Abuse, Neglect, and Dependency (A/N/D) Petitions: Sign and Verify
Who signs an A/N/D/ petition and whether it is properly verified determines if the court has subject matter jurisdiction over the proceeding. Without subject matter jurisdiction, the court has no...
View ArticleYou-Ah-Gap-Jah: Take the Granny and Run
Last week, two bills were introduced in the NC House pertaining to adult guardianship* – H817 and H883. The first proposes the adoption of the Uniform Adult Guardianship and Protective Proceedings...
View ArticleAssignment to Small Claims Court: What Happens When Things Go Wrong?
My last post discussed the clerk of court’s role in determining whether a case is eligible for small claims court under the terms of the chief district court judge’s order of assignment (hereinafter,...
View ArticleSubject Matter Jurisdiction in Actions for Summary Ejectment
For hundreds of years, the law has provided a procedure for landlords to obtain assistance from the justice system in ousting a tenant and taking back rental property. In North Carolina in the late...
View ArticleChild Custody and Support: Jurisdiction to Modify
Unlike other civil judgments, custody and support orders can be modified when there has been a substantial change in circumstances since the order was entered. This rule is codified in North Carolina...
View ArticleUAGPPJA is Here to Stay
I’ve been spending a lot of my time recently focused on the Uniform Adult Guardianship and Protective Proceedings Jurisdiction Act (UAGPPJA; pronounced, “you-ah-gap-jah”). UAGPPJA is a uniform law...
View ArticleDue Process Rights and Children: Fifty Years of In re Gault – Part Three, the...
The right to receive “notice” of a criminal charge or other alleged misconduct is considered to be one of the core requirements of the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United...
View ArticleCourts, Church Disputes, and the First Amendment
Just like other organizations, churches can sue and be sued. Much of the time religious doctrine is not relevant to the dispute, such as when a contractor does a shoddy job building the sanctuary,...
View ArticleIt’s Complicated: Venue vs Jurisdiction in A/N/D and TPR Actions
Within North Carolina, the appropriate location of a district court where an abuse neglect or dependency (A/N/D) action is filed is a matter of venue. GS 7B-400. And the appropriate location of the...
View ArticleShow Me the Statute: The Office and Judicial Authority of the Clerk of...
I often get asked what I do here at the School of Government. My work focuses on the areas of law where clerks of superior court exercise judicial authority. This response often elicits confusion –...
View ArticleIn the Matter of T.K.: Does a Student’s Use of Profanity in the Hallway...
Update: On June 5, 2017, the NC Supreme Court allowed the state’s motion for a temporary stay of the Court of Appeals’ opinion in T.K., which indicates that further appellate review is possible....
View ArticleWhich County DSS Files the A/N/D Petition: That Is the Jurisdictional Question!
Earlier this year, the North Carolina Court of Appeals published In re A.P., 800 S.E.2d 77 (2017), which held that the county DSS that had an open child protective case did not have standing to file a...
View ArticleChild Support Modification: Yes, we’re still supposed to file a motion to modify
In 2016, the court of appeals held that a voluntary support agreement that modified an existing child support order was void because neither party filed a motion to modify as required by GS 50-13.7....
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The Indian Child Welfare Act and Subject Matter Jurisdiction in Child Welfare...
The Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA)* is a complex federal law that applies to abuse, neglect, or dependency (A/N/D); termination of parental rights (TPR); and adoption proceedings. One of the purposes...
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A Minor’s Consent to Adoption: Where and in What Proceeding Is It Waived?
North Carolina adoption laws are codified in G.S. Chapter 48. I find it to be one of the more difficult Chapters to navigate because it consists of interrelated Articles and Parts. As you get familiar...
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Child custody jurisdiction: what happens when everyone leaves the state while...
Suppose mother files an action for custody when North Carolina is the home state of the child and mother and father both reside in North Carolina. Temporary orders are entered in the case and a couple...
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NC Supreme Court Addresses Jurisdiction in TPRs of Out-of-State Parents
In the last two years, the North Carolina Supreme Court has published two opinions that answer questions raised about whether a North Carolina district court has personal and/or subject matter...
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UCCJEA: Transitioning from Temporary Emergency Jurisdiction to Home State...
The Uniform Child-Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act (UCCJEA) governs a state’s subject matter jurisdiction to hear child custody cases, including abuse, neglect, dependency (A/N/D), and...
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Is a parent always a ‘necessary party’ to a custody action?
Consider a custody action brought by a grandparent against the mother of a child. Grandmother is seeking primary custody, arguing that mother is unfit and has waived her constitutional right to...
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Registration of a Foreign Custody Order Pursuant to GS 50A-305 Does Not...
A child support order entered by a court in a jurisdiction other than North Carolina must be registered in North Carolina pursuant to the Uniform Interstate Family Support Act, N.C. Gen. State. Chapter...
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