Charlotte Family Law Blog

When making decisions regarding alimony issues, courts in North Carolina have to consider whether or not to award alimony in the first place. After deciding that it should award alimony, which some might refer to as spousal support, the court will then have to decide what amount the spouse who is going to pay alimony should contribute each month to the other spouse.

With respect to the first question, how a court handles alimony is largely left to the discretion of the court. There are some very narrow circumstances in which a court will either be required to award alimony or will be under an obligation not to do so, but in the vast majority of cases, a court will look to a number of factors to help it decide whether or not alimony is appropriate. It is ultimately up to the judge how to apply these factors to the unique circumstances of the couple appearing in court before him or her.

North Carolina is one of the handful of states that still recognize so-called "heart balm claims," which are claims a disgruntled spouse can file against someone who interferes with that person's marriage. The spouse can get monetary compensation from the person who broke up the marriage.

There is a slight distinction between the two North Carolina heart balm claims, which are called alienation of affection and criminal conversation. As a previous post discussed, the tort of criminal conversation implies the person being sued had a physical sexual relationship with a married man or woman.

Most do not enter into a marriage with the intent to dissolve it at a later date. However, for many marriages today, divorce is an option on the table that many opt to take. There could be a myriad of reasons behind you and your ex-spouse's decision to divorce. One of the toughest reasons is due to infidelity on behalf of one or both partners.

Beyond divorce, those in North Carolina actually have civil recourse if their partner was unfaithful. These are called Heart Balm claims, and North Carolina is one of the few states that recognizes this as a legal recourse. The idea is that a current or ex-spouse can seek civil and monetary penalties in situations in which their spouse was unfaithful or even so much as alienated affection. If you are in the unfortunate situation in which your ex-spouse had an affair, this legal option may be attractive to you.

A new year means W2s and other paperwork arriving which forces us to turn our attention to our 2017 taxes. With that fiscal year closed, those who are new to a divorce settlement that includes alimony or child support may have questions about how this impacts their tax return. While it may actually be simpler to file as an individual, rather than as a couple in year's past, you may be finding this process as unfamiliar, especially if your ex-spouse usually handled the financials and the tax return.

For those who are thinking of receiving alimony or child support in your pending divorce decree, it's good to take note of how it might affect your next year's tax filing. For those who make alimony payments to an ex-spouse, they are usually tax-deductible. That means they can be written off from income on a tax return. Certain stipulations must be met including that you are not filing a joint return together, you pay in cash, you aren't living in the same household as your ex-spouse and your payment is not for child support.