Free Practice Questions for NC Family Law Specialist

You must be a licensed North Carolina attorney in good standing for at least five years, demonstrate substantial involvement in family law over the preceding years, complete the required family law continuing legal education, receive favorable peer review from judges and lawyers familiar with your work, and pass the written specialty examination administered by the NC State Bar Board of Legal Specialization. Confirm the current standards and fees at nclawspecialists.gov.

Under NCGS 50-6, North Carolina grants an absolute divorce when the spouses have lived separate and apart for one continuous year, with at least one spouse intending the separation to be permanent, and one party has resided in North Carolina for at least six months. Divorce is no-fault, so neither marital fault nor the other spouse's consent is required. Living in separate bedrooms in the same house does not satisfy the requirement, and isolated incidents of intercourse do not restart the one-year clock, though resuming cohabitation does.

North Carolina is an equitable distribution state under NCGS 50-20, not a community property state. The court follows a three-step process: classify property as marital, divisible, or separate; value the marital and divisible property as of the date of separation; and distribute it. There is a presumption of equal (50/50) division unless the court finds an equal division is not equitable after weighing the 50-20(c) distributional factors, such as each party's income and liabilities, the duration of the marriage, contributions to the other's career, and acts of post-separation waste. A claim for equitable distribution must be asserted before the absolute divorce is granted or it is generally lost.

Postseparation support under NCGS 50-16.2A is temporary, need-based support paid to a dependent spouse pending the final alimony decision. Alimony under NCGS 50-16.3A is the final award, decided after the court weighs sixteen statutory factors including relative earnings, the marital standard of living, duration of the marriage, and marital misconduct. A dependent spouse's one-sided act of illicit sexual behavior before separation is a complete bar to alimony unless the supporting spouse also committed such an act, and alimony terminates automatically on the dependent spouse's death, remarriage, or cohabitation under NCGS 50-16.9.

North Carolina uses the income-shares model under NCGS 50-13.4, combining both parents' incomes and the official Child Support Guidelines schedule. Worksheet A applies when one parent has primary physical custody (the other has fewer than 123 overnights per year), Worksheet B applies to shared custody (each parent has at least 123 overnights), and Worksheet C applies to split custody. The court may impute income to a parent who is voluntarily underemployed in bad faith, and when combined income exceeds the guideline cap the court sets support based on the children's reasonable needs and each parent's ability to pay.

A 50B domestic violence protective order requires a qualifying personal relationship under NCGS 50B-1(b) (such as current or former spouses, household members, persons who share a child, or persons in a current or former dating relationship) plus an act of domestic violence as defined in 50B-1(a). A victim may obtain an ex parte temporary order before the abuser is notified, with a full hearing generally held within 10 days of issuance or 7 days of service. A final DVPO can last up to one year, is renewable for up to two more years, and a knowing violation is a Class A1 misdemeanor. Where no personal relationship exists, a Chapter 50C civil no-contact order may be available.

Yes. North Carolina is one of the few states that still recognizes the heart-balm torts of alienation of affection and criminal conversation. Alienation of affection requires proof that genuine love and affection existed and was destroyed by the defendant's malicious conduct; criminal conversation requires proof of sexual intercourse between the defendant and the plaintiff's spouse during a valid marriage. Both claims carry a three-year statute of limitations.