In terms of the NC law, when one parent/spouse leaves the family home and is now living elsewhere, what are the legal ramifications from that choice, especially where minor-aged children are still at home?
Thank you for your time!
When one spouse leaves the marital residence and there are minor children involved, issues of child support and child custody come about. As related to the spouses, issues of spousal support (post-separation support, alimony) and equitable distribution (property division) come about. If either spouse has committed a type of marital misconduct, spousal support could be affected.
Is there something specific you are worried about or would like more information on?
I’m currently (and finally) finishing my college degree (full time student) and not earning an income. One of our children is a minor, the other is in college. I’d like to be able to keep the house for the kids and continue to pay for my college and my son’s college education. Is that legally possible; meaning, will the NC law assist me in obtaining funds from my spouse to maintain our current life? My spouse left our family home (and chooses to have little to no contact with the kids) - from what I understand, due to that I can receive compensation, under the term abandonment.
Thank you for your time and expertise!
Yes, North Carolina allows for you to maintain the accustomed standard of living (from the marriage) during separation/divorce by way of post-separation support/alimony.
Alimony can be awarded when there is a supporting spouse and a dependent spouse. A dependent spouse is “actually substantially dependent” on his/her spouse and would not be able to maintain his/her accustomed standard of living without financial help from the other spouse. There is no set formula that North Carolina uses to determine alimony but rather takes 16 factors into consideration. I’ve included a link at the end of this post to the 16 factors.
Check out our alimony calculator to give you an idea of what alimony could be like in your situation: rosen.com/alimony-calculator/
Abandonment is a form of marital misconduct that occurs when one spouse ends cohabitation without (1) justification, (2) the consent of the other spouse, and (3) the intent of renewing the cohabitation. Abandonment, like other forms of marital misconduct, are taken into consideration when determining the amount and duration of an alimony award.
The 16 alimony factors can be found here: rosen.com/alimony/afaqs/wha … g-alimony/
In my case, it was my wife that left the family home and she left without a separation agreement in place, after purchasing a new home nearby for cash, while still living in the marital house. When she moved out, one of our minor children went with her, the other two, plus one adult. Is there a difference in the woman vs the man leaving the family home, noting that no misconduct beyond where the funds came from to purchase the new house has occurred? Thank you. Matthew.
North Carolina does not differentiate between the husband or the wife in terms of committing marital misconduct or leaving the marital home.