State lawmakers are pushing to overhaul North Carolina's divorce process with a new bill designed to shorten mandatory waiting periods and eliminate centuries-old lawsuits targeting extramarital affairs.
Senate Bill 626, known as the Domestic Violence Divorce Reform Act, proposes slashing the state's traditional one-year-and-one-day physical separation requirement down to six months. The waiting period would be waived entirely for uncontested divorces that do not involve minor children, as well as for documented victims of domestic violence.
The sweeping legislation also aims to completely abolish North Carolina's common-law claims for alienation of affection and criminal conversation. These traditional "heart balm" torts allow a jilted spouse to sue a third party for damages over an affair that disrupted the marriage. North Carolina remains one of only a handful of states that still permit these legal actions.
Sponsoring lawmakers argue the current framework imposes unnecessary financial and emotional distress on families trying to exit broken or unsafe marriages. The bill remains under review in the General Assembly.
