Charlotte Divorce Lawyer Blog

Attorney Matthew R. Arnold answering the question: “What does a “No-Fault’ divorce mean in NC?”

A recent survey by the Pew Research Center has discovered what some people long suspected: divorce may be contagious. The survey suggested to researchers that the risk of divorce increases when someone close to you divorces, perhaps opening a door you may not have realized existed.

A team of researchers based at Brown University analyzed data gathered from couples in Framingham, Massachusetts over nearly thirty years. The study showed that of the individuals studied, a person was 75 percent more likely to divorce their own spouse if a friend chose to divorce. Surprisingly, divorce contagion appeared quite virulent, with a person becoming 33 percent more likely to divorce even when a friend of a friend divorces. However, the divorce of a friend of a friend of a friend was shown to have little if any impact on a person’s chance of divorcing.

Researchers say that viewing divorce as a kind of disease may not be so far off. In fact, the lead researcher indicated that divorce could spread quickly through close groups of friends, with social networks being impacted by the marital strife of friends twice removed.

The authors note that this phenomenon, known as “social contagion,” is not limited to divorce, but incudes other things such as teenage sexual behavior, bad attitudes in a workplace or even obesity among friends. Another survey back in 2006 showed how brothers and sisters are substantially more likely to have a child of their own soon after a sibling gives birth.

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Attorney Matthew R. Arnold answering the question: “What happens when a person’s income is not guaranteed and fluctuates from year to year?”

An extraordinarily high-priced Manhattan divorce lawyer just lost an important case that legal experts say could result in big changes in how high-profile divorces are handled in the future. The attorney, Robert Cohen, has represented big time movie stars like Uma Thurman and James Gandolfini as well as big time Wall Street execs and their wives. The recent case involves the latter, the wife of a wealthy hedge fund executive.

In the case, Amanda Sykes, the unemployed wife of hedge fund founder George Sykes, has been the main force behind a bitter dispute that has already cost George a small fortune. In New York family law cases the wealthy party foots the divorce bill for both sides, an unofficial but common practice. However, George balked after receiving his wife’s legal bills and demanded that something be done.

In response, George’s attorney brought a complaint before a Manhattan family law court, saying that Amanda should be forced to pay her legal bills out of her own money. George’s attorney noted that Amanda had racked up an astounding $700,000 in legal fees in the first two months of the case alone and has since spent more than $1 million in attorney’s fees. George argued the case was a feeding frenzy for attorneys and that he should not have to foot the bill for his wife’s reckless legal spending.

The Manhattan judge ultimately agreed with George, saying that Amanda should be forced to pay her own bills if she is intent on engaging in such costly litigation. As George’s attorney successfully argued, his client has every incentive to curtail litigation as much as possible, even if that means accepting a higher settlement than he may think is fair. Amanda, on the other hand, has no skin in the game and thus has no incentive to settle the case given that she is not bearing any financial burden.

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Attorney Matthew R. Arnold answering the question: “How is the amount of child support decided in North Carolina?”

Hip hop mogul and mega producer Timbaland must now face the music as his wife announced public plans to call it quits on the couple’s five year marriage. According to a new reports, Monique Mosley has filed for divorce from the 41-year-old producer whose legal name is Timothy Mosley.

Monique has come out swinging in her dispute, demanding that Timbaland pay a long list of her expenses. Monique’s complaint for divorce says that Timbaland should be responsible for paying for her life insurance, permanent alimony, their children’s private schooling, summer camp, multiple vacations as well as attorney’s fees.

In a twist that has surprised many, Monique has also requested that Timbaland be ordered to pay child support for not only their five-year-old daughter, but also for a 10-year-old that Monique had from a previous relationship. The divorce papers claim that Timbaland has publicly and privately claimed the child as his own and that, despite the lack of biological connection, Timbaland ought to be responsible for supporting the child.

Though this concept may come as a surprise to many who believe that child support is only owed to biological children, the fact is that there is another way that a person can be held liable for child support. This approach is referred to as “detrimental reliance through promissory estoppel.” The short explanation of this convoluted term says that when a person holds themselves out to society as the parent, the child comes to believe that he or she is the child. If the person suddenly renounces their parenthood, the child will be psychologically, socially and financially damaged.

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Attorney Matthew R. Arnold answering the question: “What does uncontested divorce mean?”

In an incredibly strange case out of New York, law enforcement officials have revealed that the FBI raided a yeshiva and a rabbi’s Brooklyn home earlier this week in an attempt to unravel a gang of rabbis who torture men into agreeing to divorce.

That’s right, according to FBI sources a gang of ultra-Orthodox Jewish rabbis have accepted thousands of dollars to kidnap and torture Jewish men to force them into granting their wives a divorce. Though the news is stunning, many familiar with the Orthodox community say they were not actually shocked given the serious issues the community has faced dealing with divorce.

