are routinely formed without a court's involvement. In some cases the agreement is entered as a... View More

Your options depend on whether you have a "custody agreement" or a "custody order." If you merely have a "custody agreement," it is likely not an order of the court, and you could not hold your husband in contempt of court if he acted contrary to the terms. On the... View More

No, there really isn't.

The court CAN'T make someone care more about their children, or want to have additional time with them. I suppose it is possible that you could rework your custody schedule so that he has 124 overnights per year (which would change his child support... View More

A typical custody order that gives one parent "x" amount of custodial time and the other parent "y" amount of custodial time does NOT have any restrictions about what each parent can do with their respective time. So there is always the real chance that the other parent will... View More

If he can't access the child, he won't be able to get a paternity test, without a court order. He could (through you as his "guardian") file for custody/visitation of the child, and then it would be up to the mother to prove that his is not the father. Once he has access to the... View More

Is there a custody order? Without a custody order explicitly barring either party from exposing the minor children to persons you are dating, there shouldn't be anything stopping you from dating who you want to date and acting in the manner you seem to do doing. That said, there does need to... View More

Of course you should consider consulting with a local family law attorney for a better answer, but you likely do have grounds to seek to modify the existing custody order. Despite his recent behavior, I would imagine that a judge thinks this person should still have some contact with their child,... View More

It is difficult if not impossible to accurately answer this question without a full consultation. That said, I wonder what you are thinking "full" custody actually is, and how realistic it is that you will get it. Mom may not have a strong custody claim, but it seems like she wants to... View More

You legally can move out since you are 18, but if you do, your parents could easily stop supporting you, so this is a decision you will have to think carefully about.

I'm going to operate under the assumption that the word "crime" in your question was a typo and was meant to say "from."

You will need to try and determine what amount of custody he is seeking, and evaluate whether the two of you can come to an agreement on how to... View More

There isn't really a question here, but it sounds like you need to file for custody and let the court sort it out. I have no idea what sort of 'rules' she is making you follow, but there is a good chance that you aren't being treated fairly. You may not have the resources to... View More

Your best bet is to have an attorney review the actual custody order - there is a level of speculation involved when you can't see the order. With that said, you should have control over the day-to-day activities of your son while he is in your custody.

The answer to your question depends if there is a custody order in place. Both parents are required to follow any Court orders. If one or both parents wish to change the order, a motion needs to be followed with the Courts. If both parents are in agreement, a consent order signed by both parents... View More

I'm very sorry to hear about your situation and sympathetic to what you are going through. That said, while you are clear that you can't afford an attorney, I would strongly advise you to at least pay for a consultation to discuss the complicated issues that go into filing a third-party... View More

I'm not aware of any probono divorce lawyers, if that is what the question is asking about. There are pro bono programs for domestic abuse victims, but they usually stick to getting a restraining order and do not touch the divorce items.

While rare, there are some law firms that work... View More

This is something you need to hire a lawyer for.