The impact of this change in the tax code regarding spousal support is national (not just North Carolina) and will effectively make divorce more expensive for many who rely on spousal support to maintain their standard of living. As the tax change of alimony applies to Court orders and separation agreements signed after December 31, 2018 those in the middle of divorce right now have just under a year to finalize any deal under the old/current law.

Even though a creditor such as Bank of America or Wells Fargo may only be able to sue the cardholder a North Carolina family court judge can order the other spouse to make payments or account for that debt in the dividing the marital estate via property division otherwise known as equitable distribution. Equitable does not always mean equal, but judges usually try and divide marital assets 50/50 to the extent possible absent a compelling reason for an unequal distribution.

Updated 3/3/2019

​As part of the same initiative, House Bill 280, which goes into effect on December, 1 2019, raises the minimum age to be charged as an adult to age 18 for most non-violent offenses. North Carolina is one of the last holdouts that currently charges 16 year old children as adults for any and all criminal offenses.

Many States like North Carolina do not typically include Social Security numbers or birth date information as part of the public record for civil judgments. As judgments in NC are good for ten (10) years and can be renewed for an additional 10 year period this is significant news. Removal of judgment reporting means some consumers may experience a boost to their credit score in the coming month as negative items are removed from their credit report. As fixing credit report errors is often a nightmare for consumers this is a welcome change to the bureaucracy of the credit reporting industry. The Wall Street Journal is estimating this change will improve the credit score of some 12 million individuals in the United States. The expected increase is a modest 20- 40 points.
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Even though PAS may not be universally recognized as science, “parental alienation” is a term frequently used in Court to describe systematic and specific actions of one parent intended to alienate a minor child from the other parent. Judges across the country approach this subject very differently with some dismissing the argument even when presented by a medical expert while other Judges appear open if not to the syndrome then at least to the idea of “parental alienation.” It is important to discuss with your family law attorney how your Judge may react to allegations of parental alienation whether being presented by you or the other parent. Keep in mind that some parents raise allegations parental alienation whenever they have been accused of abuse or when they feel they are not receiving adequate visitation. That being said isolation of a minor child from a non-custodial parent does give ample opportunity for a primary caregiver to unduly influence an impressionable minor child regardless of age.