Every state has different grounds for divorce, legal separation and annulment. Understanding those grounds for the state you are in is essential when you are leaving a marriage. Here is what you need to know for understanding grounds for divorce, separation and annulment in NC:
Residency:
North Carolina requires that the petitioner has lived in the state for at least six months prior to the divorce filing. The marriage does not need to have occurred in North Carolina for one to file for divorce there.
Grounds for Divorce:
North Carolina only allows two grounds for divorce. These grounds are:
- Separation for one year
- Incurable insanity of one spouse AND living separate and apart for at least three consecutive years
While other factors like length of marriage, lifestyle and adultery might come into play when the court is deciding things like alimony and child custody, they do not have any bearing on the actual grounds for divorce. As you can imagine, most divorces in NC are due to separation for one year.
Legal Separation:
Legal separation in NC is called “divorce from bed and board”. Filing for divorce from bed and board can be used as a way to protect your rights and to obtain spousal or child support while waiting to meet the grounds for a divorce. The grounds to file for divorce from bed and board are more broad than the grounds for an official divorce and include:
- Adultery
- Abandonment
- Physical Abuse
- Emotional Abuse
- Abuse of drugs or alcohol
- Maliciously being removed from the home
Annulment:
The other way a marriage can be ended is via an annulment. In an annulment, the court deems a marriage void. This is different from a divorce where the marriage was legal and valid. Annulment declares that the marriage was not legal or valid and is therefore deemed void. Like divorces and legal separations, the state of NC has a very specific set of circumstances for which an annulment can be granted. These circumstances include:
- Spouses are more closely related than first cousins (i.e. siblings)
- One spouse was under the age of 16 at the time of the marriage
- Spouses are double first cousins (when two sisters have children with two brothers, the resulting children are double first cousins)
- One of the spouses was legally married to someone else at the time of the current marriage
- One of the spouses is physically impotent at the time of the marriage
- One spouse was incompetent or incapable of consenting to the marriage
Understanding divorce, separation and annulment in NC is essential when a marriage ends. It’s important to know which form of dissolution you would qualify for and what grounds are required to dissolve the marriage. It’s also important to know what options you have for legal separation or divorce from bed and board, should you need to file for any kind of assistance from your spouse while waiting for the minimum separation period required to file for divorce. If you have any questions about the faithfulness of your partner or need assistance getting to the truth, call Bulldog PI.
