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If you’re ready to formalize the parental role you play in your stepchild’s life through adoption, you’re taking a big step — one that will offer you and your child many benefits. Here, we’ll provide need-to-know information about adopting an older child with as few road bumps as possible.

When you’re living through the aftermath of a separation or divorce, the last thing you need is a breach of your privacy. The entire process of figuring out fair spousal support already felt like putting your life out there for everyone to see! Now, you (or your ex) have divulged private information about your arrangement online, and you’re unsure what to do.

If you're a stepparent thinking to adopt, let's take a closer look at some of the challenges you may face.

If you lose your job or take a significant pay cut, do you still have to pay the total amount for child support?

Becoming a stepparent is a big responsibility. You no doubt want what’s best for your stepchildren, but understanding your legal obligations to them can be confusing. What are your responsibilities when it comes to child support?

If you’ve recently undergone a name change, it’s a good idea to double-check your credit score. Although changing your name shouldn’t affect your credit, it’s important to remember that mistakes happen.

It’s a commonly-held idea that 50% of marriages end in divorce. As it turns out, that percentage may be an exaggeration; but at least we have some idea of divorce’s frequency. What do the numbers say about married couples who legally separate?

Living in one household can take its toll on families and couples. It can be easy for people who live together to build both good and bad habits — habits that may not seem significant at the time but can strengthen or jeopardize the future of the family unit.

As we approach the new year, it’s a good time to take stock of the past and look forward to the future. If you’ve recently been through a divorce, as traumatizing as it can be, there are some lessons you can learn while letting go of the past.

As we head into Christmas and New Year’s Eve, many start thinking about ways to improve our lives, start new habits, and set goals for the new year. The end of the year is a good time to reflect on the past and plan to renew yourself and your family for 2023.

When planning your wedding, you’re probably not also anticipating a divorce later down the road. It used to be that celebrities, royalty, and the very wealthy were the only ones who used prenups. More and more frequently, however, it’s becoming common to discuss or consider a prenuptial agreement, regardless of one’s wealth or socioeconomic status.

One of the reasons that it’s important to include alimony in official divorce documentation is that you have more protection if your ex doesn’t follow through on the payments. If you and your ex have a verbal agreement with no written documentation for alimony, it’s left to their whims. On the other hand, if you don’t receive the ordered alimony payment from your ex, you have legal options that can help you get your money by going through the court system.

When people get married, they often follow the tradition of changing their names. The most common form is for a wife to take her husband’s last name. However, there are other variations, such as both individuals hyphenating their last names into one or changing their last names altogether. On the other side, when a couple is separating and divorcing, there’s often a desire to change names to further separate from the ex.

You may love your family, but holidays with the people you love the most can still be hard. Keeping the peace can be difficult, even in the best of years. But it can be hard to keep that simmering Thanksgiving pot from boiling over if you’ve had a rough year, a family crisis, or a divorce, and you’re feeling especially vulnerable.

When you’re staring down your first holiday season alone, things can be rough. But there are some steps you can take to make things a little easier

However, it can seem hard to feel grateful for what you have if you’re in the middle of a divorce or separation or facing another serious family crisis like an illness or death. But as we head into the Thanksgiving season, making an effort to find gratitude may help carry us through rough times.

As an adoptive stepparent, you probably want to form a bond and relationship with your stepchild(ren). You’ve invested time and built trust with the child(ren). So, what do you do when the child(ren)’s biological parent gets jealous of the connection you’ve built with their son or daughter? Or, perhaps more importantly, what do you do when that parent becomes angry or even violent?

Divorce is stressful enough on its own, especially when children are involved. And it doesn’t end when the divorce is finalized, as ongoing issues such as alimony, child support, or visitation must be managed. Keeping track of child support payments and visitation logistics is a challenge all on its own. The good news is that there are multiple apps out there that can help you, both free and paid. Here are three apps that can assist with child support and visitation logistics, as well as one specifically for financials.

When many of us were growing up, we heard that you should never discuss politics, sex, or religion in mixed company. To do so was impolite and an invitation to destroy cordial relationships. Unfortunately, we can’t spend every day in the polite world of denial, and we all hope that we can share our deeply held beliefs with the most important people in our lives, our partners. But as political discourse in our country has become more heated and polarized, more of us are encountering political minefields in our marriages.

So many firsts can be challenging after a divorce. From the first major holiday to the first Halloween, not being part of a couple can be hard. Maybe you and your partner always had a “couple” costume, you looked forward to setting up your yard in a spooky theme, or you had a great time walking your kids around the neighbors to trick or treat. But if this is your first October without your ex, you’re undoubtedly worried about whether it will be a difficult day and how you’ll both share your kids.

If you become an adoptive stepparent, it’s likely that you thought about the decision and didn’t make the choice lightly. Although you’re not the biological parent, you probably still want a thriving and loving relationship with the child(ren). How can you make sure that this happens?

What do you do if a child support order needs to be modified? And, what qualifies as an allowable reason to modify the child support? Let’s take a look.

Your child has come to you, and they desperately want to change their name. What are your legal options in this situation?

Both parents in North Carolina have parental rights; however, in certain cases, such as abandonment, the courts may terminate a parent’s rights, deciding that it is in the best interest of the child. Terminating parental rights is serious, so the court does not make the decision hastily.

While many divorcing couples can easily agree that the spouse who earns more should pay child support, alimony is more hotly contested. The partner who earns more often feels that their spouse isn’t entitled to any of their earnings aside from child support. Determining alimony can be complex, so it’s a good idea to consult a North Carolina family law attorney for advice.