North Carolina

All states

Luck of the Draw score: 55 out of 100

North Carolina starts from an equal split of marital property and keeps marital fault out of property division. In alimony, fault matters by statute, including a bar on alimony for a dependent spouse who committed illicit sexual behavior, and either side can ask a jury to decide the misconduct question. On the book’s scale, 0 is a contract you can read and 100 is one that mostly says “ask the judge.” North Carolina ranks 8 of 51, counting from the state that leaves the least to the judge. How the index works, and every state’s score.

Part	Score	The rule, and where it comes from
Property	5 / 20	The court must divide marital and divisible property equally by net value unless it determines that an equal division is not equitable, and separate property is not divided. N.C. Gen. Stat. § 50-20(c)
Alimony	20 / 20	The court sets the amount and duration of alimony after considering sixteen statutory factors and must state its reasons, with no formula or durational cap. N.C. Gen. Stat. § 50-16.3A(b)-(c)
Fault	10 / 20	Marital fault not related to the economic condition of the marriage may not be considered in equitable distribution, while in alimony illicit sexual behavior by the dependent spouse bars an award, the same by the supporting spouse requires one, and all marital misconduct is a listed factor. Smith v. Smith, 314 N.C. 80, 331 S.E.2d 682 (1985); N.C. Gen. Stat. § 50-16.3A(a), (b)(1)
Lawyers’ fees	10 / 20	The court may order reasonable counsel fees only for a dependent spouse entitled to alimony or postseparation support, on the principle that the dependent spouse should be able to meet the supporting spouse as a litigant on substantially even terms. N.C. Gen. Stat. § 50-16.4; Hudson v. Hudson, 299 N.C. 465, 263 S.E.2d 719 (1980)
Second opinion	10 / 20	In an alimony claim either spouse may request a jury trial on whether marital misconduct occurred, and North Carolina has no peremptory challenge of judges. N.C. Gen. Stat. § 50-16.3A(d)

Getting in

No waiting period. Apply to a county register of deeds, who may ask for a birth certificate or other proof. Each applicant must give a Social Security number or swear to being ineligible for one. No statute sets a waiting period. The license costs $60 and stays good for 60 days.
N.C. Gen. Stat. §§ 51-8, 51-16, 161-10(a)(2)

Who can marry you. An ordained minister of any denomination, a minister authorized by a church, or a magistrate may officiate before at least two witnesses. A couple can skip an officiant only under a mode recognized by a religious denomination or recognized tribe. The state supreme court rejected a mail-order Universal Life Church ceremony in a 1980 bigamy case, and a statute validated such marriages only before July 3, 1981.
N.C. Gen. Stat. §§ 51-1, 51-1.1, 51-6; State v. Lynch, 301 N.C. 479 (1980)

Common-law marriage: Not available here. A couple cannot become married in North Carolina by living together or by consent alone. The state does honor a common-law marriage validly formed in a state that allows it.
State v. Lynch, 301 N.C. 479 (1980); Parker v. Parker, 46 N.C. App. 254 (1980) (quoting Harris v. Harris, 257 N.C. 416 (1962))

Chapter 5 of the book covers getting in, and whether you are in at all.

The property system

North Carolina is one of forty-one equitable distribution jurisdictions. Equitable distribution. Each of you owns what’s in your own name during the marriage. At a divorce a judge divides the marital property as the judge finds equitable, which is not a promise of half. Chapter 11 of the book covers what that means, and Chapter 22 covers what happens to it when you move.

What counts as marital. Marital property is what either spouse acquires between the wedding and the date of separation and still owns. Premarital property, inheritances, and gifts from third parties stay separate. By statute, growth of separate property stays separate, but courts treat growth caused by a spouse’s substantial services as marital. Growth of marital property after separation can also be divided.
N.C. Gen. Stat. § 50-20(b)(1a), (1b), (2); O’Brien v. O’Brien, 131 N.C. App. 411 (1998)

An inheritance that touches a joint account

It can stay separate if you can trace it. An inheritance stays separate if it can be traced, even in a joint account. In one 1998 case, inherited money in a joint survivorship account stayed separate once the marital deposits were removed. Commingling alone does not convert it, but failure to trace does. Real estate titled as tenants by the entirety is presumed marital unless rebutted.
O’Brien v. O’Brien, 131 N.C. App. 411 (1998); Fountain v. Fountain, 148 N.C. App. 329 (2002); N.C. Gen. Stat. § 50-20(b)(1b), (2)

Chapter 12 explains how mine becomes ours.

