North Carolina Divorce Legal Questions

Chapter 50 of the North Carolina General Statutes address the majority of divorce related laws.  The rules of civil procedure apply and local (county rules) may be applicable.  Unfortunately, there isn't a concise way to answer your question but hopefully this will get your started.  There are also a number of great legal websites and blogs out there that may shed light on your questions about divorce.     I have recently written a blog on the topic of general procedures related to aboslute divorce in North Carolina that may be helpful as well. Hope this helps!... Read More

Good question.  I strongly encourage you to contact an attorney in your local area.  I recently wrote a blog on the topic of dividing the marital residence upon separation and divorce which may be helpful.  #4 addresses the scenario you have described here, where a couple divorces without an equitable distribution claim pending and without having resolved the distribution of jointly owned real property.  There are two primary options.  If the two of you are in agreement over the division of the property, you could enter into property settlement agreement specifying the terms of the property division.  It is important to consult with a tax professional along with a family lawyer to ensure that the agreement is handled in a tax efficient manner.   If the two of you are not in agreement regarding the sale/division of the real estate, you can opt for a petition to partition, in which you request the court to divide the land in equal valued parcels if possible, and if not, to force a buy-out or sale of the property (See Chapter 46, Articles I and II, of the North Carolina General Statutes).  Hope this helps.   This answer should not be construed as legal advice and should not be relied upon over seeking competent legal representation in your local area. ... Read More

In North Carolina, you cannot speed up the 1 year waiting period for divorce based on separation.  So the criminal record would have no impact on how quickly you can get divorced.  However, you may file for what is known as a Divorce from Bed and Board, which is a fault based action that will create a legal separation but does NOT create an actual divorce.  It does however sever a number of the at-fault party's marital rights.   You should also strongly consider taking some steps to protect your child if you have not already.  Father's drug abuse and exposing the child to drug deals could meet the requirements to establish an emergency child custody action, or at least a temporary parenting arrangement. Hope this helps. ... Read More

Your court date is next week, and you should not ignore it.  Child support is based on who has physical custody of the minor child,   the income of the parents, and certain expenses relating to the child.   You should speak with an attorney in NC about this as soon as possible so that they can help you determine whether and how much child support is due.... Read More

Most attorneys are pretty reasonable when it comes to the legal fees for an uncontested divorce with no issues.  When you ass other issues to the divorce child support, child custody, alimony, post-separation support or equitable distribution, the legal fees start to go much higher.  You should contact a few law firms in or near the county in which he resides to discuss your issues and get a quote for the legal fees to address your specific matter.   ... Read More

In order to find one, you would have to call each attorney you are considering and ask them if they are also licensed to practice in NY.  However, just because they are licensed to practice in NY, it does not mean that they would be willing to travel all the way back to NY to handle a court case for you.  Most of them would not take that case, unless it is a very large significant case with a lot of legal fees or a lot of publicity involved.  The best way for you to handle a NY case, is to hire an attorney who is both located in and licensed to practice in NY. An NC Attorney who is willing to handle a case for you would charge an enormous amount of money to travel back and forth to NY for each court hearing in your case.  Good luck.... Read More

You will have to investigate more to see if you can find the defendant's address, and if you cannot, you can serve them by publication.  You will however, have to make reasonable efforts to locate the defendant, and you must prepare and file an affidavit with the court that outlines each and every action that you took to locate the other party.  Also in my experience, the newspapers generally charge somewhere between $300 and $500 to publish the notice in the paper for you.  If you plan to do service by publication, I would definitely suggest you hire an attorney to handle it for you, because it is a  pretty complicated process.  ... Read More

Uncontested divorce, if you have no other issues to address in the divorce, is not that expensive.  Most attorneys charge a reasonable flat fee, plus the cost of court and service fees.  The cost of court and service fees will be the same no matter which attorney you hire, or even if you decide to handle it yourself.  We are not allowed to quote legal fees in this forum.  You should consult with a few attorneys in your area to determine their prices, and then make your decision about an attorney.    If you really have very little money, and you cannot afford an attorney, you can always file it yourself.  Most counties in NC have Do-It-Yourself Pro Se packets that you can use to file your own divorce.  You should contact the clerk of court in your county to see if they can give you an Pro Se uncontested divorce packet for your county.  Here is the link for the packet that they offer for Durham County http://www.nccourts.org/county/durham/courts/family/prosedivorce.asp Good luck.   ... Read More

It sounds like you are trying to change the venue of the case to another county. Whether you can move your case (or change venue) will depend on a number of factors, such as the type of case you have pending, and the reason that you give the court for moving the case, the location of the other party, whether the other party objects to the motion, etc.  Since you say that you have an attorney already on your case in the first county, you should ask him or her about a motion to change venue.  Since they have been working the case already, they will have the information necessary to advise you fully regarding your chances of getting the court to change the venue. ... Read More

