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McKnight Law helps parents toward custody arrangements that are in the best interest of the children.
Verified for legal integrity by John McKnight, J.D. | Last updated February 18, 2026
Being a parent is one of the most rewarding things you can ever experience. However, child custody can be one of the most challenging when it comes to separations and divorces. You love your children; you want what’s best for them. You also don’t want them to have to go through a bitter custody battle in front of a judge.
McKnight Law has extensive experience in custody cases and we know the importance of protecting your children during this difficult time. We have helped hundreds of families settle custody issues without setting foot in a courtroom.
We can help you pursue legal custody. Legal Custody refers to “generally the right and responsibility to make decisions with important and long-term implications for a child’s best interests and welfare.” Diehl v. Diehl, 2006. Our lawyers have tried hundreds of cases involving issues such as health care, education, religious training, discipline and supervision.
We can also assist you in determining physical custody. Physical custody refers to the place where the child resides primarily (and secondarily). In most cases, parents share custody to some extent. Referred to as joint physical custody, courts have flexibility regarding exactly how to divide custody.
No two families will have the exact same considerations for appropriate physical custody schedules. Our lawyers are experienced in working to analyze factors like traveling between two homes, educational concerns, friend groups and enrichment activities and minimizing disruptions when advocating for an appropriate physical custody schedule.
It is the policy of the state of North Carolina to reduce needless custody litigation, to take significant and ongoing responsibility for their child, to share equitably in the right and responsibilities of parenting, and to establish and maintain a healthy relationship with each other. It is also the policy of North Carolina to encourage programs and court practices that reflect the active and ongoing participation of both parents in the child’s life, when it is in the child’s best interest to do so. N.C. Gen. Stat. 50-13.01 (effective 2015).
Sole custody is almost always the last resort of a court after giving a parent every opportunity to be responsible, to maintain healthy relationships, and to actively participate in a child’s life. We have been involved in several cases where sole custody was the result, but these cases are extremely rare and the public policy of North Carolina is to avoid this outcome when possible.
John McKnight, our owner and founding partner, has been litigating in North Carolina District and Superior Courts since graduating from the Wake Forest university school of law in 2004. John has been inducted into the North Carolina Pro Bono Honor Society for his contributions to the people of the state, and he has personally trained the other lawyers here at McKnight Law, each of whom has many years of litigation experience. We are all members of both the Wake County Bar Association and the North Carolina Bar Association. Our attorneys are routinely recognized by Super Lawyers and Best Lawyers in America, and we have been selected by Best Law Firms in America as elite family law practitioners. All our lawyers are active in the community and contributing members to the field of law in North Carolina.
I simply won’t go to anyone else. McKnight law walks you through the legal process from A-Z.
If you have any matters to deal with in family law, I highly recommend McKnight Law as the “Go To” firm in the Triangle. John McKnight has been a pleasure to work with for myself and others I know who have used his expertise. His rates are certainly reasonable and his response time is efficient should you have additional questions. He should be your first call, every time.
— Sarah B.
