July 2017

Stepparents’ Child Custody and Visitation Rights

When a marriage comes to an end, child custody is often one of the most hotly contested items throughout the divorce process. But what happens if there are stepparents/children involved? Does the biological parent always end up with his or her children, or does the stepparent ever seek and obtain custody? What about visitation rights of stepparents, or even stepgrandparents?

Study Finds that for Half of Children of Divorced Stepfamilies, a Strong Relationship with the Stepparent Remains Through Adulthood

A recent study found that the bonds created between stepchildren and their stepparents can last a lifetime even after the child’s biological parent and stepparent got divorced. According to one of the paper’s authors, Marilyn Coleman of the Department of Human Development and Family Science, “For a substantial portion of these children’s lives, they’ve been living with a stepparent, who, in many cases, became a parent to them.” When that strong relationship can be shown and proven to the court, there is a much greater chance of that stepparent being given partial custody or visitation rights. Coleman goes on to say that when “the couple breaks up, the family breaks up. . . what happens to these kids?

Stepparents may have invested a lot of time, a lot of emotion in raising a child and then end the relationship completely.” This emotional investment goes two ways: with the child and their stepparent. The bond is often so strong that it lasts through childhood and continues into adulthood, which was shown in half of the study group. Severing this relationship prematurely and coldheartedly through a court order can be traumatic for children of all ages, who seek regularity and routine during times of stress, such as divorce and the months and years of adjusting afterwards. Terminating a strong relationship between the child and their stepparent may be seen as not in the child’s best interest. Coleman finishes with, “Sometimes, there’s an assumption that when the relationship ends, there’s no need to continue ties. But for children who have grown up viewing someone as a parent, it may not be so easy for them to lose that relationship.”

Is it in the Best Interest of the Child?

It would be incredibly rare for the court to give a stepparent sole custody unless the biological parent has a history of substance abuse, mental illness, a severe disability, a criminal history, or charges of spousal or child abuse. Joint custody would be more likely, especially if the stepparent had been a father or mother to the child since a very young age. Visitation rights would also be a very tangible goal for a stepparent.

Call Powers Landreth PLLC Today

According to the Stepfamily Foundation, 1,300 new stepfamilies are formed every day. Many of these marriages come to an end. If you wish to seek child custody or visitation rights as a stepparent, or believe that your former spouse would not make a good guardian of your biological child, we at Powers Landreth PLLC are here to answer any questions you may have concerning issues of custody and visitation rights of stepparents. Contact our Charlotte family law team today for assistance.

Resource:

stepfamily.org/stepfamily-statistics.html

False Allegations Made During Divorce

Stress, pressure, and fear will make ordinary people do unordinary things–manipulative and even deceitful things. Some divorcing spouses go so far as to make up stories about their partners that damage their reputation and chances to be granted child custody, marital property, or alimony. If you are facing such accusations, you need to act now by contacting an experienced Charlotte, North Carolina divorce attorney.

False Allegations of Domestic Violence are Rare, But Do Occur During Divorce

While false domestic violence or abuse allegations are rare, they do affect spouses negatively during divorce. Specifically, a protective order (50-B) against one of the spouses could seriously impact the decision of the judge in many circumstances. According to research and reported by the Colorado Coalition Against Domestic Violence, in  63 percent to 74 percent of domestic violence cases, there is sufficient evidence that abuse occurred. In the remaining cases, there is insufficient evidence or a mistaken belief that abuse occurred. Very rarely does a person make a false allegation, which makes it all that much more difficult to prove in court.

Accusations of Drug or Alcohol Addiction, Sexual Abuse, or Child Abuse and Neglect Can Destroy a Parent’s Chances of Custody

Allegations of child sexual abuse during divorce cases only make up about six percent of cases, though at least two thirds of those cases are substantiated by evidence. Other allegations that could seriously jeopardize your ability to receive child custody, or even visitation rights, include:

• Alcohol or drug use;
• Child abuse;
• Spousal abuse;
• Animal cruelty;
• Committing crimes without getting caught; and
• Exposing the child to inappropriate activities or material.

Gambling, Criminal Allegations Affect Asset Division and Alimony

Even though North Carolina is an equitable distribution state, as per § 50-20, meaning that marital property is divided “fairly,” though not necessarily evenly, an accusation of abuse, an addiction, committing a crime that lead to a criminal record, or other offenses could mean that you are not awarded your fair share of the marital property. Because North Carolina can is a no-fault state for divorce, meaning that the court does not “care” in many instances who caused the divorce and will go ahead with equitable distribution of assets, there are some scenarios where allegations could disrupt this. For example, if one spouse spent a lot of money gambling, on another sexual partner, or somehow deprived the family of income in some other unfaithful, deceitful, or dishonest manner, such as committing a crime, the court may side with the other spouse that cast doubt on the other. The court may not divide the assets or allocate alimony in the same manner as it would had no false allegations been made.

Contact Powers Landreth PLLC Today for Experienced Charlotte Divorce Legal Counsel

The Charlotte attorneys at Powers Landreth PLLC will help you clear your name from any false accusations and ensure that you are given a fair chance at child custody, visitation, spousal support, and asset division. Contact us today for assistance; our attorneys are happy to answer any questions you may have.

