Child Custody and Child Support Lawyers

Are you concerned about what will happen to your children in the event of a divorce?  Are you in the midst of a contentious custody battle?  Parents usually differ when it comes to determining what is best for their child in a divorce.

In a divorce, a concerned parent’s initial questions will often be about the children.  Who will get custody?  Who will pay child support?

Child Custody

Who will get custody? This is not about proving one parent unfit. In most cases, both parents are fit to take care of the children. In North Carolina, it is all about what is in the best interests of the children.

Emergency Custody, what is that? When a parent asks for emergency custody of their child, it is a serious task. In North Carolina, a parent must show that their child is at substantial risk of emotional or bodily injury at the hands of the other parent, or that the child is being removed from the state for purposes of evading the jurisdiction of North Carolina.  You need to contact Robison Smith Law right away if you have an emergency custody issue.

What if there is a need to modify custody later in the child’s life?  If there has been a substantial change of circumstances since the custody order was entered, the original custody order may be modified to better suit the current circumstances.

Child Support

How much child support will be ordered? North Carolina utilizes child support guidelines that consider the respective incomes of each parent, childcare expenses, health care expenses, and any applicable extraordinary expenses. If the other parent is purposely employed at a low paying job in order to evade or reduce child support obligations, the court may impute a higher income to that parent. In certain situations, the court may deviate from the child support guidelines and establish a support amount that ensures the reasonable needs of the child or children are adequately met.

We Can Help

Talk to one of our child support attorneys at Robison Smith Law about how the child support guidelines will affect you and your family.