The state of North Carolina has decided to expand the foster care system to provide aid for young adults as they transition into adulthood. Under the new law, people over the age of 18 can now be in the system until their 21st birthday.

After leaving foster care but realizing they are unable to make it on their own, young adults can reapply to be put into the system. This move was made possible by the approval of the North Carolina General Assembly in late 2016 and will take effect this year. According to Kevin Kelley, who is with the state Division of Child Welfare Services, state and federal funding provides aid to around 1,000 young adults.

Our attorneys at Marshall & Taylor PLLC provide legal services for our clients in Raleigh and other areas in North Carolina. We handle family law cases that involve child support and adoption, among others. Speak with a qualified member of our legal team by calling our offices today at 919-833-1040.

If you’re a divorced couple, balancing time spent with the children this holiday season can be a bit tricky. However, if you follow these bits of advice, you will find yourself much more likely to be stress-free and having a merry Christmas after all.

Prioritize the welfare of you children and make the festivities about them. If you aim to make your children happy this Christmas, you and your ex-partner will put aside your differences to work towards a singular goal. This will foster a partnership between the two of you and get rid of the animosity and bickering, at least for a while.

Before making travel plans, if you have a custody order of agreement, plan very carefully around it so that it doesn’t overlap with your ex-partner’s schedule with the kids. However, if you don’t have a custody agreement and you insist on not being together for the holidays, maybe it’s time to consult a family law attorney on this matter.

Our attorneys at Marshall & Taylor PLLC will fight for fair alimony payments, fair divorce arrangements, and fair custodial rights. Seek our legal representation by calling our Raleigh offices today at 919-833-1040.

William Marotta, a Kansas man turned sperm donor via the classified advertisements website Craigslist, was recently sued by the state for child support payments. Ultimately, he was found by a Kansas judge to not be liable to pay for child support to his biological daughter.

According to court documents, Marotta answered a Craigslist ad asking for sperm donation in exchange for $50. After making said donation, he signed a waiver that released him from parental rights over the child that his sperm might conceive.

Angela Bauer and Jennifer Schreiner, the lesbian couple who received the sperm and conceived a baby girl out of said donation, broke up in 2010. Schreiner, the birth mother, had to ask for federal financial assistance during that period. Around this time, the Kansas Department for Children and Families tried to offset the amount of her assistance by suing Marotta for child support.

We at Marshall & Taylor PLLC provide legal services in Raleigh or other areas in North Carolina, focusing on family law including child custody and child support disputes, among other things. Call our offices today at 919-833-1040 for more information regarding our services.

Reality television star Cynthia Bailey decided to divorce her husband, entrepreneur Peter Thomas, when their reality show, cable network Bravo’s The Real Housewives of Atlanta, was on hiatus for the season earlier this year.

According to a report, Bailey said the hardest part of undergoing a divorce is trying to remain civil with an ex-partner. She noted “a divorce is a very difficult thing to go through. It is spiritually and emotionally draining. The hardest part of this process for me has been trying to maintain a friendship and mutual respect for each other. We were friends before we were husband and wife. I just don’t want to lose that.” The divorce is coming after Thomas spent much of his time in Charlotte, North Carolina while she was living in Atlanta, Georgia.

Our attorneys at Marshall & Taylor PLLC provide legal services for our clients in Raleigh or another area of North Carolina. We handle family legal issues, such as legal separation, property division, and divorce, among others. Call our offices today at 919-833-1040 to speak with a qualified member of our legal team.

Forty-five-year-old singer, songwriter, model, and record producer Mary Jane Blige said her “heart is okay” during the process of divorce from her husband of 12 years, Kendu Isaacs.

Blige filed for divorce from Isaacs in July 2016, citing irreconcilable differences as the reason and requesting that any spousal support to Isaacs be discontinued.

In an interview with a magazine about the divorce, Blige said, “The breaking point was when I kept asking over and over and over again for respect and to be respected. And it just seemed like I was beating a dead horse. I just wasn’t getting it back so if I can’t get respect in the relationship, then I have to move on and save myself.”

A report from ABC News stated that Isaacs has asked the courts to grant him $130,000 per month in spousal support from Blige who is unwilling to grant such a stipend, saying it’s important for a divorcing woman to keep a close eye on her finances.

Coming to the decision to divorce is always a difficult situation, even if it is for the best of both spouses. If you are undergoing a divorce in Raleigh or other areas in North Carolina, hire the legal services of our attorneys at Marshall & Taylor PLLC to ensure the smooth process of uncoupling by calling our offices today at 919-833-1040.