Resources:

ccadv.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/CCADV-CCASA-Fact-Sheet-on-Myth-of-False-Allegations_updated-2.21.14.pdf

ncleg.net/EnactedLegislation/Statutes/HTML/BySection/Chapter_50/GS_50-20.html

Split Custody Agreements

You have likely heard of joint custody, where you and the child’s other parent share legal responsibility for the child and, usually, the child stays with you part time and the other parent part time. Split custody, on the other hand, is a situation in which your two (or more) children’s living arrangements are split between you and the other spouse. For example, your 10-year-old son may live with you while your seven-year-old daughter lives with the other parent. The court usually frowns upon split custody for a variety of reasons. The average North Carolina family that has children has more than one. In fact, the average is 1.75 for families that do have children, according to the Census. We understand that there are many ways that child custody can go, and split custody may or may not work for you and your children.

Sibling Relationship is Lost

With a split custody arrangement, the sibling relationship between the two children would be lost or severely limited. The children would likely not see each other very often, even if you and the other parent had visitation with the other child on the weekends or if their time together with the same parent overlaps occasionally. The North Carolina court usually believes that it is in both children’s best interest to live together and, if joint custody is an option, to move between the two households as a pair instead of individually. During divorce, or any time of despair or uprooting of normal life and routine, a sibling can be the most beneficial part of a young child’s life. According to The Only Child Project, and reported in the Huffington Post, “Without a sibling to share the burden or ease his pangs, an only child’s experience of divorce is significantly higher than other children.”

Split Custody Can be a Good Option if the Sibling Relationship is Already Very Strained, or for Other Reasons

While it used to be much more common to split up siblings a few generations ago due to possible financial strains that one or two of the parents might have, in today’s times this is remedied by child support. Although not a perfect system, due to the commonality of delinquent payments, child support negates the reason for split custody. However, if the sibling relationship is already at an unhealthy state and serious fights and arguments are frequent, there may be grounds for a split custody agreement. There may be other reasons to pursue a split custody agreement as well, such as a very wide age gap between the two children. For example, maybe one child is new baby set to live with the mother in a new city, while the other child is about to go off to college in a year and wishes to stay with the parent that is staying in the old home. There are many scenarios where split custody may be a viable option.

Call a Charlotte, North Carolina Attorney for Help Today

Our attorneys can help make split custody possible, or conversely, can help to ensure that split custody does not occur if the other parent wants split custody and you know that it would not be a healthy decision to make on behalf of your children’s well being. Contact Powers Landreth PLLC in Charlotte today to speak with an attorney.

Resources:

census.gov/population/socdemo/hh-fam/tabST-F1-2000.pdf

huffingtonpost.com/vicki-larson/post_2200_b_896909.html

How Does the Court Decide Sole Custody?

Despite only one in six sole custodial parents being fathers, according to the Census, the court does not favor the mother over the father, or vice versa. In fact, the court makes the decision in favor of the child only. It seeks to find a solution that is in the child’s best interest. According to the North Carolina Bar, “the court must find that the custodian is a fit and proper person to have custody and that custody with that person is in the best interests of the children.” If the best interest is to grant sole custody to the mother, the court made that decision based on objective criteria, such as who the child’s primary caretaker was leading up to the divorce or separation, work schedules of either parent, care taking abilities of each parent, history of violence of each parent, home proximity to schools, proximity to grandparents or other potential caretakers, etc. In order to ensure that you are given a fair chance to show that your child’s best interests lay with you, do not hesitate to contact an attorney at once.

The Court has the Final Say

While the legal assistance of an experienced attorney is unparalleled in terms of importance to your case, a judge will make the final decision regarding your child’s custody care. Because of this, it is vital to show how living with you or allowing you to have legal decision making capabilities is in the child’s best interest. What do North Carolina courts look to when deciding custody matters? All of the following criteria are thoroughly examined, in regards to each parent’s:

• Physical health;
• Mental health;
• Work constraints;
• Care taking abilities;
• Care taking history with the child;
• Domestic violence or abuse history;
• Alcohol or drug abuse history;
• Home proximity to schools and other family members; and
• Much more. If the child is old enough, the child can have a say as well.

What Can an Attorney do for You?

The difference between an experienced attorney and a sub-par attorney is vast, and not something you want to experiment with in something as important as child custody. A good attorney can provide honest answers to your questions and help you achieve high but realistic goals, all the while by keeping up excellent communication. It is important that your attorney has dealt specifically with cases like yours before. For example, are you ending a same-sex marriage, or is there anything else that presents a potentially more complex child custody case than normal? Be sure to ask each attorney you meet with about these questions and more before you agree to let them represent you.

Call a Charlotte, North Carolina Child Custody Attorney Today

Divorce and separation are tough on everyone, especially children. The possibility that they will no longer see one parent as much as the other can be especially traumatic. During this difficult and tumultuous process, it is imperative that your legal counsel has vast experience dealing with all types of child custody disputes. Nothing will catch our attorneys off guard during their pursuit to grant you the custody or visitation rights that you desire. Make an appointment with one of our Charlotte, North Carolina child custody attorneys today with Powers Landreth PLLC and learn more about we can help you.

Resources:

census.gov/content/dam/Census/library/publications/2016/demo/P60-255.pdf

ncbar.org/media/209956/child-custody-visitation-and-child-support.pdf