Divorce in North Carolina

1. Waiting period

   Not yet verified

   We list a rule only once we can quote it from North Carolina’s statute or court rules.

2. Residency requirement

   6 months

   Either spouse must have lived in North Carolina for at least six months before the divorce complaint is filed.^[1]

   N.C. Gen. Stat. § 50-8; see also § 50-6 · checked October 26, 2026

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   “The plaintiff shall set forth in his or her complaint that the complainant or defendant has been a resident of the State of North Carolina for at least six months next preceding the filing of the complaint,”

3. No-fault divorce

   Yes, no-fault available

   Either spouse may get a divorce once the spouses have lived separate and apart for one year and one of them has lived in North Carolina for six months; isolated incidents of sexual intercourse do not restart the year.^[2]

   N.C. Gen. Stat. § 50-6 · checked October 26, 2026

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   “Marriages may be dissolved and the parties thereto divorced from the bonds of matrimony on the application of either party, if and when the husband and wife have lived separate and apart for one year, and the plaintiff or defendant in the suit for divorce has resided in the State for a period of six months.”

4. Property division

   Equitable distribution (equal presumed)

   On request the court identifies marital and divisible property and divides it equally by net value unless it finds an equal division is not equitable, in which case it divides equitably using listed factors.^[3]

   Community property in North Carolina: the statute quoted →

   N.C. Gen. Stat. § 50-20(a), (c) · checked October 26, 2026

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   “There shall be an equal division by using net value of marital property and net value of divisible property unless the court determines that an equal division is not equitable.”

5. Court mediation for custody

   Required

   When custody or visitation is contested, the case must be set for mediation through the state Custody and Visitation Mediation Program before or alongside the hearing, unless the court waives it for good cause such as abuse, domestic violence or undue hardship.^[4]

   N.C. Gen. Stat. § 50-13.1(b)-(c); § 7A-494 · checked October 26, 2026

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   “the matter, where there is a program established pursuant to G.S. 7A-494, shall be set for mediation of the unresolved issues as to custody and visitation before or concurrent with the setting of the matter for hearing unless the court waives mediation pursuant to subsection (c).”

6. Alimony

   Court decides from listed factors

   In North Carolina the court awards alimony to a dependent spouse when the other spouse is the supporting spouse and an award is equitable; amount and duration are set in the court’s discretion after 16 statutory factors, including marital misconduct, earnings, length of the marriage and standard of living. Illicit sexual behavior by the dependent spouse before separation bars alimony.

   Alimony in North Carolina, with the statute quoted →

7. Divorce rate

   2.5 per 1,000 residents (2024)

   North Carolina’s courts granted 2.5 divorces per 1,000 residents in 2024, down from 4.5 in 2000; the U.S. rate was 2.3. In the Census Bureau’s 2024 survey, 6.2 of every 1,000 women 15 and older in North Carolina divorced in the past year (±0.7; U.S. 6.9), a different measure.^[6][7]

   Divorce rates by state, with sources → · CDC/NCHS NVSS; Census ACS · checked October 27, 2026

Estimate your divorce cost in North Carolina: mediation vs. court →

How child support is calculated in North Carolina →

Mediators per 100,000: MediationList listings from official court and government rosters in North Carolina (1,605) ÷ population (11,046,024, U.S. Census Bureau, Vintage 2024 county population estimates (July 1, 2024)) × 100,000, the same figure as mediator statistics.^[5]