RALEIGH, N.C. — North Carolina couples must live apart for a full year before a judge can grant a divorce, a requirement that dates to 1931, and a proposal in the state Senate would cut that wait in half.
Senate Bill 836, titled the Domestic Violence Divorce Reform Act, would trim the required time apart to six months instead of a year. It would drop the waiting period entirely in two situations: when one spouse is a domestic violence survivor, and when an uncontested divorce involves spouses who both agree to end the marriage and have no minor children.
The measure would also do away with two lawsuits that North Carolina still allows, claims for alienation of affection and criminal conversation, which let a spouse sue a third party blamed for breaking up a marriage.
Sen. Woodson Bradley is the primary sponsor. Seven other senators signed on as cosponsors: Adcock, Chitlik, Garson, Murdock, Salvador, Theodros and Waddell. Legislative records show the bill would amend Chapters 50 and 52 of the General Statutes, including sections 50-6, 50-8, 52-13 and 52-14, and that it carries an appropriation.
The bill was filed on April 27. A day later it was pulled from the Senate Rules and Operations Committee and sent to the Appropriations/Base Budget committee, with a return trip to Rules if it gets a favorable report. It has not moved since, and no committee vote has been recorded.
Supporters have acknowledged it may not pass before the current session wraps up. The proposal remains in committee and is expected to get more discussion when lawmakers come back to Raleigh.
Section: More Raleigh NC politics news