Fifty-two-year-old actor and producer Brad Pitt will not let 41-year-old actress, film maker, and humanitarian Angelina Jolie Pitt have sole custody of their six children—15-year-old Maddox Chivan, 12-year-old Pax Thien, 11-year-old Zahara Marley, 10-year-old Shiloh Nouvel, and eight-year-old twins Vivienne Marcheline and Knox Leon—so passively.

According to documents obtained by entertainment news network RadarOnline.com, Pitt requested for joint legal and physical custody of their children on Friday, November 4 in Los Angeles, California.

Jolie filed for divorce in September after Pitt allegedly physically assaulted their eldest child, Maddox, during a private flight from France to the United States that on September 14, 2016. There have been implications that Pitt had been drinking at the time the apparent confrontation took place.

A divorce that includes child custody disputes can have a tremendous effect on the lives of your children, as well as your own. If you are currently embroiled in a particularly challenging family law issue in Raleigh or other areas in North Carolina, do not hesitate to seek the legal help of our attorneys at Marshall & Taylor PLLC by calling our offices today at 919-833-1040. Speak with a qualified member of our legal team today.

Caledonia, Wisconsin resident Curt Johnson, 61, is now officially divorced from his wife, Tracie Stier-Johnson, 47. The development took place in late October in Racine County Court. The heir of the Johnson family has recently made national headlines for various sexual crime convictions.

The pair filed their divorce petition jointly on April 20, 2016, on grounds that the marriage was “irretrievably broken.” It was a second marriage for both Johnson, son of Racine-based manufacturer S. C. Johnson & Son owner, and Stier-Johnson, who tied the knot on May 5, 2001. Division of property and other assets is impending, but the couple allegedly had a prenuptial agreement.

Our attorneys at Marshall & Taylor PLLC provide legal services in Raleigh and other areas of North Carolina. We take on family legal issues such as divorce, legal separation, child custody, child support, and property division, among others. Call our offices today at 919-833-1040 to speak with a qualified member of our legal team about your situation.

It is a good idea to stop viewing an argument as a contest that you have to win. Instead, you should “be able to view an issue as one that you are jointly solving” because doing so “creates feelings of connection and teamwork,” says San Antonio couples therapist Amy Kipp.

It is also a good idea to make it known to your spouse that you acknowledge his or her feelings, even if you don’t necessarily agree or empathize with them. Williamsburg, Virginia marriage therapist Amanda Deverich said, “Validating your spouse’s feelings doesn’t mean giving up your own truth, it just helps you reach a compromise.”

“Let’s say you were supposed to look after the kids when you came back from work. If your spouse remembers you saying you’d be home by 6 p.m. but you don’t recall saying that, you could validate it by saying, ‘I can see why you’d be frustrated if you thought that, given how many times I’ve been late in the past,” Deverich added.

Our attorneys at Marshall & Taylor PLLC, who provide legal services to our clients in Raleigh and other areas in North Carolina, handle family legal cases such as divorce and legal separation, among others. Call our offices today at 919-833-1040 to set up an initial meeting with one of our qualified legal representatives.

North Carolina grandmother Sheila Marie Nougier, 42, who lost custody of her two-year-old grandchild, opened fire in a Walmart parking lot last October 22 at approximately 3 p.m.

According to a report from Fox 8, a judge turned over custody of the child from Nougier to the child’s father earlier that day. The father then went to meet Nougier in the parking lot of a nearby Walmart when Nougier indiscriminately fired her gun, shooting herself in the foot in the process. Nougier was charged with one count of injury to personal property, one count of discharging a firearm within the city limits, two counts of attempted first-degree murder, and two counts of assault by pointing a gun.

Our attorneys at Marshall & Taylor PLLC, who provide legal services for our clients in Raleigh and other areas of North Carolina, handle family legal cases such as domestic violence, restraining orders, and child custody, among others. Call our offices today at 919-833-1040 to discuss your legal needs.

In general, America sees a pattern of women receiving better deals in custody battles than their estranged spouses. There are many cases of a judge presiding over a child custody litigation found in favor of the mother because our society still views women as the natural caretakers of children.

In recent years, the emergence of law firms that cater to men during divorce proceedings has increased. However, the existence of such law firms is controversial, with critics saying that such law firms are not pushing for equal rights between the sexes but instead propagating sexist stereotypes against women. Recent census data show that 82% of mothers have primary custody of their children and 53% of them collect child support, compared to 29% of men. Also, a recent survey from Pew Research Center showed that women spend twice as much time with their children than their husbands.

If you and your spouse are going through a family legal issue that could affect the welfare of your children, get in touch with our attorneys at Marshall & Taylor PLLC by calling our offices today at 919-833-1040.