Practice Areas | Raleigh Divorce Help

Adoption

When you are trying to adopt, whether you are a stepparent, a relative, or just hoping to become new parents to a child, you need to be sure that the legal work finalizing that adoption is done correctly.

Alienation of Affection

North Carolina is one of the few states that still recognize claims for alienation of affection and criminal conversation. When a person has a romantic relationship with a married man or woman, the other spouse can sue that person for alienating the affection of his or her partner. In other words, it is suing someone for breaking up a marriage. These cases can be costly and difficult, and over the past several years there have been judgments in excess of a million dollars against some defendants.

Alimony and Postseparation Support

There are two kinds of support available to spouses who are divorcing: postseparation support and alimony. Postseparation support is temporary and is ordered by a court to help one spouse meet his or her expenses after separation.

Child Custody

Child custody is one of the toughest issues for couples. Who will the children spend most of their time living with? What do you do about holidays and vacations? Who has the decision making power when it comes to finding a school or choosing a doctor? What happens if one parent needs to move because of a job? These questions can be some of the toughest for parents who are separating.

Child Support

North Carolina courts use a set of standard guidelines to determine child support based on the parents’ incomes and the amount of custody time each one has with the children. Complications can and do arise in determining support, from a parent quitting a job to avoid paying support to disputes over who will claim tax exemptions, which parent provides health insurance, and the costs of daycare. In some cases, children also have special medical or other needs that must be accounted for in determining the appropriate amount of child support. The Palmé Law Firm handles all these issues and can help you get to the right answer on how much child support is necessary for your family.

Domestic Violence

When confronted with violence in the home, stalking or harassment, many people feel like there is nowhere to go and no one that they can turn to. The laws of North Carolina include protections for victims of domestic violence that can enable you to stay in your home, keep custody of your children, and prevent an abusive partner from approaching you.

Equitable Distribution

In North Carolina, property acquired during a marriage is usually considered to be jointly owned by husband and wife. When a couple divorces, that property needs to be divided fairly. In order to do this, the property needs to be classified as marital or separate, valued, and then distributed. Each step of this process is littered with potential problems.

Prenuptial Agreements

Planning ahead is never a bad idea. It can save you stress, heartache and legal bills in the future. While everyone preparing to get married should always hope for the best, it pays to plan for the worst.

Separation Agreements

Not everyone needs to end up in court. Part of The Palmé Law Firm’s approach to providing the best representation we can for our clients is to identify those situations where we can agree on some or all of the issues that a couple may have and resolve them in a Separation Agreement. Litigation is expensive, stressful and risky. If the parties can come to an agreement rather than litigate, it saves everyone money and allows both spouses to move on with their individual lives that much sooner.

Uncontested Divorce

If your divorce is uncontested, we can get it for you without you having to go to court! All you have to do is send our lawyers the necessary information and then sign the divorce complaint once we’ve drafted it for you. We will take care of everything else, including filing the complaint, serving it on the other party, sending out the required notices and going to court. It usually takes 45 to 60 days from the return of the original papers to us to complete your divorce. It’s that simple.