Please Welcome Paul Hittner to the Ward Family Law Group Team
Find Paul’s full bio here: https://www.wardfamilylawgroup.com/team_member/paul-j-hittner/
Separation
AirTags Part 2: How Can You Protect Yourself or Child from being Tracked
In Part 1, we discussed the use of AirTags to track your spouse and children and the implications in divorce and custody cases. Now you might be wondering, what can I do to protect myself or my child from being tracked? Manufacturers have taken steps to improve Security. The success of these trackers is based off their proximity to other devices they can ping off, and they can only ping off devices with Bluetooth turned… Read More
Using AirTags to track a spouse or child. Is it Legal? Should you do it? (Part 1)
AirTags and other Bluetooth trackers, like Life360’s Tile, are coin-sized tracking devices. Using a Bluetooth signal, an AirTag pings off any Apple device using Apple’s Find My network and shows you the location of the AirTag. When out of range of the tracker, Tile’s app will show you the last location it was seen by your device and can ping off other Tile users to locate its current location. The benefit of these trackers is… Read More
What is a Parenting Coordinator and What are the Benefits to Working with One?
Child custody cases can result in a lot more than a Court Order setting out the physical custody schedule and legal custody terms. Feelings of anger, frustration, distrust and resentment are all common occurrences following child custody litigation. In some cases, called “high conflict” custody cases, a pattern of the following occurs: excessive litigation, anger and distrust between the parents, verbal abuse or domestic violence between parents or difficulty communicating about and cooperating in the… Read More
Electronically-stored information, devices & social media: do’s and don’t’s—a needed reminder for us all!
In May 2017, we blogged about the “Do’s and Don’t’s” in Family Law. With the pandemic forcing most of us to live a “virtual life”, we thought it was important to revisit and update what you should and should not be doing on the Internet. Emails, text messages, websites and applications that enable users to create and share content or to participate in social networking (“social media”), or any other type of information that is… Read More
How I became a fan of Virtual Mediation
Mediation is a way to resolve family law disputes where a neutral third party, the mediator, assists parties in trying to reach an agreement. The mediator does not advocate for either party or make any decisions. The decision-making authority is left to the parties. The mediator’s job is to help parties work out their own agreements by exploring the parties’ needs and interests and by helping them formulate specific solutions to resolve the disputed issues…. Read More
What’s Happening to My Case?
Practically every aspect of our world has been drastically altered by the protections (and limitations) enacted to combat the spread of COVID-19. Our court system is no different. On March 13, 2020, Chief Justice Beasley of the Supreme Court of North Carolina issued an emergency order declaring the North Carolina courts “on hold” for a majority of matters. Over the course of the last few months, these directives have been extended in a number of… Read More
Protecting Your Children Before, During, and After Your Divorce
The stress and grief of a divorce ranks only second to the death of a loved one. Divorce not only affects the divorcing spouses, but it has a life-altering effect on their children. Children depend on their parents for love, support and guidance, and stability, and they can experience feelings of confusion, abandonment and anxiety when their parents separate. Estimates suggest that between 1 and 1.5 million children experience the divorce of their parents each… Read More
Truth or Consequences: Why Honesty Is the Best Policy When Dealing with Your Lawyer
The domestic case—whether it’s custody, divorce issues, or domestic violence—is often the first time a party will consult with an attorney. It can be a time marked by confusion, anger, frustration, fear and uncertainty. The following is an article entitled TRUTH OR CONSEQUENCES: WHY HONESTY IN THE BEST POLICY WHEN DEALING WITH YOUR LAWYER by Katie McClaflin published in the Family Advocate, a publication of the American Bar Association, Family Law Section. At Ward Family… Read More
New Year, new you: things to consider before separating from your spouse
It does not take a family law attorney to tell you that it is not easy to separate and ultimately divorce your spouse. For some, making up your mind is the easiest part of the process, but for most it can be a grueling task fraught with difficult choices and emotional landmines. The idea of beginning anew and starting a new chapter of your life can be both exciting and motivating, but what we tell… Read More