Wife leaves after 9 months and wants divorce

I have a brother that got married 9 months ago. He and his wife live in NC. About 10 days ago she just moved out of their house and told him she wanted a divorce. She says she just fell out of love. Well, I believe he is crushed and hasn’t taken any steps to protect himself.

My questions are as follows:

  1. Per the law in NC, it states the couple has to be separated for 1 year. How does the court know when that separations begins?

  2. What happens if she finds some other companion within the time frame of that year, is that considered adultery?

I found the answer for #1.

I read that the separation begins the day she moved out.

As for #2, if it is adultery what happens to the assets like the house?

The divorce can be filed one year and one day after the date of separation. When divorce is filed, the date of separation is listed on the forms. That date is only brought into question if there is a dispute by one spouse or other…meaning that the court usually take the couples word that the date is correct.

As far as adultery, the only thing that affects is alimony and that is if this happened prior to the separation. Adultery, while illegal is rarely prosecuted and does not usually have bearing on equitable distribution. He should consult an attorney to have a separation agreement drawn up regardless. The home and all other marital assets should be divided but if there is never a claim filed then what is divided now is the way it will remain once divorce is complete. After the divorce is complete, neither party may go back to ask for ED.

The date of separation is the date that one spouse moves out to reside elsewhere.
Technically dating during separation (and having sexual intercourse) is adultery as the parties are still legally married, though it does not impact property distribution due to the fact that NC does not consider non-economic fault for purposes of equitable distribution.
For purposes of determining alimony the new relationship could be used to infer that an affair began prior to separation. Adultery committed by the dependant spouse is a bar to alimony.
I f your brother is worried about the potential that the will pay alimony, I would take a guess that he likely does not have too much to be concerned about. A marriage lasting only 9 months will rarely result in any alimony award. I would also assume there is little to no martial property to be divided.