North Carolina Divorce Forms & Papers

Divorce Papers > North Carolina Divorce Forms & Papers

Filing a divorce in North Carolina requires a person to complete the residential requirements as per law. One should be aware of the legal requirements especially if you are doing a divorce all by yourself. North Carolina divorce forms and papers are easily available on line. However if you are not certain of the laws it is better to contact a legal advisor or a lawyer for consultation. Once you know that you fulfill the residential requirements you might file for divorce by yourself or with the help of your legal advisor. The procedure for filing a divorce is simple if it is agreed by both the parties. Talking to your spouse on issues such as property distribution and child custody would help you get a divorce without any hassles and in less time.

Residential Requirements for the state of North Carolina:

When filing a divorce in the state of North Carolina, you must fulfill the necessary residential requirements of the state, failing which; your divorce plea might get rejected.

As per law, one spouse must have been a resident of North Carolina for at least six months prior to filing for divorce. Divorce may be filed for in the county of residence of either spouse. [General Statutes of North Carolina; Chapter 50, Section 50-8]. For more information on filing divorce see our page on steps for filing a divorce.

Grounds for divorce in North Carolina:

The only no-fault ground for divorce in North Carolina is: Living separate and apart without cohabitation for one year. [General Statutes of North Carolina; Chapter 50, Section 50-5.6].

Whereas the grounds for a fault based divorce could either be confinement for insanity or mental ill health of partner that cannot be cured for three years.

Do It Yourself Divorce:

When filing a divorce all by yourself you can either do an agreed divorce or a default divorce. These kinds of divorces are done regardless the reason for a divorce or the grounds on which divorce is obtained.

An agreed divorce is when both the parties agree upon the terms of the divorce. This is the most common method of obtaining a divorce in North Carolina as this method is less time consuming and efficient. The divorce papers in an agreed divorce are signed by both the parties and they usually agreed upon terms such as property distribution, child custody and parental responsibilities.

A default divorce on the other hand is initiated by only one of the spouses. The other spouse on the other hand might go missing, does not send an request to acknowledge the divorce, does not sign the divorce papers and is neither present for the court hearings. In such a case a default divorce is granted. The spouse filing for divorce usually gets everything that is been asked or mentioned in the divorce papers. The other spouse on the other hand cannot dispute it at a later stage because of his/her unavailability.

Procedure to file a Divorce:

There are three basic steps that one should follow while filing a divorce and this includes:

Filing the paper work: When filing paper work one should make sure that you fulfill all the necessary residential requirements of the state in order to be eligible to file a divorce in North Carolina.
Notifying the spouse: The court would send the divorce decree to the spouse who has to acknowledge the same to complete the divorce proceedings.
Attending the court hearing: Both the parties should be present for the hearing as per the notifications received form the court.

USE THESE WORDS IN THE COURT DOCUMENTS FOR NORTH CAROLINA

Use these exact words, all in capital letters: IN THE GENERAL COURT OF JUSTICE,_ DIVISION, NORTH CAROLINA, COUNTY
Use these exact words, all in capital letters: COMPLAINT FOR DIVORCE
Use the word "Plaintiff". Be sure the "P" is capitalized.
Use the word "Defendant'. Be sure the "D" is capitalized.
Use these exact words, all in capital letters: DECREE OF DIVORCE
Use the word "County" here.

For detailed laws about divorce for North Carolina state, please see Divorce Laws for North Carolina page.

Free North Carolina Divorce Forms for Download

If a spouse goes missing, you can still file a divorce in the state of North Carolina. However you need to bear extra charges on putting a missing report in the newspaper or any other medium. Apart from it, if the wife wishes for a name changes even than can be done during the process of divorce. Wife's maiden name is generally taken by her, after the divorce.

Following divorce forms are free for download. Most of the forms are provided with instructions on how to fill the form. To download any of these divorce papers and forms just right click on the link and select "Save As...".