Impotency is not a grounds for divorce in North Carolinas since North Carolina is a "No Fault Divorce" state.  In order to get divorced in North Carolina, you must be physically separated from your spouse, meaning that one of you must move out of the marital home with the intent to remain permanently separate and apart, for one full year.  The divorce complaint may be filed at the earliest no sooner than the first day after the full year runs. Impotency may be a grounds for annulment if either party was physically impotent at the time of the marriage, and that impotence is medically diagnosed by a doctor.  You should talk to an experienced family law attorney in your area to discuss the matter more thoroughly to determine if you have enough evidence to proceed with an annulment.  You can click on the "Find a Lawyer " link above to locate one in your area.... Read More

If you have not signed a Separation agreement yet, then there is no binding separation agreement yet.  I hope that when you say you agreed to a Free-trader Agreement, that it means you have agreed to sign, but have not yet signed.  If so, then you can just file an action in court and ask the judge to divide your marital assets, which will include whatever portion of his pension accrued during your marriage.  Be careful though, because you must file your complaint for distribution of marital property before the divorce is final, otherwise you will lose all rights to have the court divide it.   You should schedule a consultation with an attorney immediately, before you do anything else relating to this marriage so that you do not jeopardize your rights in this matter. ... Read More

Apparently you singed some agreement or joint motion to the Court requesting that the divorce be entered under certain terms.  Whether you can "undo" your agreement depends upon when your divorce was final and whether you can prove you were under undue pressure when you agreed to the terms of the divorce.  Look at Rule 60 of the North Carolina Rules of Civil Procedure for this information.  Cathy Naugle merrisnaugle.com  ... Read More

In North Carolina, you are typically entitled to one half of all retirement accounts that were earned during the marriage. There are some exceptions to this rule, and a Court can always distribute differently than just a straight 50/50 split depending on the circumstances, but the general answer is yes. Keep in mind that just as you would be entitled to a portion of his retirement, he is also entitled to a portion of your retirement.... Read More

First, if they were only married for 6 months, they couldn't possibly have been separated for 'a while' - a few months is probably more like it. As to what the wife can do, I assume you mean from a 'legal' standpoint, if so, likely not much to you unless you have significant assets but I be more concerned about what she may do from a non-legal standpoint. As to your boyfriends inheritance, that's sticky. Inheritance can be separate property that wife can't touch IF boyfriend takes precautions such as not commingling marital money with inheritance or purchasing things with the inheritance during the marriage. The best way to resolve everything, is with a simple separation and property settlement agreement if the wife is willing to sign one.... Read More

Whatever else you do, be sure to keep the funds you receive by way of inheritance separate from any other funds.  Inheritances are considered separate property of the inheriting spouse; so ordinarily your husband would not be entitled to any of the inheritance at the time of divorce.  However, if you mix the inheritance money with other funds acquired during the marriage and cannot "trace" them back to the time of inheritance, they can "become" joint funds of the marital partners.  ... Read More

Whether you will be forced to sell it depends on a number of questions. Questions like (1) what does the quit claim deed say, and when it was done, (2) what does your separation agreement say about the home and the mortgage, and the other assets and debts of the marriage, (3) will your husband file anything in court to ask the judge to address the house, (4) whether you can sucessfully defend against any claims he makes, etc.   The issue of Equitable Distribution may properly be filed at any point prior to the granting of the divorce, unless it has already been resolved in the separation agreement.  You say you are legally separated which generally means you have done a separation agreement, but you never said you did one.  As you can see, you have not given enough information for an attorney to adequately answer your question.  I suggest that you use the 'Find a Lawyer' link above, to locate an experienced Divorce / Family Law lawyer in your area, and schedule a confidential consultation with them to discuss all of the facts surrounding your issue, to get a complete answer to your question, and to discuss hiring them to represent you through the complicated waters of divorce and division of property.... Read More

There are a number of attorneys across North Carolina who handle divorce cases and would be happy to assist you.  You can click the Find a Lawyer tab above to find an attorney to assist you in this matter.  You can also google local divorce attorneys, or check your local telephone book.  Good luck with your divorce. ... Read More

Once you have met with an attorney and established an attorney-client relationship, the opposing party cannot hire that attorney or get legal advice from that attorney. The situation you described sounds more like you have spoken with a friend who is a lawyer, that lawyer hired your ex's sister and now says he can't talk about your case anymore. That lawyer can refuse to give you any more advice, although he should not be giving advice or revealing information to your ex, either.... Read More