Notary error & Clerk filed unstamped form. Any Recourse?

North Carolina Divorce Law Divorce and Separation Answers
1

I have to ask because I’m so very frustrated right now:

  1. On Jan 2, I got three copies of my complaint for divorce notarized. All three were signed by notary but only two were stamped.
  2. At the courthouse, the clerk files/stamps all three copies. The clerk puts the signed but unstamped complaint in the court folder.
  3. In court yesterday, the judge says the complaint isn’t stamped and tells me I have to file an amended complaint and start the whole process over. I then produced a signed/stamped complaint from my bag, the judge shushed me and accused me of having a notary sign it after the fact. (My copies were all signed/stamped, my STBX’s copies were signed/stamped). When I offered an explanation that the clerk filed the single unstamped form, she said her clerks don’t make mistakes and threatened to dismiss the entire case.)

Is there any recourse?

2

Ultimately the judge is the final decision maker, and if he or she thought the lack of a notary stamp on the filed copy was insufficient, then his or her decision stands. I would follow the judge’s instructions and do the amended complaint and make sure everything is properly notarized.