According to the criminal complaint, two Orthodox rabbis, Mendel Epstein and Martin Wolmark, operated a scheme where they took payment (often thousands of dollars per case) in exchange for using violence and intimidation to convince reluctant husbands to grant their wives a “get”, a term that refers to a religious divorce in the Jewish community.

In the Orthodox Jewish community, a woman remains married unless she receives a get. That means that even if a family court in New York were to grant a legal divorce, the woman would be forbidden to remarry within her religion.

The case was ultimately cracked due to a sting operation where an undercover FBI agent pretended to be a woman desperate for a divorce with money to spend to force her husband to consent to a get. The woman was ultimately put in touch with Rabbi Epstein who told her that the kidnaping and a couple of hours of torture with an electric cattle prod would cost about $10,000 for rabbinical approval and another $50,000 to $60,000 to pay for the tough guys to do the threatening.

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Attorney Matthew R. Arnold answering the question: “Does adultery affect my divorce case?”

A famous (and famously attractive) financial reporter at CNBC, dubbed the “Money Honey” by fans, has been named in the divorce filings of a CEO who many believe may have had an affair with the reporter.

According to the gossip site, Page Six, Maria Bartiromo is listed as a potential witness in the nasty divorce case involving former Citigroup CFO Todd Thomson. Thomson was an up and comer at Citigroup where he also served as CEO of the company’s Global Wealth Management division, but was summarily fired after it was discovered that he had used a corporate jet to ferry the Money Honey home from an event back in 2007.

At the time, the Wall Street Journal revealed that Thomson had bumped fellow executives at Citigroup from a return flight so he could fly alone with Bartiromo. Thomson was also accused of using Citigroup money to sponsor TV shows and events that featured Bartiromo, even naming the glamorous cable news anchor to a board he created at the Wharton School of Business.

Thomson argued that his relationship with Bartiromo, who is also married, was entirely appropriate. Despite his protests, Thomson’s wife, Melissa, has asked a Connecticut family law court permission to depose Bartiromo, claiming that she has personal knowledge of certain key facts that could directly prove Melissa’s case.

Earlier papers filed in the divorce note that Thomson admitted to his wife of 25 years that he had engaged in an extramarital affair. The revelation then prompted Melissa to file for divorce. Despite Bartiromo’s history with Thomson, it is not believed the affair that sparked the divorce involved the CNBC anchor.

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Attorney Matthew R. Arnold answering the question: “How is the amount of child support decided in North Carolina?”

In a tragic child custody case out of Washington State, Eric Lehtinen has been arrested after police say he injected his four-year-old son with heroin and a variety of other toxic substances. Police officers say the drugging occurred on the same day that the his divorce with the boy’s mother was finalized and was intended to help delay the inevitable split.

Authorities say that the boy’s mother found her unconscious son lying in bed last week with a needle sticking out of his chest. She called 911 and, after EMTs raced her son to the hospital, a drug test was performed to find out what substances had been in the needle. Results indicated the presence of ketamine, morphine, codeine as well as heroin. Police say the Lehtinen not only injected the boy in his chest, but in his neck and his behind. Officials with Seattle Children’s Hospital say that the boy is still in the hospital recovering from the attack.

Divorce records indicate that the mother had asked the family court judge to order that her husband undergo regular drug tests as part of any custody arrangement. The issue arose because of the father’s past drug abuse and his recent claims of sobriety.

Police arrested Lehtinen and charged him with attempted murder in the first degree. His bail was set at $3 million and, if he is ultimately convicted, he could face a minimum 15-year sentence.

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Attorney Matthew R. Arnold answering the question: “Are overtime, bonuses, and commissions included in calculating child support?”

A recent article on the Huffington Post discussed the trend of couples that are interested in either mediated or collaborative divorces. The author of the article noted how in some cases these could be options worth pursuing. However, rather than serve as an option for every couple, the story acknowledges that a negotiated divorce process can only work in certain cases.

To help find out if a mediated divorce would work well with you, consider the following questions:

How open is your communication with your spouse?

This is arguably the most important question to consider when debating a collaborative divorce. For the process to work and avoid reaching a stalemate, you both must be on very good terms with each other and be able to discuss sensitive issues, including money and custody, without anger or bitterness.

Is there still respect in the relationship?

Communication is key but respect is nearly as important. Though you certainly do not need to have romantic feelings to make a negotiated divorce work, there must be a mutual respect in order to work together so closely with your soon-to-be ex. If there is a fundamental lack of trust, then the process will likely never get off the ground and you’ll end up simply spinning your wheels.

Are you in a hurry?

One benefit to these negotiated divorces is that they are often much faster than engaging in protracted litigation. Divorce proceedings can tend to drag on when couples insist on fighting over a multitude of issues, but if you decide to go the mediation or collaboration route, things can move much more quickly. If you are looking to get remarried quickly this might be a good idea.

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