Charlotte Divorce Lawyer Blog
Matthew R. Arnold of Arnold & Smith, PLLC answers the question “How long does getting a divorce take?”
“I’ll sue you!”
Careful consideration necessary when property awards involve stocks
Charlotte Divorce Attorney Matthew R. Arnold of Arnold & Smith, PLLC answers the question ” Are overtime, bonuses, and commissions included in calculating child support?”
Contested divorces, in and of themselves, can be taxing on the hearts of spouses, but nothing seems to tax the minds of parties to a divorce action more than analyzing the potential tax implications of a divorce property settlement.
Holding on for the kids’ sake is not always the olive branch it appears to be
Charlotte Divorce Attorney Matthew R. Arnold of Arnold & Smith, PLLC answers the question “What does uncontested divorce mean?”
How many couples have stuck it out through the years for their children’s sake?
Commonwealth sees what may be its first same-sex divorce
Matthew R. Arnold of Arnold & Smith, PLLC answers the question “Can any attorney help me with my family law needs in North Carolina?”
Catherine Ann Boyd did not set out to make history when she married her partner in a civil ceremony in San Francisco in 2004.
Legislators seek to end state’s presumption that women are better for child custody
Charlotte Divorce Attorney Matthew R. Arnold of Arnold & Smith, PLLC answers the question “What rules are there for Father’s Right in NC?”
The State of Massachusetts is considering a change to its custody laws that would end “an imbalance in the courts that favors mothers over fathers,” according to the Salem News.
Lawyer says pets in contested divorce cases should go wherever the kids go
Matthew R. Arnold of Arnold & Smith, PLLC answers the question “What can I do to gain custody of my child in North Carolina?”
Custody battles between parents in a litigated divorce case can turn into ugly proxy wars in which, sadly, children serve unwillingly on the front lines. The battles, which often have little to do with the children themselves, are instead often “about control and winning and lashing out” when one parent feels hurt by the words or actions of another.
Bill introduced to establish private, non-judicial divorce system
Matthew R. Arnold of Arnold & Smith, PLLC answers the question “Can you guarantee I will get the resolution I want?”
Two Minnesota State legislators say the very idea of divorce implicates the court system, and that implication leads to another, critical assumption: that parties to a divorce case are adversaries.
Woman finds boyfriend with three women, takes his dog, ends up in court over Cash
Charlotte Divorce Attorney Matthew R. Arnold of Arnold & Smith, PLLC answers the question ” Is there some property that the judge cannot divide?”
The split between New York media executive Noah Szubski from the daughter of “Wild Wild West” star Robert Conrad is heating up, with Szubski and Chelsea Conrad waging a courtroom battle over Cash.
Woman’s year-long “open marriage” project ends her marriage
Charlotte Divorce Attorney Matthew R. Arnold of Arnold & Smith, PLLC answers the question “Does adultery affect my divorce case?”
Some call it a midlife crisis; some call it a wandering eye; some call it downright bored. Whatever “it” is, 50-year-old self-described “good girl” Robin Rinaldi decided to give it a whirl for one year, agreeing with her husband of seventeen years to try an “open marriage.”
The concept—called polyamory—is nothing new. It is almost as old as infidelity—a concept most people call cheating, except an open marriage takes the “cheat” out of cheating. In effect, a spouse is allowed—if not encouraged—to cheat.
Rinaldi, of San Francisco, California, said that prior to the year of her “wild oat project,” she had only slept with four men, including her husband Scott Mansfield. Her once-a-week love life with the brewer and winemaker was in a rut, and his refusal to bear a child with her was the final straw, she wrote in a recently published book titled The Wild Oats Project.
Her agreement with Mansfield was as follows: Rinaldi would rent an apartment and live there through the week. On the weekends she would return home, where she and Mansfield would live as a married couple. They were not to sleep with mutual friends, not to get into any “serious” relationships, and they were not to have unprotected sex.
Divorced women may face tough financial road
Charlotte Divorce Attorney Matthew R. Arnold of Arnold & Smith, PLLC answers the question “When do you get alimony?”
Women who devote more time to homemaking and childcare may be in for a series of post-divorce rude awakenings, according to NBC News.
Bruce McClary, a spokesman for the National Foundation for Credit Counseling, told NBC that some women “have to start right from scratch” at finding a post-divorce job or home and establishing credit.
While “working-class women get hit harder,” NBC reports, women across all income levels—even women from higher-income levels—often suffer large income losses when they divorce. Laura Tach, an assistant professor of policy analysis and management at New York’s Cornell University, said women who are awarded physical custody of children may stand to lose anywhere from thirty to forty-percent of their income.
The costs associated with childcare and the demands placed on women’s time make it difficult to keep apace of a fast-moving and demanding labor market. A 2012 study published by the Urban Institute showed that less-than-half of “employed, working-class parents” were given paid time off by their employers, while more than half worked “nonstandard hours and nearly a quarter had to work nights,” according to NBC. Keeping up with those demands and keeping up with one’s children can be difficult and, in some instances, virtually impossible.