Winston-Salem Legal Issues Blog

Many people in North Carolina are deeply concerned about the changes to the immigration system being made by the Trump administration. Even people who are not refugees or asylum seekers have expressed outrage at the repeated measures aimed to minimize the number of people eligible to seek protection in the United States, especially at the southern border. On July 29, Attorney General William Barr promulgated another rule aimed to cut back on asylum claims. Barr said that people cannot rely on persecution targeting their family members in order to seek asylum.

While the Trump administration claims that the U.S. immigration system is overwhelmed with fraudulent or dubious asylum requests, the rules it has promulgated are rolling back decades of understandings about how people can seek protection. In order for people to make a successful claim for asylum, they must prove that they face a credible risk of persecution in their home countries based on their race, religion, political views or membership in a particular social group. Family units have typically been understood as social groups under the asylum laws, but Barr is arguing that family persecution is an insufficient basis for asylum.

Many North Carolina millennial have shied away from co-mingling their funds, even after a couple decides to get married. It is estimated that approximately 28 percent of couples across the nation who get married never open a joint bank account and end up keeping their funds completely separate. While this may be due to the fact that it can be difficult to divide assets during a divorce, maintaining separate assets does not mean that they will not be distributed in the event of a divorce.

Many financial experts do agree that keeping separate bank accounts can reduce conflict between spouses, especially if both spouses work and earn an income. However, family law attorneys may argue that any assets, such as income, that is acquired by the couple during the course of the marriage, should be considered marital property even if the couple lives in a state that operates under equitable distribution laws, such as North Carolina.

In North Carolina, robbery is considered a theft where there is a victim involved. The state puts robbery into three different categories: with a deadly weapon, train, and common law. All of these crimes are felonies. Robbery with a deadly weapon and train robbery are determined by state statute, but common law robbery is generally accepted in courts as someone taking another person's property through the threat of force, intimidation, or actual violence.

Robberies with a dangerous weapon and train robberies are considered Class D felonies. If convicted, punishment for this type of felony for a person with no prior convictions can range from 51 to 64 months. All Class D felony convictions require an active punishment, meaning the defendant must serve a prison sentence. Those who aid and abet the commission of this crime are also subject to these penalties.

There are many factors that can threaten the health of a relationship. However, financial issues are often the source of breakups in North Carolina. While many spouses focus on fixing incompatible spending habits, people forget that long-standing debt can also have a negative effect.

According to a survey conducted by Student Loan Hero, college loan debt is especially dangerous for relationships. Roughly one in eight borrowers in the study identified school loans as part of the reason for their divorce. With student loan debt growing, and with the average borrower carrying over $34,000 in school loans, addressing the debt early on can be crucial to the success of the relationship. Carrying so much debt may prevent couples from moving forward with their lives. This could make it difficult for borrowers to plan weddings or save for buying a house.