North Carolina Divorce Laws

North Carolina Divorce Laws
You will need to have some idea of the basics of North Carolina divorce laws before you dive in and start proceedings in this state. In this article we will discuss some of the most important aspects of divorce law in North Carolina, ranging from alimony and child support to the division of marital property.

First of all, you should be aware that there are residency requirements you need to meet before you can even start the divorce proceedings in North Carolina. You need to have lived in that state for a minimum of six months before you file for divorce.

Grounds for Divorce
Under North Carolina divorce laws, you can file for divorce on the grounds of a fault of one spouse in failing to carry out their marital duties, or you can file on a No Fault basis under certain conditions. Let’s take a look at No Fault claims first.

You can file for divorce if you and your spouse have been living separately for a year or more. Likewise, if your spouse suffers from a mental condition causing which medical professionals have deemed to be incurable and because of this you have been separated for three years or more without any periods in between where you lived together, this is also a legitimate reason to file for divorce in North Carolina.

There are also six situations recognized by the North Carolina courts when one spouse is at fault in the marriage. One of the most straightforward of these is adultery. Another grounds for divorce is the alcoholism or excessive drug use of one spouse, when it gets to the point where it has an effect on the functioning of the marriage.

One of the less clear-cut grounds for divorce is a general allowance for legally ending the marriage if one spouse makes life intolerable for the other. Obviously this is a little harder to define, as different people have different points of view on what constitutes intolerable suffering. However, if your spouse is consistently undertaking actions with the specific intent to decrease your quality of life, it’s likely that you would be able to file for divorce based on this.

Another related but slightly different grounds for divorce is cruel treatment endangering the life of the other spouse. Whereas the above grounds covers mental ill-treatment, such as constant verbal or emotional abuse, this grounds for divorce deals more directly with physical abuse. If your spouse has physically mistreated you in a way that threatens your life and safety, you can file for divorce citing this as a reason.

The last two Fault grounds under North Carolina divorce laws deal with abandonment issues. In the first respect, you can divorce your spouse if he or she can be demonstrated to have abandoned you and your family. The last grounds for divorce is the other side of the coin – if your spouse turns you out of your home without any regards for where you will live or how you will survive. Both of these situations are deemed to constitute a fundamental failing in spousal duties and are grounds for ending the marriage.

Division of Property
The division of property in a divorce is determined by what the courts refer to as “equitable distribution.” Note that equitable does not necessarily mean equal. Rather it means what the court decides is a fair distribution based on the resources of each spouse.

There are many factors taken into account for the division of property. These include things such as the current income levels of you and your spouse, who will keep custody of the children and how that will impact their future earnings potential. Other aspects like career history, education and future employment opportunities will also play a role in helping the court to determine how to divide up property.

Child Custody and Visitation Rights
If you and your spouse can’t decide on an arrangement for the care of any children from the marriage, the process will be mediated by the courts. The most important factor that determines who will be the primary caregiver is a willingness to make an effort to ensure that the children maintain a loving relationship with the other parent. The exception to this is a situation wherein the other spouse is shown to be violent or have other habits that would negatively affect the children. If this can be shown in court, you should be granted custody and visitation rights will most likely be denied to the other spouse, or heavily restricted.

Alimony and Child Support
The factors that determine if you will have to pay spousal support, or alimony, following a divorce in North Carolina are similar to those that determine how property will be distributed. The North Carolina divorce laws aim to keep the lifestyles of each spouse reasonably consistent with what they were before the divorce, in a material sense. This means that if you were the sole breadwinner for your family before the divorce and your spouse gave a career to care for the children, you may be expected to make alimony payments in order to help your spouse maintain their previous lifestyle.

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