Statesville Divorce Lawyer

If you’re considering divorce, the first thing you should do is to hire a Statesville divorce lawyer who can protect your legal rights and interests during this difficult time. Your lawyer can assist you with all aspects of the divorce proceedings, helping everything move forward as smoothly as possible.

Work With Ralston Benton Byerley & Moore, PLLC

The team here at Ralston Benton Byerley & Moore, PLLC, has years of experience in handling divorce and legal separation cases. We know the relevant laws inside and out and have a reputation for providing our clients with compassionate legal services while they navigate the complex and emotionally fraught process of getting a divorce. We can help you, too.

Hire a Divorce Lawyer

The Tar Heel State has a divorce rate of 2.7 per 1,000 residents, placing it slightly above the national average of 2.4. What the vast majority of those getting divorced in North Carolina have in common is that they benefit substantially from working with divorce attorneys. When you hire a divorce lawyer, you’ll get:

• Help with paperwork
• Objective, knowledgeable advice
• Assistance with negotiating a divorce agreement
• Protection for your legal rights and interests
• Assurances that the best interests of your children will be prioritized
• Legal representation should your divorce case go to court

Your Statesville divorce lawyer can help you maintain perspective during this difficult time and make sure that the terms of your divorce agreement are completely fair. If you have children or share substantial assets with your current spouse, it’s especially important that you hire a divorce attorney who can protect your parental rights and your financial interests throughout the process.

What a Divorce Lawyer Does

There are four primary areas of your divorce that could be contested by your spouse. Each way comes with its own set of challenges.

Child Custody

If you have children, your divorce agreement must include a child custody agreement and parenting plan. You’ll need to make provisions for physical and legal custody and, if sole custody is awarded, visitation for the non-custodial parent. Your lawyer can help you protect your parental rights and the best interests of your child.

Child Support.

In North Carolina, judges generally adhere to state child support guidelines. However, either party can request that the court review the child support order. If the judge finds that adherence to the state child support guidelines will not meet the child’s needs or that it significantly exceeds them, they can alter the support agreement accordingly.

Property Division

All marital property must be divided as part of the divorce agreement. North Carolina is an equitable distribution state under NC. Gen. Stat. 50-20, which means that the marital property doesn’t necessarily get divided according to a 50/50 split. While a 50/50 split is common and considered the default rule, , judges may consider factors such as the duration of the marriage, each party’s contributions to the marriage, and each spouse’s financial and life circumstances when determining a fair division.

Spousal Support

Spousal support, also known as alimony, may be ordered on a temporary or permanent basis depending on the financial and life situations of both spouses. The court will also consider factors such as how long the marriage lasted, each spouse’s earning potential, and whether there was any marital misconduct, such as illicit sexual behavior, when determining alimony amounts and durations.

Your lawyer can assist you with all these aspects of your divorce agreement. Having a lawyer on your side can help prevent emotional disagreements with your other spouse from derailing your divorce agreement. Your lawyer can provide an objective perspective and let you know if the agreement properly represents your financial interests.

Contested vs. Uncontested Divorces

There are two routes to divorce: contested and uncontested. In most cases, an uncontested divorce is the preferred alternative as it takes less time and less money to come to an amicable resolution regarding the provisions of your divorce agreement.

Either party may be entitled to an uncontested divorce after one year and one day of legal separation. The uncontested divorce does not resolve any other pending claims between the parties such as child support, child custody, alimony, and equitable distribution. When these claims are pending, they are listed as such in the relevant pleadings for an uncontested divorce and handled later by the parties via litigation or agreement.

With claims surrounding a contested divorce, spouses cannot agree how to resolve certain family-related claims such as child custody, child support, alimony and equitable distribution. Coming to a resolution may require court intervention at the Iredell County Hall of Justice, located at 226 Stockton St, which can be costly and time-consuming. Contested divorces typically involve several distinct stages:

• Pleadings. You or your spouse files a petition for divorce. The other party then files a response that outlines their points of disagreement.
• Discovery. You and your spouse go through a fact-finding phase during which you exchange information and evidence through your attorneys.
• Negotiations. Your attorneys attempt to come to a settlement agreement without the need for court intervention.
• Motions and hearings. The court addresses pre-trial issues like temporary child custody and support orders.
• Trial. If you can’t come to a settlement agreement, your divorce case will proceed to trial. You and your spouse will both present arguments and evidence, and the judge will make a final decision regarding any disputed matters.

Contested divorces tend to be more expensive because they take longer to resolve and require substantial court intervention. Your attorney can attempt to negotiate a settlement outside of court on your behalf as an alternative to a contested divorce.

Grounds for Divorce in North Carolina

North Carolina allows no-fault divorces, with the provision that the couple be living apart and maintain separate households for a period of at least one year and one day prior to filing divorce paperwork. However, there are also fault-based grounds for divorce. They include:

• Adultery
• Cruelty or violence
• Abandonment
• Drug or alcohol addiction
• Incurable insanity
• Maliciously turning the other person out of doors
• Offering indignities that render the other person’s life intolerable

If you have fault-based grounds for divorce, that could impact certain elements of your divorce agreement. You may be more likely to receive alimony, for example. As a rule, fault does not impact property division. There is an exception made for financial misconduct following the separation.

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FAQs

Q: How Much Does a Divorce Lawyer Cost in NC?

A: How much a divorce lawyer costs in NC varies depending on the specifics of your case. If you are facing a contested divorce that must go to trial for resolution, you’ll pay more than someone with an uncontested divorce case in which all provisions of the divorce agreement can be resolved amicably between the two spouses without court involvement. Your divorce attorney’s experience level can also affect the cost of hiring a lawyer.

Q: What Is the Wife Entitled to in a Divorce in NC?

A: The wife is entitled to an equitable share of the marital property in NC. North Carolina is an equitable division state, which means that judges don’t automatically assign a 50/50 split of property. Instead, they decide who gets what based on what is fair. Depending on each spouse’s financial and life circumstances, the length of the marriage, and other relevant factors, the wife may also be entitled to spousal support payments.

Q: Do You Have to Move Out to Get a Divorce in NC?

A: You generally have to move out to get a no-fault divorce in NC. NC. Gen. Stat. 50-6 requires that spouses live apart for at least a year and a day before they file for divorce. You and your spouse must stop acting as a married couple, which means you’ll need to maintain separate households.

Q: What Is the Biggest Mistake During a Divorce?

A: The biggest mistake during a divorce is allowing emotions to drive legal and financial decisions. Doing so can lead to unnecessary legal fees, poor settlements, and long-term financial instability. Hiring a Statesville divorce attorney is a good way to avoid this problem, as it introduces an objective third party who will advocate for you in the process. Your divorce lawyer can help you make informed legal decisions that are not based on emotion alone.

Q: What Are the Alternatives to Divorce in North Carolina?

A: The alternatives to divorce in North Carolina include legal separation, in which two parties live apart with at least one party intending to end the marriage, and annulment. Annulments are rarely granted in North Carolina. Your marriage can be considered voidable and eligible for annulment if it involves incest, false pretenses, physical impotence, insanity, or underage marriage. The only way for a marriage to be void is if one spouse is already legally married.

Statesville Divorce Lawyer

Divorcing comes with many challenges. Having a skilled Statesville divorce lawyer on your side can make the entire process much easier. You can trust the team here at Ralston Benton Byerley & Moore, PLLC, to help. With our knowledge and experience with divorce laws, you can trust our team to put your needs first and represent your interests in and out of court. Contact us to schedule an initial consultation today.