Family Law & Final Exam Study Guide Notes PDF

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review of family law with graphs and definitions. Organized for the pleasure of the eye and is made to hopefully educate you about the law....

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Family Law Notes Prenuptial Agreements A prenuptial agreement or premarital agreement (sometimes called a “prenup”) is a contract entered into by prospective spouses before marriage that addresses rights and obligations of the spouses after marriage. In North Carolina, prenuptial agreements are subject to the provisions of a specific state law.

Marriage Common Law Mar riage and N.C. Gen. Stat. § 51-1 

Gen. North Carolina does not recognize common law marriages. Under N.C. G en. Stat. § 51marriage 1, a marr iage may only be created in the presence of an ordained minister of any religious den omination, or a magistrate, and with the declaration by the minister or denomination, matrimony.. magistrate that the parties are joined by matrimony

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Common law marriages or marriages by consent that arise in our state are not recognized by North Carolina law as valid legal marriages. North Carolina will recognize a common law marriage only if the couple entered into a common law marriage in a state that recognizes common law marriage and then moved to North Carolina.

Common law marriage is a term used for a marriage that is considered to exist by both partners’ consent but has not actually been performed or registered with a state or church. The marriage is implied simply by the fact that the couple lives together and presents themselves as having been married. In most states that allow for the formation of a common law marriage, the parties must have intended to be married, cohabitated, and held themselves out to the public as a married couple.

Paternity Paternity is the legal process of recognizing a child’s biological father as his legal father. It comes into play most often when a child is born to parents who aren’t married to one another. In those instances, paternity must be established in order to collect child support from the putative (or alleged) father. But fathers often establish paternity for custody purposes too (especially if the mother is married to another man at the time the baby is born). Below are several ways to establish paternity in North Carolina. Child is born during the marriage: In North Carolina, the husband of a married woman is presumed to be the father of any child born during the marriage. But if the husband isn’t the father, the presumption can be rebutted by clear and convincing evidence in a legitimation or paternity action. Parents later marry: If an unwed mother marries the putative father (alleged father) of the child after the child is born, paternity will automatically be established—no special proceeding needs to take place.

Affidavit of parentage: As previously mentioned, when a baby is born to a married woman, the law recognizes her husband as the baby’s legal father. North Carolina requires his name on the birth certificate as the father. However, if the mother, putative father, and husband all sign affidavits that meet the conditions set out in N.C.G.S. §130A-101(e)(2), then the hospital can place the putative father’s name on the birth certificate as the baby’s father. If that happens, paternity is established. If the mother isn’t married at the time the baby is born—and hasn’t been since the date of conception —she and the putative father can sign affidavits stating the putative father is the baby’s father. If they meet all the requirements of N.C.G.S. §130A-101(f), paternity will be established.

Legitimation Legitimation: A putative father can file an action to legitimate the child at any time before the putative father’s death. Legitimation actions and paternity actions are not the same thing. Legitimation actions have to do with the child’s rights while paternity actions have to do with the father’s rights. Oddly enough, if you establish paternity, you may still need to legitimate your child but if you legitimate your child then paternity is established at the same time. Read our blog about legitimation to find out more.

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