Lincoln County Child Custody Lawyer | North Carolina Family Law

Emergency Child Custody in North Carolina

Emergency custody has a much narrower legal meaning than an urgent disagreement between parents.

Consistent with N.C.G.S. § 50-13.5(d)(3), a court (the Family Court Judge) cannot enter an ex parte temporary custody order changing a child's living arrangements before service or notice unless the court finds one of the statutory circumstances. The child must face a substantial risk of bodily injury, a substantial risk of sexual abuse, or a substantial risk of abduction or removal from North Carolina for the purpose of evading the jurisdiction of North Carolina courts.

That standard is intentionally strict. A disagreement about school, parenting style, missed visitation, disrespectful communication, nonpayment of alimony, or a parent's belief that the existing schedule is unfair does not automatically satisfy the emergency custody statute.

There is also a separate concept of temporary emergency jurisdiction under North Carolina's UCCJEA when a child is present in this state and has been abandoned, or emergency protection is necessary because the child, a sibling, or a parent has been subjected to or threatened with mistreatment or abuse.

The legal basis for emergency jurisdiction and an ex parte change in custody can depend on the specifics of the case.  

Temporary and Permanent Child Custody Orders

Child custody orders may be temporary or permanent, and that classification can affect what must later be proven to change the arrangement.

A temporary custody order remains legally binding while it is in effect. It may establish where the child lives, parenting time, decision-making authority, exchanges, communication, or other custody terms while the case remains pending.

A permanent custody order carries a different modification standard. A party seeking to change a permanent custody order generally must establish a substantial change in circumstances affecting the child before the court reaches whether modification would promote the child's interest and welfare.

The word “temporary” in the title is not always the only consideration in determining the legal character of an order. When modification becomes an issue, the actual order, procedural history, and later court activity need to be reviewed.

Modifying a Child Custody Order in Lincoln County

Children grow. School schedules change. Parents relocate. Jobs change. Health issues develop. A parenting schedule that worked several years ago may stop fitting the child's circumstances.

Those facts do not automatically permit modification of a permanent custody order.

North Carolina law requires a party seeking modification to establish a substantial change in circumstances affecting the child's welfare. If that threshold is met, the court then determines whether modifying custody promotes the child's interest and welfare. North Carolina appellate law recognizes that the relevant change does not have to be harmful in every case. A change that benefits or is likely to benefit the child can also support modification when the legal requirements are satisfied.

That makes the connection between the changed circumstances and the child especially important. A parent's new job, remarriage, relocation, improved housing, deteriorating communication, or changed preference does not operate in isolation. The court examines how the change affects the child and the existing custody arrangement.

Custody enforcement is a separate issue. If the problem is violation of the existing order rather than changed circumstances, the appropriate legal proceeding may involve enforcement or contempt rather than modification.

Moving & Relocation | Child Custody in North Carolina

Relocation and moving out of state custody cases can present both practical and legal problems because distance can affect school attendance, transportation, weekday parenting time, extracurricular activities, holidays, and the child's relationship with each parent.

A parent's move does not automatically require a custody modification. When a permanent custody order already exists, the legal question is generally whether circumstances have changed substantially in a manner affecting the child and, if so, whether a different custody arrangement promotes the child's interest and welfare.

Domestic violence creates an important statutory protection. When a party is absent or relocates with or without the children because of an act of domestic violence, N.C.G.S. § 50-13.2 provides that the absence or relocation cannot be weighed against that party in determining custody or visitation.

A proposed move outside North Carolina can also raise jurisdiction and enforcement questions under the UCCJEA.

Interstate Child Custody | UCCJEA

A Lincoln County address does not necessarily mean a North Carolina judge has authority to make the first custody determination.

North Carolina follows the Uniform Child-Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act, commonly called the UCCJEA. For an initial custody determination, North Carolina generally looks first to the child's “home state” when the proceeding begins, or to the state where the child has lived for the preceding six months while a parent or qualifying caregiver remains here. Other jurisdictional bases apply when no state qualifies under the primary home-state rule or when another state declines jurisdiction.

Physical presence in North Carolina alone is neither necessary nor sufficient to establish ordinary initial custody jurisdiction.

Interstate cases become more complicated when another state already entered a custody order. A state that properly made the earlier determination may retain exclusive continuing jurisdiction. North Carolina generally cannot simply replace another state's custody order because the child later moves here.

Domestic Violence in North Carolina

Domestic violence is clearly a very important aspect of child custody issues in North Carolina law.

N.C.G.S. § 50-13.2 requires the Court to consider acts of domestic violence, the safety of the child, and the safety of either party from domestic violence by the other party. When the court finds domestic violence occurred, the custody terms must protect the children and the party who was a victim of domestic violence, consistent with Chapter 50B.

A civil Domestic Violence Protective Order under Chapter 50B can include temporary custody provisions. A separate Chapter 50 custody action may also exist or later be filed.

Those proceedings are civil. A criminal charge for domestic violence arising from the same alleged conduct is a separate case with different procedures and legal consequences.

Evidence concerning domestic violence therefore may affect more than one proceeding without making those proceedings legally identical.

Child Custody and Child Support | Separate Legal Issues

Custody and child support can affect one another, but they are technically separate legal issues.

The custody schedule and number of overnights may affect the child support calculation under the North Carolina Child Support Guidelines. That does not mean a parent can stop paying court-ordered support because the other parent has denied parenting time. It also does not mean payment of support creates additional custody rights.

When an existing court order governs either issue, informal agreements between the parents can sometimes create practical problems if the court order itself is never modified or formally adopted by the Judge as binding.

Attorney Meredith Shuford |  Lincoln County Family Law Background

Meredith Shuford grew up in Lincoln County and graduated from Lincolnton High School. Before taking the bench, she practiced law in Lincolnton for ten years with her father, Thomas M. Shuford Jr., and Robert Lewis. During part of that practice, she served as a Guardian ad Litem Attorney Advocate representing children alleged to have been abused or neglected.

Meredith then served fourteen years as a District Court judge in Lincoln and Cleveland Counties. Her judicial work included numerous family law matters involving families and children in custody, child support, spousal support, and property division. She also obtained certification as a Juvenile Court Judge in 2012 following additional training involving child development, substance abuse, and domestic violence.

After leaving the bench, Meredith returned to private practice in the community where she grew up and raised her family.

Prior service as a District Court judge does not promise a particular result and does not provide special access to the court. It does provide a professional background that includes years of reading custody pleadings, hearing evidence, making findings, and entering orders in family cases.