Articles Posted in Child Support

As a recent article on USAToday.com points out, more and more divorces in the modern age involve electronic bad acts. As couples store and transmit increasing amounts of information electronically, through email, social media and text messaging, spouses are increasingly spying on each other’s communications, sometimes even illegally. Because of the speed with which this happened the law has found itself unable to keep up which has left many unanswered questions about what kind of behavior is acceptable.

A judge in Nashville, Tennessee notes that technology has “has resulted in a lot of evidence, not only of romantic involvement of one spouse with someone else, but it can also result in proof of undisclosed assets or responsibilities, financial misconduct.”

As this new type of information proliferates judges find themselves having to sort out subtle nuances. For example, how much of a shared computer is one spouse permitted to access? What if one party knew another’s e-mail password before divorce proceedings began? And what are the repercussions for breaking those rules?

The thorniest issues by far involve email and social media communications. Attorneys have had to adapt to the issues too and an experienced Charlotte divorce attorney would recommend that you chance your passwords when you begin divorce proceedings. One Nashville attorney is quoted as saying that “If you don’t change your passwords, you left them the key to the house.”

If one party knows another party’s password before the divorce proceedings, it’s possible that he may legally be able to read and save her e-mails during the proceedings. However, more extreme examples of snooping behavior, such as spyware or methods aimed at intercepting emails, are more legally troublesome. By going after all emails it can include confidential communications with attorneys and, as such, can result not only in civil liability, but also a criminal offense.

Even if criminal charges are not filed, the information obtained from snooping software could ultimately prove useless. Attorneys are able to object if certain documents have been obtained illegally and avoid having the evidence entered into the record.

Most attorneys also advise clients to avoid discussion of any sensitive matters that could become relevant in a divorce proceeding while on social media sites. Email communications might be protected due to the expectation of privacy, putting comments online on Facebook is certainly not private and the law would likely recognize no protection for such remarks.

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Many people going through a divorce have questions come tax time as the financial changes their family has gone through become clear. When and how a person can claim a child following a divorce can depend on a number of factors. The first step before you claim a child as a dependent is to make sure he or she fulfills certain basic criteria, all of which are set forth in IRS regulations.

First, and most obviously, the child in question must actually be your child or a descendent of your child. This does not mean the child must biologically be yours. It can mean either through birth, adoption or foster parenting. The child in question is also allowed to be a sibling, half-sibling or step-sibling, or a descendant of any of these.

The child being claimed must also be younger than 19, or 24 if he or she is a full-time student, and must also be younger than you (something that shouldn’t be much of a problem). The only caveat to the age requirement is if your child is permanently disabled, in which case you can claim him as a dependent regardless of his age.

Beyond these two fairly simple factors, the IRS also looks to the child’s residency throughout the year. Typically, you are permitted to claim a child as a dependent if he or she resided with you for more than half of the year. Of course, in shared custody situations, this can become tricky. The residency requirement means that parents with primary custody of their child will be the ones that are able to claim the kids as dependents.

There are, however, situations where a non-custodial parent can claim a child as a dependent if several additional factors are met. First, the parents must be legally divorced, separated under a written separation agreement, or living separately for at least the past six months. Second, the child must have received more than half of his financial support over the year from either one or both parents. Third, the child must have been in the custody of one or both of the parents for more than half of the year. Fourth, the custodial parent who would typically be able to claim the child must sign a form declaring that they will not claim that child as a dependent for that year’s taxes. The non-custodial parent must then attach this declaration to her tax return.

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The North Carolina Court of Appeals entered a ruling in the case of Crenshaw vs. Williams which came out of Mecklenburg County Family Court. This case involved a motion to modify child custody and a motion to modify child support. This case involved the registration of a foreign child custody and child support order in North Carolina for modification. This case illustrates important differences between North Carolina’s jurisdiction to register and modify a child custody decree and jurisdiction to register and modify a child support decree.

In this case, the parties had a prior Order from Michigan which addressed child custody and child support of the parties’ minor children. Ultimately, Father and the minor children lived in North Carolina with Father’s new wife while Mother lived in Georgia. Father registered the Michigan child custody and child support order in North Carolina and made a motion to modify child custody and a motion to modify child support. The trial court entered an order modifying child custody and modifying child support. Mother appealed to the North Carolina Court of Appeals.

With respect to the modification of child support, the North Carolina Court of Appeals ruled that the Uniform Interstate Family Support Act (UIFSA) required that Father register the Michigan Order in Georgia to seek a modification. Since Mother was the obligor (the party who had to pay child support under the Michigan Order), UIFSA required that the Michigan Order be registered in Georgia. Georgia would then have the authority to modify the child support obligation, if it was appropriate.

With respect to the modification of child custody, the North Carolina Court of Appeals ruled that the registration was appropriate under North Carolina General Statutes Section 50A-203(2) and that the North Carolina trial court, therefore, had subject matter jurisdiction to modify the foreign child custody Order from Michigan. Since North Carolina was the “home state” of the minor children, it was appropriate to register and modify that child support order in North Carolina. North Carolina law dictates that the “home state” of a minor child is the state in which the children have resided for the six months immediately prior to the filing of the action.

Mother attempted to argue that the child custody and child support determinations were too closely intertwined to be determined separately and, therefore, the trial court should not have determined the modification of child custody issue since it did not have jurisdiction to determine child support. The North Carolina Court of Appeals considered this argument and rejected it because there was ample evidence that the trial court considered beyond the respective financial positions of the parties which related to the best interests of the minor children.

The North Carolina trial court awarded the Father primary custody of the parties’ minor children. There were numerous findings of fact which demonstrated a substantial change in circumstances affecting the wellbeing of the minor children since the prior child custody order was entered in Michigan. The trial court also found numerous facts which supported its finding that awarding primary custody of the minor children to Father was in the best interests of the minor children.

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In the case of Moore v. Onafowora, the trial Court granted Mother sole child custody and determined an appropriate amount of child support to be paid to Mother by Father. Father appealed the child support award and the sole child custody determination. With respect to child support, Father contended that the Court erred by imputing income to him for prospective child support based on past years bank account statements. The North Carolina Court of Appeals determined that the trial Court did not actually imput income to Father. Rather, the North Carolina Court of Appeals determined that the trial Court determined Father’s income from all available sources. So, that part of the appeal was denied.

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