North Carolina courts prioritize the child’s best interests in custody decisions and base alimony on need and ability to pay during divorce proceedings. Property division follows equitable distribution, considering multiple fairness factors. These elements shape post-divorce outcomes like parenting time and financial support.​
Child Custody
Courts decide custody based on the child’s best interests, focusing on physical safety, emotional health, social development, and moral well-being. Key factors include each parent’s caregiving history, work schedules, discipline approach, home environment, substance abuse or domestic violence history, and the child’s relationship with each parent. No gender presumption exists; joint custody is common if both parents can cooperate effectively.​
Alimony Rules
Alimony requires the dependent spouse to show financial need and the supporting spouse to have payment ability, with courts weighing marriage length, incomes, ages, health, marital misconduct like adultery, and standard of living. Types include post-separation support (temporary) and alimony (longer-term), often lasting half the marriage duration as a guideline, though indefinite in cases of disability or very long marriages. It ends on remarriage, cohabitation, or death of either spouse.​
Key Court Factors
For alimony and equitable distribution of marital property, courts evaluate spouses’ earnings, assets, liabilities, education, contributions to the marriage (like homemaking or career support), tax effects, and child custody needs. Marital misconduct impacts alimony but not property splits, which aim for fairness rather than equality. Divorce requires one year of separation; custody orders can precede it.​
SOURCES
[1](https://www.northcarolinalegalservices.org/article/divorce-and-children-in-north-carolina-what-to-expect-and-how-to-prepare)
[2](https://www.nclamp.gov/publications/co-counsel-bulletins/alimony/)
[3](https://www.jdwarlick.com/blog/grounds-for-divorce-in-north-carolina/)
[4](https://www.nclamp.gov/publications/take-1/child-custody-and-visitation/)
[5](https://plcllp.com/family-law-in-north-carolina-what-are-the-best-interests-of-the-child-factors/)
