Attorney Heather Williams Forshey has operated Raleigh Divorce Law Firm since May 2010. She has a B.A. in Psychology from Elon University and received her law degree from Wake Forest University. She has been a Board-Certified Family Law Specialist since 2013, and also holds certifications as a family financial mediator and a parenting coordinator.
She was recognized as a North Carolina Super Lawyers Rising Star from 2014-2020 and since 2021 has been recognized as a Super Lawyer. She also holds an AV Preeminent rating from Martindale Hubbell, the highest level of peer rating for professional excellence for legal knowledge, communication skills and ethical standards.
Heather has exclusively practiced North Carolina family law since 2006. In that time, she has earned a reputation for providing knowledgeable, highly skilled legal counsel to clients contemplating divorce or struggling with a variety of family law issues. Her firm only handles divorce, domestic issues, adoptions, appeals of family law issues, and related matters. She is an experienced litigator and has focused her family law practice on the area of child custody and modifications of child custody. She prides herself on tailoring her representation and advice to the unique needs of each case. While the majority of Heather's practice is in Wake County, Heather’s firm also handles cases in Durham, Orange, Franklin, and Harnett counties.
Heather has written manuscripts for and spoken frequently at continuing legal education courses on a variety of family law topics. Recent presentations include “Custody Evaluations: Understanding the Tools and Challenging the Report;” “Advanced Custody and Support Issues-Negotiating and Drafting Parenting Plans;” “Legal Ethics;” “Alienation and Abuse Allegations in Custody Proceedings;” and a national webcast “Parental Alienation and Abuse (Plus Relocation) in Divorce Litigation.”
Heather is also a gifted writer and has written pieces for Attorney at Law magazine on the Gabby Petito murder, the Depp-Heard trial, and the Murdaugh case.
Heather is passionate about the prevention of child abuse and family violence. She became a Guardian ad Litem in 2000 in Alamance County, and worked in family services for the Head Start program before attending law school, where she developed a passion for helping families in crisis that has continued to this day. She continued these efforts with a public interest grant to serve the GAL programs of Lee, Harnett and Johnston Counties during law school. In private practice, she handles some pro bono appellate work for the GAL program. Since 2018, Heather has served as a volunteer or Board Member for Friends of Wake GAL, a nonprofit that supports GAL volunteers and provides services such as private tutoring, orthodontics and summer camp funding to those in the child welfare system.
Honors
• Selected to Super Lawyers: 2021- 2025
• Super Lawyers Rising Stars, 2014 - 2020
• AV Preeminent Rating from Martindale Hubbell
Classes & Seminars
• Speaker for NBI on “Custody Evaluations: Understanding the Tools and Challenging the Report,” June 2023
• Presenter for NBI national webcast “Parental Alienation and Abuse (Plus Relocation) in Divorce Litigation, April 2022
• Presenter for the North Carolina State Bar’s program “Family Law Issues for Non-Family Law Attorneys,” April 2022
• Speaker for NBI’s Advanced Custody and Support Issues on the topics “Alienation and Abuse Allegations in Custody Proceedings” and “Legal Ethics,” February 2022
• Moderator for NBI’s “NC Family Court Judge’s Share Top Mistakes Attorneys Make” Seminar, 2021
• Speaker for NBI’s Handling the Divorce Case from Start to Finish on the topic “Custody, Visitation and Handling Parental Alienation/Abuse,” February 2020
• Speaker for NBI’s Advanced Custody and Support Issues on the topics “Negotiating and Drafting Parenting Plans” and “UCCJEA and Relocation Issues in Family Law,” December 13, 2019
• Moderator for National Business Institute’s “As Judges See It: Top Mistakes Attorneys Make in Family Court,” December 6, 2019
• Speaker for NBI’s Family Law From A to Z: Successfully Resolve Your Clients' Family Law Issues, February, 2019
• Moderator for National Business Institute’s “What Family Court Judges Want You to Know” Seminar, December 2018
• Speaker for NBI December 2016 Family Law course: What Do You Do When?, on topics “When Child and Spousal Support Calculations Get Complicated” and “When Parental and Third-Party Rights are Disputed”
• Program Chair of the First Annual Family Law Specialization Review CLE, North Carolina Advocates for Justice, September 2015
• Speaker for “Practicing Family Law in the Triangle: What You Need to Know Now,” September 2014, North Carolina Advocates for Justice
• Speaker on “Preparation and Use of Financial Affidavits,” September 2012, North Carolina Advocates for Justice
• Speaker on “Preparing the Equitable Distribution of Inventory Affidavits and the Final Equitable Distribution Order,” 2009, Half Moon Seminars - Equitable Distribution Workshop
Pro-Bono Activities
• Guardian ad Litem Appellate Advocate
• Board of Directors for the Friends of Wake County Guardian ad Litem Program
• Volunteer for the Wake County In-Court Volunteer Mediation Program
• Host Sponsor for the Light the Way GALA for the Friends of Wake County GAL Program, serving abused and neglected children in Wake County
Certified Legal Specialties
• NC State Bar Board Certified Specialist in Family Law
• DRC-Certified Family Financial Mediator, Dispute Resolution Commission of NC, 2012
• Certified Parenting Coordinator
Professional Associations
• North Carolina Bar Association, Family Law Section, Member, 2006 to Present
• Wake County Bar Association, Member, 2006 to Present
• Family Law Section of NC Academy of Trial Lawyers, Member, 2006 to Present
• Wake Women Attorneys, 2018 to Present
