Uncontested divorce in North Carolina (2026)

North Carolina calls it an absolute divorce, and its defining feature comes before you ever file: you and your spouse must have lived separate and apart for a continuous year, with at least one of you intending the separation to be permanent. That one-year separation is the ground for divorce, so there's no filing you can do to shorten it.

Once the year is met and one spouse has lived in North Carolina for six months, the divorce itself is one of the simpler ones in the country. You file a complaint for absolute divorce in the district court, serve your spouse, and after their response window closes you can usually get a judgment fairly quickly. Note an important quirk: a plain North Carolina divorce ends the marriage but does not divide property or set support unless you raise those claims before the judgment. Many couples settle property in a separation agreement during the year apart so the divorce filing itself stays simple.