Getting Divorced
G.S. 50-6 — one year apart, and six months living in the state
One year apart. In North Carolina, either spouse may get a divorce once they have lived separate and apart for one year and either of them has lived in the state for six months. Isolated incidents of sexual intercourse between them do not restart the year.
On a party's application, the court determines what is marital property and divisible property and divides it. The division is equal, by net value, unless the court decides an equal division is not equitable, and then it weighs factors such as each party's income, property and debts, the length of the marriage, and the parties' ages and health.
Equitable distribution is asserted before the divorce. An absolute divorce ends every right arising from the marriage except those the section keeps, and it destroys the right to equitable distribution unless that right was asserted before the divorce judgment. Claims for alimony or postseparation support pending at the time survive the divorce.
A spouse served only by publication who did not appear in the divorce may still seek equitable distribution within six months of the judgment. A divorce does not make any child of the marriage a child born out of wedlock.
Sources for this section (3)
- G.S. 50-6 — Divorce after separation of one year
- G.S. 50-11 — Effects of absolute divorce
- G.S. 50-20 — Distribution of marital and divisible property
Legal information, not legal advice. Verified as of September 2026. Applying it to a particular situation is the work of a licensed North Carolina attorney.