Fayetteville NC Family Law Blog

Custody battles don't always rage in a courtroom and they aren't always between parents. Earlier this week, an incident in the eastern Carolina region showed that child custody can become a contentious issue between multiple generations within a family, rather than simply involving a child's parents. Parents who refuse to acknowledge formal custody agreements can easily affect grandparents, legal guardians and other parties.

A woman who was the subject of a Silver Alert has been jailed and charged with abduction, according to Roanoke Rapids authorities. Silver Alerts are issued when a suspect or abductee is suffering from a cognitive impairment or some form of dementia. Police believed that the woman lacked complete mental faculties.

Lawmakers throughout the nation have begun proposing initiatives that would excuse inmates from paying child support while in prison, a controversial move that advocates say could allow prisoners to regain financial solvency faster after their release. Recently a bill has passed in the state of Maryland, despite fierce debate surrounding the issue.

The proposed initiatives, which are in consideration throughout the region, would allow inmates to suspend child support payments and halt the accrual of past-due charges during inmates' prison terms. To be eligible for the program, an inmate generally must be serving a sentence that is 18 months or longer.

A newly released study from the Centers for Disease Control shows that couples who live together before marriage may not be at risk for higher divorce rates as was previously thought. Information from a survey of 22,000 men and women shows that social trends may have changed since the days when cohabitation almost certainly predicted a future split.

Living together before marriage used to spell big trouble for couples. In the 1960s, only about 10 percent of couples cohabitated first, and they ended up with much higher divorce rates. Today, though, nearly 60 percent of couples live together first. Researchers say that because the practice is now so much more common, couples are subject to less social stigma and thus divorce less frequently.

A recent East Coast deportation and family law case is drawing the ire of advocates because of a parental rights dispute. The case involves U.S. efforts to terminate a Mexican man's custody rights to his children, contending that the kids would not receive adequate care in Mexico.

The man was deported in 2010, according to court records. His children were left in the care of their American-born mother, who attorneys say is mentally ill. The children were soon placed in foster care after the man was expelled from the country. His deportation was allegedly inappropriately expedited despite policy accommodations for primary caregivers. Child welfare officials contend that the children will be better cared for by strangers in their home country than by their father in Mexico. The ruling could open the way for the boys to be adopted by American parents.