Have you been separated from your spouse for over one year? Have you lived in North Carolina for the past six months? Do you plan to waive alimony and property/debt issues? If your answer to all of these question is “yes”, then you qualify for an absolute divorce!

Also, to get an absolute divorce you must be living away from your spouse for one and at least one of you has to want to end the marriage. If you are living in North Carolina for at least six months, you can get a divorce in North Carolina. Then you need to ask yourself if you and your spouse have resolved alimony and property issues, because, once the divorce judgment is filed, you will forever more be barred from alimony and property distribution. WARNING, this means you cannot get alimony. If you and your spouse decide that you have considered these issues and can handle these issues between the two of you (without the assistance of the court) then you should file for an absolute divorce.

The Process (in a nutshell)

1. Consult with an experienced family law attorney (i.e. our firm J)

2. Once the firm obtains your information (address, spouse’s address, etc.) the firm will file a Complaint for the divorce

3. Once the Complaint is filed, your spouse will have 30 days to answer the Complaint (NOTE: if you and your spouse have no issues then your spouse does not need to answer the Complaint and he/she can let the 30 days lapse)

4. If 30 days passes and no Answer is filed then a Motion for Absolute Divorce Summary Judgment is filed and a court date is set for at least 10 days out

5. Once the court date comes around, your attorney will take a Divorce Judgment to the court  hearing and the Judge will sign the Judgment

6. After that…you are FREE and can start to move forward with your life

Time Frame:

1. From start to finish your absolute divorce should take about two (2) months

2. Obviously, sometimes there can be complications and it might take longer, but generally speaking it typically takes about two (2) months