Meet Melenni
Co-Founder & Attorney at Law
I'm Melenni Balbach, and I'm a family legal planner. From pre-birth to death, and every stage in between.
I started my career litigating high-conflict family law cases. I sat across from heartbroken spouses, terrified parents, and clients who walked into court thinking the legal system would offer fairness, clarity, or even closure. It rarely did.
In traditional litigation, everyone loses something. Not just emotionally, but financially, mentally, and relationally. I've seen judges make life-changing decisions in under five minutes. I've watched entire retirement accounts drain into legal fees. And I've represented good people who were simply trying to survive a process that treated their family like a case number.
After years of that work, I realized: litigation isn't the only way, and it's almost never the best way.
But I also discovered something else: my most meaningful work spans the entire arc of family life.
Before a baby is even born, I'm helping intended parents secure pre-birth orders. I'm drafting surrogacy agreements and donor contracts that protect families building their futures through assisted reproductive technology. I'm working with same-sex couples, single parents by choice, and anyone whose path to parenthood doesn't fit the traditional mold.
When couples are ready to commit, I'm creating prenuptial agreements that set them up for success. Not planning for failure, but planning for clarity.
As families grow and change, I'm handling collaborative divorces that prioritize dignity over destruction, drafting co-parenting agreements, and helping people navigate separation without scorched-earth litigation.
And throughout it all, from the moment someone becomes a parent to the moment they're planning what happens after they're gone, I'm creating comprehensive estate plans. Wills that reflect actual family structures. Powers of attorney for healthcare and finances. Guardianship designations for kids. Living wills that take the burden of impossible decisions off your loved ones.
From pre-birth to death. That's the work I do.
North Carolina's laws haven't caught up with how modern families actually look. We have zero comprehensive surrogacy laws. We haven't adopted the Uniform Parentage Act. Our statutes are stuck in the past while families are living in the present.
So I navigate the gaps. I craft creative legal solutions. I make sure families, all kinds of families, have the protection they need even when the law doesn't make it easy.
That's why we built Balbach & Davenport Legal.
We're a clarity-focused law firm for people at every stage of family life. Whether you're building a family through ART, getting married, raising kids, going through divorce, co-parenting outside traditional structures, or planning your legacy, we're your legal family planner.
We work with LGBTQ+ couples, straight couples, single parents, blended families, polyamorous partnerships, chosen families - everyone. Because all families deserve comprehensive legal protection, and all families deserve an attorney who sees them, respects them, and fights for them.
My approach is simple: legal support should feel empowering, not punitive.
It should be straightforward, values-aligned, and tailored to your actual life, not just your paperwork. Whether we're securing your parental rights before your baby is born, negotiating a collaborative divorce that prioritizes your kids, or making sure your estate plan reflects your chosen family, my goal is to bring strategy, stability, and simplicity into the process.
This work isn't about fighting in court. It's about helping people build, protect, and transition through every chapter of family life with their dignity, finances, and future intact.
At Balbach & Davenport Legal, we don't discriminate. We celebrate all families in all their beautiful diversity.
Your legal family planner for every stage of life, from pre-birth to death, and everything in between.