In a unanimous decision, the North Carolina Court of Appeals upheld the trial court’s decision awarding Plaintiff Rebecca Davis joint custody of the child she raised with her former domestic partner:

Defendant Margaret Swan appeals from an order granting Plaintiff Rebecca Davis joint legal custody and secondary physical custody of Swan’s biological child (“minor child”). Swan argues that the trial court erred by applying the best interest standard to the child custody dispute between the parties. Because the record shows that Swan acted inconsistently with her constitutionally protected right to exclusive care and control of the minor child, we affirm the trial court’s decision to apply the best interest of the child standard.

On appeal, Davis was represented by Burton Craige, Narendra Ghosh, and Sharon Thompson of the Sharon Thompson Law Group.

Categories: Judicial Decisions, Results Tags: Appeals, Burton Craige, Constitutional Law, Family Law, Narendra Ghosh, NC Court of Appeals, Results

Burton Craige spoke at a North Carolina Bar Association CLE on Sex, Family, and the Constitution, which was put together by the NCBA Constitutional Rights & Responsibilities and Family Law Sections.  He spoke on the topic of child custody by non-biological parents.  He presented a paper, written along with Narendra Ghosh, entitled Custody Disputes Between Natural Parents and Third Parties: Mason, Estroff, and Heatzig and Beyond.  Burton was one the of the lawyers for the plaintiff in Heatzig.

Summary: With increasing frequency, state courts have been confronted with custody disputes between the biological mother and a former same-sex partner who shared the responsibility of raising the child. In 2008, the North Carolina appellate courts addressed the issue for the first time. In a trio of unanimous decisions – Mason v. Dwinnell, Estroff v. Chatterjee, and Heatzig v. MacLean – the North Carolina Court of Appeals defined the circumstances in which the former partner would be entitled to a custody determination based on the best interest of the child. Because the opinions apply the law to three sets of facts, they provide especially helpful guidance to attorneys and the trial courts.

Categories: News of the Firm Tags: Appeals, Articles, Burton Craige, Case Commentary, Constitutional Law, Family Law, Narendra Ghosh, NCBA, Presentation