Addressing Our Clients’ Concerns
Following is a compilation of some questions our clients and prospective ones commonly ask us at our offices in Taylorsville and Statesville. We hope this might serve as a quick guide to address some of your concerns.
If there is a legal topic that you would like to see addressed below, please feel free to include it in a brief email to our office to consider it for future updates to this page.
Can You Quarantee An Acquittal In My Case?
No. Attorneys are expressly prohibited from making any promise or guarantee as to the specific outcome of any case. Aside from the rules of conduct that prohibit such a promise, it would not make good sense to do so, given the various factors that come in to play in any case (especially in trials) and the unpredictable nature of juries.
However, we will always make this assurance and stand by it absolutely. Our office will work as hard and as diligently, and with as much devotion and care on your case, as any law firm you will ever find. Our attorneys all derive enormous pride from the tireless work they do on behalf of the people who make up their communities. We are proud to call this area home.
Our offices are small enough to allow for close, personal interaction with every client, and we will stop at nothing to ensure we put forth the very best case on behalf of each client, whether it’s a criminal defense case, family-related matter, personal injury tort or traffic-related charge.
What Is Improper Equipment?
Motorists can be pulled over and ticketed in the state of North Carolina for improper equipment, which can result any time a police officer observes a moving vehicle with a mechanical failure or a part, such as a severely under inflated tire, a broken speedometer, or a badly cracked rearview mirror, that is deemed to be unsafe.
Improper equipment convictions are deemed “nonmoving” violations. The person who prosecutes these offenses (typically an assistant district attorney) wields a wide bit of discretion when it comes to penalizing offenders.
You may be familiar with the expression “improper equipment” because private attorneys often plea-bargain violations such as speeding, running red lights, passing improperly and other moving violations down to this charge. It will not result in any points on a person’s driving record and, accordingly, not affect the cost of their insurance premiums.
What Is The Difference Between Contested And Uncontested Divorce?
In one concise sentence, it means time, money and aggravation. Uncontested divorce is a process that Harbinson Parker, can see through on your behalf, typically in less than two months. It will save you an enormous amount of money, both on legal fees and court costs. Even if both parties do not agree on every aspect of matters, such as the division of marital assets, child custody and child support, an uncontested divorce may be granted, with the unsettled issues to be decided by a judge at a later date.
Uncontested divorces only require that the spouses have been separated for a period of one year and both have been residents of North Carolina for the previous six months. Contested divorces have been known to drag on for years, with legal fees for both spouses reaching life-altering sums. That is to say nothing of the emotional and psychological toll contested divorces can have on the children of fighting parents.
How Will The Marital Property Be Divided Upon Divorce?
North Carolina recognizes the doctrine that marital assets should be divided equally between divorcing spouses. The matter, however, is not that cut and dry. There are special circumstances under which judges in the state will allow one ex-spouse to receive more than half of the marital property.
The party who petitions for a greater share must prove a valid and convincing reason for this to happen. Two common examples of such reasons are the need for children to remain in the marital home with one spouse and the fact that one spouse maintains a much higher level of income than the other.
It is important to note that marital fault does not typically play a role in a judge’s decision regarding distributing assets. The only exception is when that fault affects the value of those assets.
What Happens To My Property If I Don’t Include It In My Will?
A will is a vital instrument. The creation of one of these documents undoubtedly saves family members a considerable amount of anguish and frustration when it comes to the distribution of property in accordance with your actual wishes. Moreover, when feuding relatives begin to squabble over whatever money and other assets they rightfully believe belong to them, attorneys invariably will get involved, and that will create an additional expense that no one needs.
The short answer to the question as to what happens to your property without a will is that it will be passed on in accordance with the North Carolina’s intestate succession laws. These laws typically dictate that money, real property and other assets are dispersed among spouses and children but not necessarily in equal shares.
Our firm is supremely knowledgeable about estate planning matters and would be more than happy to explain the intestate succession laws in greater detail when you schedule an initial consultation.
Will I Have To Pay If We Lose My Personal Injury Case?
Absolutely not. Our law firm will not bill you a single dollar if you do not receive a monetary award from your case. We only get paid from personal injury cases if we are successful in either reaching a pretrial settlement with the party who was negligent and caused your injuries, or if we win a favorable verdict in a court of law.
For these reasons, you can be assured that Harbinson Parker, only agrees to represent personal injury clients who have meritorious cases. We will never accept a case that we believe is either frivolous or has little chance of succeeding.
When we move forward with personal injury cases, we are assuming all of the risk. Our firm will lay out all of the expenses related to gathering evidence, finding and deposing witnesses, aggregating forensic data and filing all of the necessary motions and responses.
I Have A Traffic Citation. What Now?
First of all, you need an experienced lawyer to appear before court. No appearance before the court is insignificant. You have much at stake and you may lose more without the legal help you require and deserve. At Harbinson Parker, we have more than six decades of combined experience and have helped our clients in court.
Retain attorney Harbinson either by paying using the form below, by calling our traffic ticket line at 704-253-4866 or by mailing your payment and a copy of your citation to: P.O. Box 400 Taylorsville, NC 28681. Checks should be made payable to “Harbinson Parker.” Note: The attorney fee must be received at least a week prior to your court date, or your court date may be rescheduled. Rescheduling your court date will not affect the outcome of your case.
Once you have paid your attorney fee, just sit back and relax while our team handles your case. We will schedule your citation and keep up with any potential changes to your court date due to court closures. We will pull your driving record to confirm your eligibility for certain pleas.
Attorney Harbinson will have your charge reduced on your scheduled court date.
After court, we will obtain and mail your “Criminal Bill of Costs” (if applicable in the county in which you were charged) along with a follow-up letter from attorney Harbinson describing the outcome of your case. (Please make sure that you provide a current mailing address when you retain our firm.)
You will have 40-90 days after your court date (the due date time frame is dependent on the county in which you received your citation) to pay your court costs to the county’s Clerk of Court, and payment options will be listed for you.
Make A Payment
To remit payment for an invoice you have received from our office, kindly click the logo below to redirected to LawPay. Your account will be immediately credited once the payment has been tendered.
Please list either your citation number or add the name of the defendant and what they were charged with in the “Reference” section.
As you retain our services, you might have the following questions:
I Am Trying To Pay My Court Fees Online, But The Citation Number Is Not Working. What Am I Doing Wrong??
Please allow 10 days to receive your follow-up letter after your scheduled court date. If you still have not received the letter, please reach out to Alex Corbett at [email protected] for assistance. We scan all letters and bills prior to mailing, so we will have a digital copy if it gets lost in the mail or misplaced.
I Just Received A Letter From The Court Notifying Me My Court Date Has Been Moved/Rescheduled. Do I Need To Appear?
Due to COVID-19, courts may periodically close and reschedule all cases. The Clerk of Court will send a letter to notify all defendants of their new court dates whether they have an attorney or not. If you have retained attorney Harbinson, you will not need to appear, and we will keep track of all updated court dates and any changes to the court location. Please feel free to reach out to Alex Corbett at [email protected] if you would like to confirm.
I Am Trying To Pay My Court Fees Online, But The Citation Number Is Not Working. What Am I Doing Wrong?
Please make sure you go to https://www.nccourts.gov/services. Select ‘Find My Court Case’ under ‘Court Collections and Payments.’ Select the county in which you received the ticket from the drop-down. Enter your file number. (Examples: 20CR12345, 20IF12345, 21CR12345, 21IF12345). Select “Look Up File”.
We Are Here To Help
Call us at 828-600-7462 in Taylorsville or at 704-707-3066 in Statesville in case of further doubts or leave your contact information in our online intake form.