North Carolina S.L. 2019-172 (H 469) made substantial revisions to GS 50-20.1 governing the classification, valuation and distribution of pension, retirement and deferred compensation benefits. The changes apply to distributions made on or after October 1, 2019.
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Raise the Age FAQs
Training efforts to support implementation of the Juvenile Justice Reinvestment Act, or “raise the age,” are in full swing. With the December 1, 2019 implementation date drawing near, I have had the pleasure of teaching about the new law at many fall conferences and at five regional workshops. Common questions have been raised across these venues. This blog contains answers to some of those commonly asked questions as well as information on how to access further training and resources. Continue Reading
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Civil Actions and Financial Exploitation of Older Adults: Who Brings the Action?
Financial exploitation of an older adult is a type of elder abuse. It occurs in many forms. A door-to-door home repairman defrauds an older adult out of her life savings. A caregiver gets an older adult who lacks capacity to sign a deed conveying the older adult’s property to the caregiver’s son. An adult child steals the older adult’s debit card and withdraws significant amounts of money for his own benefit. (Notably, a recent study suggests that relatives may perpetrate more financial elder abuse than strangers.)
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2019 N.C. Legislative Changes to the Juvenile Code Related to Abuse, Neglect, Dependency and TPRs
Although the 2019 Legislative Session has not yet adjourned, there have been changes made to the abuse, neglect, dependency and termination of parental rights statutes in the Juvenile Code (G.S. Chapter 7B). The changes discussed below are already effective as law. There may be more changes to come given that the legislature has not adjourned. For now, here are key highlights of the changes to the Juvenile Code related to child welfare. Continue Reading
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SCRA is now North Carolina law and its protections are broader
It’s almost embarrassing how many posts we’ve done about the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA). (See here, here, here, and here, and also a bunch of others where it is at least mentioned). Actually, I’m just embarrassed that my colleagues did all that and I didn’t write any of them. But here I am, and my purpose here is simple: to notify you* of important new SCRA law specifically relevant to North Carolina. These changes became effective earlier this week.
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New Delinquency Laws – It’s Not Just Raise the Age
Believe it or not, there is new juvenile delinquency law to wrap your head around other than the Juvenile Jurisdiction Reinvestment Act, which will raise the age of juvenile court jurisdiction as of December 1, 2019. The 2019 legislative session resulted in several new laws related to juvenile delinquency cases that
- change the capacity to access teen court,
- establish new rules regarding photographing of some juveniles at the time of a show-up,
- create parental access to counsel in the context of Department of Social Services (DSS) placements as delinquency and undisciplined dispositions,
- establish new information sharing capacity between attorneys representing juveniles in child welfare and juvenile justice matters, and
- ease requirements for victims of human trafficking to access a juvenile expunction.
There is also an entirely new Article added to Chapter 7B of the General Statutes devoted to the rights of victims of delinquent acts. I will provide an overview of the delinquency-related provisions of the newly enacted legislation below. You can also access a bulleted summary of the 2019 enacted delinquency legislation on the juvenile law microsite. Several of these new statutes touch on other areas of law, such as child welfare and criminal procedure. Those provisions are outside the scope of this blog post and the bulleted summary. Continue Reading
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Mental Illness and the Courts
From today’s Newsletter of the National Center for State Courts:
New guide from the National Center for State Courts helps court leaders put together teams to aid those with mental illness
Delivering on the promise of justice for all is easier said than done, but it can be that much more difficult helping litigants who suffer from mental illness.
Continue ReadingMore about minor settlements in NC: a caution about provisions in the settlement order regarding a child’s medical expenses
My colleague Ann Anderson previously wrote about minor settlements in a blog post which may be found here.
From Ann’s post: “Although [unemancipated] minors generally are legally incapable of binding themselves to contracts, the law allows a minor’s claims to be resolved through a settlement agreement. The settlement, however, is not enforceable against the minor unless it has first been investigated and approved by the court. Sigmund Sternberger Found., Inc. v. Tannenbaum, 273 N.C. 658, 677 (1968); Ballard v. Hunter, 12 N.C. App. 613, 619 (1971) … The purpose of the court’s review is to protect the interests of the minor. The investigation must focus on the minor’s welfare and fairness to the minor under the circumstances. See Redwine v. Clodfelter, 226 N.C. 366, 370 (1946) (minor’s welfare is the “guiding star”); Reynolds v. Reynolds, 208 N.C. 578, 631−32 (1935) (affirming “fair, just, and equitable” settlement).”
Venue, Subject Matter Jurisdiction, and Summary Ejectment
I’m writing today about a seemingly simple question: When a tenant lives in one county and rental property is located in a different county, where should a summary ejectment action be filed? Obviously, most summary ejectment actions involve a tenant who resides ON the rental property, but this is not always the situation. Sometimes, tenants have vacated residential rental property and moved to a new county. Also, in non-residential leases, tenants quite often live in a different county. After researching and thinking about this issue at considerable length, I’ve come to a new and different understanding of the law relevant to this question, which I want to share with you today.
Raise the Age: Modifications and Training Opportunities
Session Law 2019-186, enacted on August 1, 2019, put the finishing touches on the new law that will raise the age of juvenile court jurisdiction in North Carolina beginning on December 1, 2019. The modifications include clarification on which offense will remain outside of juvenile court jurisdiction, an expanded timeline for probable cause hearings in some instances, and a new option to remand some cases that have been transferred to superior court back to district court for juvenile processing. If you are feeling a bit overwhelmed or confused by raise the age, fear not. A raise the age workshop is coming to an area near you this fall. Stick with me to the end of this blog and you will find links to get to the registration page. Continue Reading
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