Cumberland county court system/ x-wife and her lawyer trying to take more that she deserves

On a side note,I’m grateful that Rosen Lawn created this forum that informs people and gives us the ability to handle divorce on our own.

  1. Does anyone have experience with the Cumberland county/ Fayetteville, NC court system? Meaning can anyone provide me any insight on judges (Toni King in particular)? Is there way to research her judgement history? For division of property does she take the time to connect the dot from the bank account spending patterns and expenses of who has been carrying all the weight and financial burden? Or is it “one size fits all” and over simplify it by dividing the equity down the middle regardless of who pays all the repair, and puts their personal time to upkeep the house. My lawyer acts as clueless as me of what she will probably decide. Seems like if he is in court everyday he would be able to identify her patterns.

  2. my ex wife and her lawyer are trying to get me to pay her equity in cash out of my pocket while she walks away with 10 to 20k while I am still stuck with the burden of paying for the house. I have not lived in the house for almost 10 years and she continued to live in house another year. I still supported her living expense and mortgage despite being seperated. Also offered her to just take the entire house without buying it from me and take all the profit from sale but she declined because she does’nt want to hold the responsibility of paying and selling the house. This means it would be a 100 to 0 split. She gets everything but i get nothing.She said no. I want her to stay out of my pocket and bank account. Note that she contributed very little and caused more disruption than good. Doesn’t her declining this offer expose her and what she is really after? To be a golddigger using the court system to extort money from my pockets. Do you think she can pull this off? Is the court system really as biased toward men as so many people have told me?

(1) I am not familiar with Cumberland County judges. However, whenever you go before a judge at trial, you lose all control over your case. There is no way to predict how any judge, whether it’s a new judge or a very experienced judge, will view a particular issue. There is no way to research a judge’s judgment history other than word of mouth. I would suggest making a point you are trying to prove at trial as clear as possible and as easy to follow as possible so the judge is not spending time trying to understand your argument when he or should could be spending time applying the facts that you adequately and succinctly presented to the law.

(2) The court is not biased towards men. The judge hearing your equitable distribution case is required to distribute the marital property equitably. Equitable means equal unless equal is unequitable based on specific factors as set forth by statute. Perhaps your wife is refusing your offer because for whatever reason she believes she can receive better from a judge at trial.


Anna Ayscue

Attorney with Rosen Law Firm Cary • Chapel Hill • Durham • Raleigh • Wake Forest

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@tonyd_d Curious if you don’t mind sharing who were the lawyers in the case. You don’t have to say who represented who. I’m also in Cumberland County preparing.