Updated 4/14/2023
The idea for NC Senate Bill 519 started after several fathers in Sampson County, NC were awarded very limited visitation with their children. They contacted their local State Senator Brent Jackson whose staff researched the issue and determined that the default customs of each Judicial District were very different across the State of North Carolina. That led to further communication with Wake Forest Law School of Law and the NC Institute of Government that both advance the idea that new research indicates that children need to spend significant time with both parties and that is what is best for children. The old “home base” model often results in dad, who is typically the non-custodial parent only being awarded every other weekend for visitation. Sometimes the non-custodial parent also is entitled to a dinner on their “off” week. Union County, Sampson County and other rural counties often subscribe to the older “home base” model in determining the “best interest” of the minor child/ren when awarding custody. Larger counties such as Mecklenburg County and Wake County seem to prefer joint physical custody often via a week-on/week-off schedule between parents. Hence there is often a giant disparity in custody outcomes between cases in Union and Mecklenburg County even though they are adjoining counties. The original version of the bill allegedly mandated a 65% vs. 35% division of overnights between parents absent specific findings to deviate. Johnston County, NC appears to favor this approach at the moment. After significant resistance to explicitly changing the law, NC Senate Bill 519 was eventually changed to a policy statement regarding child custody. Once again the ultimate question until further action by the legislature is what the NC Court of Appeals is going to do with a policy statement regarding custody that is now written into the law. Update as of 2023The NC Senate just introduced a shared parenting bill that would create a rebuttable presumption for joint custody. The proposed parenting bill was introduced by the NC Senate on April 4, 2023. It passed the first reading and has been referred to the Committee on Rules and Operations. The NC legislature has proposed major changes affecting family law this year that may or may not ever become law. These proposed changes include reducing the wait period for divorce after separation from 12 months to 6 months, abolishing alienation of affection actions, requiring 2 party consnet to record phone calls, in addition to a rebuttable presumption of joint child custody.
6 Comments
Denise Barker
12/30/2015 10:12:22 am
I think the children should get the home and the parents need to rotate in and out each week. Children need a stable home.
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Jason Witt
12/30/2015 11:10:59 am
That creates a whole new set of problems. Would you really want to be forced to share a home with your EX for 18 years?
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Alicia {Pace
12/30/2015 11:26:16 am
I believe this is a good thing. I think this can stop some parents who have more money from going in and telling all these lies and throwing their lawyers around knowing that the other parent can not afford a lawyer every other month to fight back. The kids gets the time they need with both parents instead of one parent taking the other out of the kids live and hurting the kid.
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Crystal Dellinger
11/17/2021 07:07:31 pm
I feel like the courts should take more time to review matters instead of making bias decisions abs taking child ten from mothers who are domestic violence victims abs the allowing the other parent to abuse mother abs child through the court system cause she doesn’t have money to to hire an attorney
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Anonymous
12/31/2015 01:00:35 am
I think both parents getting the child is a great idea. I believe it's not fare for the non custodial parent to pay Child Support and only see the child on occasion. If they both had joint the child gets to have both parents equal time and they both pay the same amount to support the child.
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Shari C
11/7/2024 01:38:11 pm
Currently the courts are definitely biased towards the mother. Dads that are out working everyday to pay the bills so mom can stay home are currently being discriminated against because then mom appears and claims to be the "primary caregiver" and the dad that may only participate in child care during non working hours in then penalized because they spend less time and do less caregiving. This is very unfair and should never be used to determine custody. He gave up time with his child to allow mom to stay home with that child because having a parent home is what they as parents decided was best for that child. The term "primary caregiver" should only be used when a child does not live with both parents. Courts that I have experienced are very very biased and unfair to fathers.
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