I live out of state but served a complaint for divorce to my spouse who is resident. We got divorced but in the process he responded with a complaint for equitable distribution. He has since moved out of state. Does the court still have jurisdiction over the ED if we are now both not residents of NC? Thanks!!
In order for a North Carolina Court to have jurisdiction over the ED claim, the court must have personal jurisdiction over the Defendant. There is a two part test that the court will employ:
- Does the NC long-arm statute allow exercise of jurisdiction?
- Does the exercise of jurisdiction comport with federal notions of due process?
Without getting into a complicated constitutional analysis, you should know that the court will act liberally in favor of finding jurisdiction. If there are sufficient minimum contacts with the state, the court can exercise jurisdiction. You can raise as a defense in your answer that the court lacks personal jurisdiction over you, but without knowing more I can’t speak to whether this would be successful or not. If you lived in NC during the marriage, then there will be sufficient minimum contacts to establish jurisdiction.