Dear Carolyn:
My marriage is unraveling. My husband and I have three beautiful children. He is successful. We have a beautiful home. We had it all.
I discovered he had two children born to this “woman ” after we married. I have found some credit cards for flights to places like San Juan and Miami, and he does not go there for his work. He is moving out.
I need child support and alimony, as I do not work. He also is using cocaine, I think, and I would like life insurance on him. What can I expect for support and life insurance? He is also using profanity around the children, and he is angry.
Carolyn Answers:
You should qualify for child support and alimony, so petition the court for these as quickly as feasible. The amounts will depend on several things. First, there are North Carolina Child Support Guidelines, and I would need the income and health insurance costs to advise on the amount of child support. Your employment history will also be considered if all your children are over age 3.
Life insurance on the estranged spouse’s life is an exciting question under North Carolina law because our state does not have a statute that permits the court to order life insurance to secure support. The recent case of Wadsworth v. Wadsworth highlights that a court cannot order life insurance as security for support.
The court can consider hostility toward a mother as a consideration for a custody arrangement. Another new case, Davidson v. Tuttle, deals with hostility and profanity toward the mother, directly affecting the children and in the presence of the children. The father was awarded less time with the children because of his hostility, and the Court of Appeals affirmed the trial court’s decision.
Send your questions on family law and divorce matters to “Ask Carolyn…” at askcarolyn@rhinotimes.com, or P.O. Box 9023, Greensboro, NC 27427. Please do not put identifying information in your questions. Note that the answers in “Ask Carolyn” are intended to provide general legal information, and the answers are not specific legal advice for your situation. The column also uses hypothetical questions. A subtle fact in your unique case may determine the legal advice you need in your individual case. Also, please note that you are not creating an attorney-client relationship with Carolyn J. Woodruff by writing or having your question answered by “Ask Carolyn…”
Dear Carolyn,
Do you have a son or a father or a brother or a grandfather? Then answer me the following, please:
1. Would a Guilford County high-ranking family court judge be allowed to cover up and disregard conflict of interest between the court and a third party?
2. Why can the same judge ignore when the plaintff’s attorney is a high-ranking board member of a non-profit where the Guardian ad Litem is working at?
3. Can a judge willingly ignore a 12-year-old child’s best interest and testimony in court while accepting a 16-year-old child’s testimony without any cross examinations in the judge’s chambers?
4. Can a mother call the cops on her son when the son rejects going back home with her because he doesn’t trust his mother?
5. What if this child rejects to go back home with 8-9 times and the Police is always involved with child exchanges?
6. Can an attorney lie in court during a trial? Why would a judge blatantly ignore it? What if this attorney lies on many occasions?
7. Can a Guardian ad Litem (GAL) admit in court that she has no qualifications to do her job, but a judge can still include her findings in a trial?
8. Can she (GAL) signal multiple times to an attorney during a trial for help to?
9. Can a judge simply ignore when the defendant is letting this judge know that the GAL was signaling?
10. Can this judge ignore a counselor’s note about the child not feeling safe with his mother?
11. Can a judge act as an expert witness in trial even though the rules of evidence explicitly say that judges can’t.
12. Can a judge willingly ignore the professional opinion of an expert witness who is well-known expert in the field of law enforcement?
13. Can a bleeding neck of a child be also ignored? What do you call it when a man forces himself on a woman and makes the woman endure his sexual act on her?
14. Is it possible that a detective would say it is consensual while another protege of the very same detective says that it is a crime?
15. What if a social worker says that forced sexual activity is only significant if it happens to a woman, but it is not important if it is happening to a man?
16. Why can a judge blatantly doesn’t even try to cover up his/her obvious bias based on his/her own history?
Contact me if you want to hear more…