Articles Tagged with Child Support

Board Certified Family Law Specialist Matt Arnold answers the question: “What can I do to gain custody of my child in North Carolina?”

Legal battles over custody and child support are miserable for everyone involved. They take time, money and create enormous amounts of stress given the importance of the subject matter: your kids. Though unpleasant, the process should at least be uniformly unpleasant, meaning that everyone suffers equally as these issues are resolved. In Chicago, an outdated court system meant that not all family law issues were handled the same way, putting some families in a better position than others. Thankfully, that two-track system has finally been abolished and all family law matters will be resolved by one unified domestic relations court.

Board Certified Family Law Specialist Matt Arnold answers the question: “What is an Absolute Divorce?”

If you have been through a divorce you understand that interaction with the legal system is a requirement. No matter how agreeable you and your ex might be, a judge will still have to be involved. Someone, maybe not you, but your attorney, will have to set foot in a courtroom. Formal papers will need to be submitted to clerks. Hearings and deadlines and other judicial-related hoops will need to be jumped through. And that’s if things are reasonably cooperative. If you and your ex are at each other’s throats the justice system can become much more invasive.

Board Certified Family Law Specialist Matt Arnold answers the question: “What is an Absolute Divorce?”

Many people have skewed views of what happens in a courtroom. Television and movies have done a disservice to our understanding of what really goes in when you’re in front of a judge. We expect fireworks, tears, shocking revelations, audible gasps from the jury and if we don’t get it we’re disappointed. The reality is that in the vast (and I mean vast) majority of cases, you’re simply trying to hold people’s attention. Just as one example, discovery obligations and rules of evidence make it unlikely that surprises will occur, both sides usually see any “surprise” coming long before it’s ever presented in court.

Board Certified Family Law Specialist Matt Arnold answers the question: “How is the amount of child support decided in North Carolina?”

Family law is an aspect of our legal system that can sometimes seem immune to change. It can take years for the family law world to react to changes in society, and even longer for those changes to trickle down through the various states. One state that hasn’t changed its family laws in decades is Illinois. Legislators there have decided to finally tackle the outdated legal code and are in the midst of a multi-year overhaul.

Board Certified Family Law Specialist Matt Arnold answers the question: “What are my custody rights if the other parent moves?”

Though it’s gone smoothly in some places, other courts in more conservative states have had a bumpy road adapting to changed legal realities since the landmark same-sex marriage case decided by the Supreme Court in 2015. A good example of this is in Tennessee, where one same-sex couple has spent months and months fighting to get a divorce, something that has proven harder than many expected.

Board Certified Family Law Specialist Matt Arnold answers the question: “How is the amount of child support decided in North Carolina?”

Most people know that it’s important to have health insurance. Same thing with car insurance or life insurance or homeowner’s insurance or renter’s insurance. We rely on insurance, in all its many forms, to protect us when things go badly and we encounter some financial setbacks that we aren’t able to cover on our own. It’s based on this premise that an insurance company recently announced it would begin offering divorce insurance, adding to the long list of insurance that a person could consider paying for.

Board Certified Family Law Specialist Matt Arnold answers the question: “What does a “No-Fault’ divorce mean in NC?”

Though no divorce is fun, some divorces can become especially nasty. In these cases, one common cause is that one party is opposed to the divorce and wants to try and hold onto the marriage, forcing the other to drag him or her kicking and screaming every step of the way. In other cases, it’s simply that the uncooperative spouse is controlling and used to getting his or her way. A divorce, especially one not on their terms, comes as a shock to the system and it can encourage sometimes horrifying displays of stubbornness.

Board Certified Family Law Specialist Matt Arnold answers the question: “What are my custody rights if the other parent moves?”

Going through a divorce with kids can be incredibly difficult. Divorce is bad enough as it is, but the added stress of worrying how the divorce will impact your kids, the pain of creating new routines, of dividing parenting responsibilities and of creating a visitation arrangement that’s workable, is even harder. Given how difficult divorce with kids already is, it’s certainly not helpful for a judge to actively attempt to make the process even worse. This what appears to have happened recently in Kentucky, where one family court judge was recently reprimanded for treating divorced couples with children differently than those without.

Board Certified Family Law Specialist Matt Arnold answers the question: “Do I need an attorney to get a Divorce in North Carolina?”

Anyone with friends or family who have been through the process have likely heard how difficult divorce can be. Even putting aside the emotional toll (a hard feat to accomplish), the costs, time, uncertainty and bureaucratic difficulties of divorce can be overwhelming, especially to those with limited financial resources. Legislators in Illinois realized this and made a big effort to roll out a host of changes to the state’s divorce process. These new rules aim to simplify and streamline divorce and custody proceedings as well as standardize the approach taken to awarding spousal maintenance (also known as alimony) and child support.

Board Certified Family Law Specialist Matt Arnold answers the question: “What children’s expenses are covered by child support?”

MarketWatch shared a reader query this week from a man named Marc who wanted to know if he could sue his “deadbeat dad” for the decades of unpaid child support his father owed him and his mother. Marc’s father, from whom he has been estranged for the last 15 years, owes child support debt dating all the way back to 1956.

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