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First, Some Attorney Fee Basics. North Carolina generally follows the “American Rule” in requiring parties to civil litigation to be responsible for their own attorney fees: “It is well-established that […]
Part I introduced the new G.S. 7B-505.1 and 7B-903.1(e) and discussed the county department’s statutory authority to consent to a child’s
What about Medical Care that Is neither Routine nor an Emergency?
Through S.L. 2015-136, “An Act to Make Various Changes to the Juvenile Laws Pertaining to Abuse, Neglect, and Dependency,” the General Assembly enacted G.S. 7B-505.1 and G.S. 7B-903.1(e).These two new statutes address medical decision-making authority for a child who is placed in a county department’s custody through an order entered in an abuse, neglect, and dependency action. These new laws apply to all abuse, neglect, and dependency actions that were pending on or filed after October 1, 2015.
The General Assembly has made a statement regarding the allocation of parenting rights and responsibilities in child custody proceedings. Without changing the law that custody orders should promote the best interests of the child, legislators enacted a statement of public policy designed to “promote the encouragement of parenting time with children by both parents.”
Over the past four months, I’ve had the opportunity to discuss the new juvenile delinquency legislation, S.L. 2015-58, with juvenile court officials from every part of the system – prosecutors, […]
We have Chapter 50B authorizing civil domestic violence protective orders to protect victims of domestic violence and Chapter 50C authorizing civil no-contact orders to protect victims of sexual misconduct and stalking who do not have the personal relationship with the perpetrator required for a 50B DVPO. Effective October 1, 2015, we now also have Chapter 50D authorizing permanent, non-expiring civil no-contact orders to provide additional protection to victims of sexual violence.
When a magistrate has heard evidence in a case and makes a decision based on that evidence, the formal document reflecting that decision is a judgment of the court. Form judgments for each kind of small claims case are provided by the AOC (designated as CVM forms), and they provide a valuable guide to the finding and conclusions required for a proper judgment. While the AOC forms are convenient, the law does not require their use, and some counties routinely utilize different forms. The AOC forms do reflect thoughtful decisions about what should be included in a judgment, however, and a small claims magistrate is advised to investigate further before deciding to routinely deviate from or ignore some portion of the judgment form.
On October 1, 2015, several new statutes affecting abuse, neglect, and dependency cases went into effect. Three new statutes specifically address decision-making standards related to social and cultural activities for children who are placed in a county department’s custody because of abuse, neglect, or dependency. The new statutes were created by S.L. 2015-135 and are
In discussing my experience as a juvenile defender with non-lawyers, I have learned that many people believe that juvenile proceedings are completely confidential and under no circumstances can anyone learn about the case or access the records. They also think juvenile matters are not very significant and have no real consequences beyond the juvenile court process.
UPDATE: The federal Protecting Tenants at Foreclosure Act was restored without expiration, effective June 23, 2018. This federal law must be read in conjunction with G.S. 45-21.29 and G.S. 45-21.33A provisions. The full text of the PTFA is available here.
UPDATE #2: In response to the restoration of the federal PTFA, Session Law 2019-53 repealed G.S. 45-21.33A and references to G.S. 45-21.33A in G.S. 45-21.29.
The protections afforded to tenants in foreclosure proceedings under the federal Protecting Tenants at Foreclosure Act (PTFA) of 2009 ended on December 31, 2014. The act expired and Congress did not extend it. Effective October 1, 2015, the North Carolina General Assembly enacted a law that partially fills the hole left by the expiration of the PTFA. This post covers some of the key changes and protections resulting from a new section G.S. 45-21.33A created by S.L. 2015-178 (H 174).