Articles in the Clerks of Superior Court category

The end of the year is always a good time to look back and reflect. The close of 2024 offers an opportunity to examine recent legislative developments affecting small claims […]

Recently, the School of Government offered a webinar on single protective arrangements and single transactions under G.S. 35A-1121, which was enacted into law by Session Law 2021-53 and applies to proceedings initiated on or after October 1, 2021. Meredith Smith and Timothy Heinle of the School of Government joined Catherine Wilson, an attorney with McPherson, Rocamora, Nicholson, Wilson & Hinkle, PLLC, and Matt Kraus, legal counsel with the N.C. Administrative Office of the Courts, to discuss some of the key questions and issues raised by this new law. Clerks of superior court, guardian ad litem attorneys, private attorneys, and directors, attorneys, and social workers from various departments of social services across the state participated in the webinar.

A recording of the webinar can be found here, where the presentation can be viewed for free. In the coming weeks, the video will be added to the online training library  for the SOG’s Public Defense Education group, which will offer the option of purchasing access to the webinar for CLE credit.

I’m excited to announce the launch of two major things today. First, the new North Carolina Clerk of Superior Court Manual Series website is now available at www.sog.unc.edu/clerksmanual. We took […]

The clerk of superior court, as the ex officio judge of probate in North Carolina, has original and exclusive jurisdiction over the appointment and removal of certain fiduciaries. See G.S. […]

I previously published on this blog Guardian ad Litem Attorney Challenges in the Era of COVID-19, which explored the complications the current pandemic has posed for Guardians ad Litem (“GALs”) in Chapter 35A incompetency and guardianship proceedings. Given these challenges and other developments, GALs may see an increase in the number of Adult Protective Service (“APS”) petitions being filed under Chapter 108A. This could be good news for GALs and their clients in some situations; however, GALs also need to be aware of the potential risks that could go along with a rise in APS petitions.

READ POST "Will We See More APS Petitions During COVID-19? What GALs Need to Know (June 17, 2020)"

*This post has been updated multiple times.  For the most recent version of the chart, scroll to the bottom of the post.

Since the start of the pandemic, the Chief Justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court and the North Carolina Supreme Court have issued a number of directives impacting the court system.  Instead of doing a heavy substantive post today, I thought I would share a quick reference chart I’ve been using to keep track of these directives, their effect based on the most recent order issued, the dates of the order containing each directive, and their expiration date.

I am planning two conferences for civil defenders that will be held at the School of Government (SOG). The Guardianship Proceedings for Appointed Counsel conference is scheduled for January 24, 2019 and the Civil Commitment Conference is the following day on January 25, 2019. Currently they are held bi-annually in odd years.

READ POST "Upcoming Trainings for Civil Defenders (October 24, 2018)"

More than 200 district court judges from districts across North Carolina convened last week for their semiannual conference. Much of the continuing education agenda was dedicated to informing judges about […]

Mary signs a power of attorney (POA) appointing her son, Frank, as her agent authorized to act on her behalf.  The POA is acknowledged by a notary public and states that the agent has the authority to do all acts that the principal could do.  The POA is effective immediately and durable by default under the new North Carolina Uniform Power of Attorney Act (NCPOAA) effective January 1, 2018.   S.L. 2017-153 (S569) (not applicable to health care POAs or consent to health care for a minor under G.S. Chapter 32A).

Months later, Mary suffers a massive stroke and is no longer able to manage her property or business affairs because she is unable to make or communicate decisions.  Frank retrieves the original POA from Mary’s safe and takes it to the bank and attempts to withdraw money from Mary’s checking account to pay some of her bills.  The bank refuses to accept the POA and conduct the transaction.  A friend of Frank’s notes he had a similar problem with his father’s POA.  He had to ultimately seek court-ordered guardianship of his father to be able to conduct the necessary transactions on his father’s behalf because of the bank’s refusal to accept the POA.   Is Frank stuck because of the bank’s refusal?  Must he obtain guardianship to be able to carry out his duties under the POA on behalf of Mary?

I recently taught in a course for clerks on proceedings involving minors.   One of the sessions related to proceedings to establish facts of birth set forth in G.S. 130A-106 and G.S. 130A-107.  Both proceedings are discussed in more detail in Chapter 141 of the NC Clerk of Superior Court Procedures Manual.  The session was included on the course agenda in part to highlight the areas where clerks have jurisdiction to enter judgments and orders related to facts of birth and where clerks do not.   The two proceedings set forth in G.S. 130A before the clerk provide a mechanism for a person born in NC, whether an adult or a minor, who does not have a recorded birth certificate (G.S. 130A-106) or has unknown parentage and unknown place and date of birth (i.e. the person was abandoned at birth) (G.S. 130A-107) to obtain a judgment from the clerk establishing facts of birth.   If the clerk enters a judgment, the clerk then (i) certifies the judgment to the State Registrar, a person appointed by the Secretary of NC Department of Health and Human Services to run NC Vital Records, and (ii) sends a copy to the local register of deeds.

These proceedings are different from a proceeding where a person has a birth certificate and wants to change information on the existing birth certificate.  Essentially, the person is seeking to obtain an amended birth certificate because information on the birth certificate is incorrect or new information is known such as the person’s parentage. People often end up in the clerk’s office seeking an order to amend a birth certificate because they have been told by Vital Records in Raleigh or a local register of deeds that a court order is needed for the State Registrar to amend the birth certificate.