Archive

• Court Oversight Tools as Applicable to Trusts Governed by G.S. Chapter 36C

  This entry was contributed by Meredith Smith on April 17, 2025 at 6:38 pm and is filed under Trusts.

  A trust is a fiduciary relationship in which the trustee holds a property interest subject to an equitable obligation to manage or use that property for the benefit of a beneficiary. Unlike other common fiduciary relationships, a trust is not generally under continuing judicial oversight. The court may intervene in the administration of a trust to the extent its jurisdiction is invoked by a party or as provided by law. A trust may be in effect for years before an issue arises that necessitates judicial action. When a court proceeding is filed related to the trust, the court may have little familiarity with the trustee, the trust, or the trust administration. Once the court resolves the matter or dispute brought before it, the trustee typically resumes administering the trust without further court oversight.

  Continue Reading

• Satisfying Conditions of Pretrial Release When in Juvenile Detention

  This entry was contributed by Jacquelyn Greene on September 22, 2020 at 11:12 am and is filed under Juvenile Justice, Juvenile Law, Uncategorized.

  Two changes in the law have led to a new phenomenon—the need for youth under the age of 18 to satisfy conditions of pretrial release while being confined in a juvenile detention facility. First, the Juvenile Justice Reinvestment Act (JJRA) raised the age of juvenile court jurisdiction for offenses committed at ages 16 and 17 on or after December 1, 2019. The JJRA includes a broad mandatory transfer provision, requiring that many felony matters shift from juvenile to superior court jurisdiction. G.S. 7B-2200.5(a). When that happens, the rules of criminal procedure (including those governing pretrial release) apply rather than the rules for juvenile cases. Second, Part II of Session Law 2020-83 required that the few minors who continue to be processed as adults in the criminal system from the outset of their cases be held in juvenile detention instead of adult jails. The release of minors subject to criminal rather than juvenile jurisdiction is governed by the usual criminal process for setting and satisfying conditions for pretrial release. Those conditions sometimes require posting a bond. But juvenile detention facilities are not equipped to process bonds. So how does this work? This post will review the circumstances in which a youth confined in juvenile detention may need to post bond, the impediments to doing so, and potential ways to address those problems. Continue Reading