Your spouse’s medical bills (Article 5)

Both of you can be liable from the first dollar. Each spouse is liable for the other’s necessary medical expenses; the provider need only show necessary services to one spouse, that the defendant was married to that spouse at the time, and that the bill is unpaid, with no requirement to pursue the patient spouse first. A spouse avoids liability only if the couple was separated and the provider had actual notice of the separation.
North Carolina Baptist Hospitals, Inc. v. Harris, 319 N.C. 347 (1987); Forsyth Memorial Hospital, Inc. v. Chisholm, 342 N.C. 616 (1996)

Chapter 8 of the book explains the three ways states handle this.

If one of you dies (Article 9)

The surviving spouse may claim a share of Total Net Assets set by length of marriage (15 percent under 5 years, 25 percent for 5 to 10 years, 33 percent for 10 to 15 years, 50 percent at 15 years or more), less property already passing to the spouse; Total Net Assets include non-probate property such as revocable trusts, payable-on-death accounts, survivorship property and part of life insurance.
N.C. Gen. Stat. §§ 30-3.1, 30-3.2

Chapter 9 covers what a will can and can’t take away from a spouse.

Prenups and postnups (Article 12)

One look, under UPAA (1983). A premarital agreement is unenforceable only if the challenger proves it was signed involuntarily, or was unconscionable when signed and the challenger lacked fair disclosure, did not waive disclosure in writing, and lacked adequate knowledge. Contracts between spouses during marriage are valid if not against public policy, but one affecting real property or dividing marital property must be written and acknowledged before a notary or other certifying officer.
N.C. Gen. Stat. §§ 52B-7, 52-10, 50-20(d)

What an agreement needs. A premarital agreement must be in writing and signed by both parties; chapter 52B requires no notarization, witnesses, waiting period or independent counsel, and disclosure matters through the enforcement test. The agreement may modify or eliminate spousal support, but a court may order support if the waiver would leave a dependent spouse eligible for public assistance.
N.C. Gen. Stat. §§ 52B-3, 52B-4(a)(4), 52B-7(b)

Chapter 29 explains one look and two, and what makes agreements stick.

Children (Article 8)

Child support: income shares. North Carolina’s guidelines use the income shares model. Support ends at 18, but continues for a child still in primary or secondary school until graduation, loss of regular attendance or satisfactory progress, or age 20, unless the judge ends it sooner. A judge cannot order college support without an agreement.
North Carolina Child Support Guidelines, AOC-A-162 (Rev. 1/23); N.C. Gen. Stat. § 50-13.4(c); Bridges v. Bridges, 85 N.C. App. 524 (1987)

Moving away with a child. North Carolina handles relocation through case law; the custody statute sets no notice period. A parent asking to change a custody order must show a substantial change in circumstances. The judge then decides the child’s best interests, looking at the move’s benefits, each parent’s motives, and whether a workable visitation schedule exists. A custody order may allow taking the child out of state.
Evans v. Evans, 138 N.C. App. 135 (2000); N.C. Gen. Stat. § 50-13.2(c)

Chapter 17 covers the children.

Getting out (Article 2)

How long you must live here before filing: six months. One spouse, either plaintiff or defendant, must have lived in North Carolina for at least six months before filing. Where the couple married or where the grounds arose does not matter. A plaintiff who lives elsewhere must file in the defendant’s county and have the defendant personally served.
N.C. Gen. Stat. §§ 50-6, 50-8

How long it takes. Either spouse can get a divorce after one year of living separate and apart, without proving fault and without the other spouse’s consent. No added waiting period follows filing, though the other spouse has 30 days to answer. A spouse who moves to the state alone reaches one year of separation after the six-month residency is already met.
N.C. Gen. Stat. §§ 50-6, 50-10; N.C. R. Civ. P. 12(a)(1)

The legal minimum for a spouse who moves here alone and files as soon as allowed, with no minor children and the other spouse objecting, is about 365 days from arrival to a final decree (365 days apart; 180 days of residence runs during it). Courts often take longer.

Chapter 22 covers what changes when you move.

Each entry on this page comes from the statute, rule or case it cites, read in September or November 2026, except where the entry says it has not been checked. A rule can change after that, and a rule on paper can play out differently in a particular courthouse. No lawyer reviews these pages.

If you practice family law in North Carolina and would like to correct or contribute to this page, write to me.

Meanwhile

• The default contract, with the options states choose among. Read it with a North Carolina lawyer, or paste it into a chatbot along with “I live in North Carolina” and treat what comes back as a list of questions, not answers.
• Three contracts you could sign instead.
• A worksheet for reading it together, and every state’s Luck of the Draw score.
• Corrections, including changes in the law since the book went to press.
• About the book.