Mold is a very serious issue. It can cause significant health effects or damage to personal property. As part of the obligation to provide and maintain habitable premises, North Carolina requires landlords to respond to complaints of mold in a reasonable period of time depending on the severity of the condition. However, North Carolina takes a markedly different approach to the disclosure of the presence of mold by the landlord to the tenant. No Affirmative Disclosure Obligation Although a landlord may face potential liability, including rent abatement, for failing to respond in a reasonable period of time to complaints of mold, neither federal nor North Carolina statutes create an affirmative…
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Aunt Bee Trust Fund
Many remember the fictional town of Mayberry, the setting for The Andy Griffith Show. Less commonly known, however, is that Mayberry is modeled after Mt. Airy, a small North Carolina town near the Virginia boarder. Frances Bavier, the actress who portrayed Aunt Bee Taylor in the hit television show, recently passed away, and spent the last years of her life in Siler City, another small North Carolina town. Perhaps owing to a soft spot she felt for police officers due to her time on The Andy Griffith Show, Ms. Bavier established a trust with $100,000 in principal to ensure that every member of the Siler City police would enjoy a…
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OPPOSING COUNSEL, WILL YOU BE MY VALENTINE?
The North Carolina Bar released Proposed 2019 Formal Ethics Opinion 3 in January, addressing questions relating to intimate relationships between opposing counsel. The question presented is whether it is permissible for a prosecutor and a criminal defense attorney to engage in a romantic relationship while serving as opposing counsel in multiple cases, and whether the attorneys are obligated to disclose this relationship. Due to concerns regarding actual or potential conflicts of interest, the Bar opines that it is permissible only under certain limited circumstances. The North Carolina Rules of Professional Conduct North Carolina attorneys are governed by the North Carolina Rules of Professional Conduct. As a basis for the proposed…
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Testamentary Capacity and Undue Influence
In 2015 and 2016, media magnate Sumner Redstone amended his trust, which was challenged by former companion Manuela Herzer. A California court recently ruled that Mr. Redstone possessed the required mental capacity to amend his estate plan. In North Carolina, whether an individual is a billionaire business mogul or anyone else, the requirements for testamentary capacity, or the required mental capacity to create a will or a trust, is the same. Testamentary Capacity To have testamentary capacity a person must be “of sound mind, and 18 years of age or over[.]” In practice, this means that the person creating the will, otherwise known as the testator, must be able to…
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Congratulations to Trey Lindley and Satie Munn
Lindley Law is pleased to announce Trey Lindley was selected as a 2019 Super Lawyer in Estate and Trust Litigation by Super Lawyers Magazine, making this his eighth consecutive honor from the publication. Lindley Law is also pleased to announce Satie Munn was selected as a 2019 Rising Star in Business Litigation by Super Lawyers Magazine, her first such honor from the publication. Super Lawyers Magazine recognizes outstanding attorneys using a multi-step process that involves soliciting nominations from attorneys across North Carolina (lawyers are not allowed to vote for themselves), a third-party evaluation across 12 key categories, and a peer evaluation by a highly credentialed panel of attorneys. Finalists have attained a high…
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Can North Carolina Employers Compel Drug Testing and DNA Testing?
In December 2018, a Phoenix, Arizona woman, who spent the last fourteen (14) years in a coma, gave birth to a healthy baby. A police investigation concluded that, while in her comatose state, she had been raped multiple times. The staff at the healthcare facility where she was a patient stated that no one knew she was pregnant until she went into labor. In response to a search warrant issued to the employer, the employer requested that all male employees provide a DNA sample to determine whether the individual who impregnated the woman was a staff member. Without question, the facts of this investigation are shocking. However, it does…
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How Smart is Your Technology?
With the popularity of smart devices on the rise, their prevalence in the courtroom is increasing. In 2018, police used Karen Navarra’s Fitbit fitness tracker to find her murderer. Police accessed the recorded information and determined that her heart rate spiked then dropped significantly while her stepfather was in her house. Due to neighbors reports and the information from Fitbit, police were able to determine her stepfather was the murderer. This is not the first time Fitbit’s technology has been used by police to solve crimes. In 2015 Fitbit provided location data in association to a sexual assault and personal injury case, and in August 2018, Fitbit data helped the…
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Sandra Day O’Connor’s Dementia Diagnosis Forces Her to Retire from Public Life
Sandra Day O’Connor, former Supreme Court Justice, released a letter October 23, 2018 revealing that she was diagnosed with early stage dementia (likely Alzheimer’s Disease). O’Connor plans to remain in Phoenix, AZ surrounded by her friends and family. O’Connor was the first female Supreme Court Justice of the United States. She served from 1981 until 2006 when she retired to care for her late husband who was suffering from Alzheimer’s. Due to her diagnoses, which she stated came “some time ago,” O’Connor will be taking steps to remove herself from the public eye. O’Connor was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2009 in acknowledgement of her accomplishments over the…
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‘I Say a Little Prayer’ that Aretha Franklin’s children have ‘Respect’ and Are Not a ‘Chain of Fools’
American singer and songwriter Aretha Franklin passed away on August 16 at the age of 76 after battling advanced pancreatic cancer. In the days following her passing, her four sons filed documents with the Michigan Probate Court stating that Aretha passed without a will or trust, and claimed to be interested parties in her estate. Aretha’s niece, Sabrina Garrett Owens is the personal representative to administer the estate. When a person dies with a will, the probate court uses that and other documents (such as a trust), to guide them in determining the proper distribution of the deceased’s assets. However, when a person dies without a will, or “intestate,” their…
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Jilted North Carolina Spouse wins $8.8 Million over Wife’s Affair
Last week a Superior Court judge in Durham, North Carolina awarded Keith King $8.8 million dollars in damages against Francisco Huizar III, a man who had an affair with King’s wife. This verdict is the result of North Carolina’s alienation of affection and criminal conversion laws. A remnant of English common law, causes of action for alienation of affection and criminal conversion allow a spouse to recover damages when a third party interferes with the relationship and causes deprivation of affection, frequently seen in cases of adultery. At trial Keith King showed that he and his wife, Danielle, were happily married from 2010 until 2015. In 2015, Danielle…
