Family Law Attorneys
Wake County Family Law Attorneys
Trial Lawyers with 25+ Years of Experience Fighting for Parents Throughout Raleigh
Custody and children’s cases are challenging legal matters that could leave long-term impacts on your and your child’s lives. From emergency child custody orders to modification and enforcement actions, child legal cases can be complex and require the skilled hand of an experienced attorney.
Our lawyers at Daphne Edwards Divorce & Family Law each have decades of litigation experience, and Daphne used to do appellate work for the 9th Circuit, high-level work just below the supreme court, during which she won numerous appeals. She is also an excellent writer, which comes in handy for emergency custody cases because these cases are not typically handled before a judge, but rather written out for a judge to review.
Our firm specializes in high-conflict custody cases, including:
- Trial and litigation
- Parents with substance abuse problems
- Parents who struggle with mental health issues
- Transgender children
We handle a range of legal cases involving children, and our women-led firm is equipped with decades of professional experience and winning results you can count on.
How We Help
Emergency Child Custody Orders
One important type of child custody order that our firm handles is emergency child custody orders. An emergency custody order, also called an “ex parte order,” is an immediate, short-term custody order that a judge can grant in emergency situations without hearing from the other party. Situations that may warrant an emergency custody may be when a child is at substantial risk of bodily injury, sexual abuse, or removal from the state for avoiding the authority of the North Carolina courts. Once an emergency custody order is granted, though, a hearing must be scheduled later on for both parties to be heard.
Any parent can file for child custody, whether emergency custody or standard custody. In special cases, third parties, such as grandparents, relatives, or others who have cared for the child, may also file for custody or visitation. For non-parents to obtain custody, they must prove that the child’s parents are either unfit to care for the child or have not acted accordingly as parents, such as by abandoning the child to be cared for by someone else. Non-relatives seeking custody must also prove that they have a substantial relationship with the child.
Emergency child custody orders are complex, as they do provide substantial and immediate custody rights, but they do not last forever. Emergency orders last until the next hearing for a final order, which may or may have the same terms. An experienced attorney can better help you navigate this process, as well as any other child-related legal matters.
Not all trial litigators are good writers like our lawyers at Daphne Edwards Divorce & Family Law, so do not hesitate to contact our firm for honest and experienced legal advocacy. A well-written case, especially for emergency child custody orders that are reviewed in writing by a judge, could make a crucial difference in your outcome.
Schedule an initial consultation with our attorneys at Daphne Edwards Divorce & Family Law to get started on your case.
Custody and Child Cases We Handle
At our firm, we walk parents through a variety of legal matters concerning their children:
- Child custody – We can help you build a strong case for legal and/or physical custody of your children, whether through a separation agreement, mediation, or litigation.
- Child support – The North Carolina Child Support Guidelines determines the base child support the noncustodial parent is expected to pay, calculated from both parents’ individual incomes. We can help you estimate the child support amount and how you might deviate from this amount.
- Assisted reproduction/surrogacy – We also help new and hopeful parents navigate fertility issues by exploring assisted reproduction options, such as surrogacy, egg donation, sperm donation, and embryo donation.
- Modification enforcement actions – If you seek to modify your existing custody order or enforce an order due to the other parent’s willful violation of the order, we can help you take legal action for modification or enforcement.
- LGBTQ+ custody – We can guide you through all your parenting matters as an LGBTQ+ parent, such as establishing parental rights by an adoption or parentage order, which may be critical for LGBTQ+ custody disputes.
Schedule an initial consultation with Daphne Edwards Divorce & Family Law to learn more.
Five-Star Reviews From Our Clients
"From the moment I met Daphne, I knew she was the one to get the job done. She and her team have been professional, exacting, prompt, and, at the same time, very approachable and made themselves available to answer questions or provide news on progress duri"
- Blent