Divorce Laws in North Carolina

North Carolina divorce laws have maintained only two fault grounds required for divorce. The first is a one-year separation, where you must, under oath, state that you and your spouse have lived in separate residences for a year. The second ground is incurable insanity. Additionally, divorce in North Carolina is not a complicated process. One of the spouses must have resided in North Carolina for at least 6 months prior to filing for a divorce in North Carolina. Once the complaint is filed, served and signed by the judge the divorce process is compete.

Alimony & Equitable Distribution in North Carolina

North Carolina is known as an equitable distribution state. According to the divorce laws in North Carolina this means that the marital property must be divided fairly or equitably, but not necessarily equally. The property may be distributed based on a voluntary agreement between the spouses, or when an agreement cannot be reached, by order of the judge and documented by a separation agreement.

Alimony is granted as payments for the support and maintenance of a spouse. 15 statutory factors, including but not limited to, marital misconduct, the relative earnings of both spouses, the duration of the marriage and the prior standard of living, are evaluated before any alimony is granted.

North Carolina Child Support, Child Custody and Child Visitation

According to North Carolina divorce law, the parents may decide who receives custody of their children. If they are unable to come to an agreement the court will resolve the matter. Such issues as the age of the children, the time available of each parent to spend with the child, the stability of the relationship between the parent and child as well as the efforts of the parents are considered. The non-custodial parent shall be granted visitation rights to see the children.

Child support (a percentage of the non-custodial parents income paid to assist with the support of his children) is determined by the “child support guidelines” as set forth by divorce law in North Carolina. Both parents are responsible for the support of their children in North Carolina, except when both parents have the same income and spend the same amount of time with the child.