North Carolina - Based Family Law Attorneys
Table of Contents
A marriage that is ending, a custody schedule that is falling apart, or a question about who keeps the house tends to arrive while the rest of life keeps moving. The bills still come. The children still need to be picked up, and nothing about the situation feels settled.
In North Carolina, the order in which you handle these matters can decide what you keep. Certain claims can be lost for good if they are not raised in time, and decisions made early about custody and support are often harder to change later.
Our family law work is led by a North Carolina Board-Certified Family Law Specialist and handled in the district courts across the Greater Charlotte area and the Triangle. We work with people through divorce, custody, support, property division, and the estate or business questions a family matter can touch, so the pieces of your case are handled together rather than in isolation.
How Do You Choose a Family Law Attorney in North Carolina?
Choosing a family law attorney comes down to a few practical questions you can ask any firm you talk to, and the answers tell you whether the attorney is equipped for your specific situation. The right fit is a firm built around family law rather than a general practice that takes these cases occasionally.
Before you decide, it helps to ask:
- Does the attorney hold the North Carolina State Bar’s board certification in family law?
- Do they regularly practice in the county courts where your case will be heard?
- How will they keep you informed as the case moves?
- Can the same firm handle the related estate, business, or property questions your situation touches?
A consultation is a helpful place to ask these questions and hear how a firm would approach your case.
Why Choose Leitner, Bragg & Griffin for Family Law
A family law case rarely stays in one lane. A single divorce can involve a closely held business, a home with years of equity, retirement accounts, and a parenting plan meant to hold up for years. We handle those pieces alongside the rest of a client’s legal life, so one firm can address the family matter and the estate or business questions that come with it.
Family Law Led by a Board-Certified Family Law Specialist
The attorney guiding your custody, support, and property questions holds the North Carolina State Bar’s board certification in family law. Jordan Griffin is a North Carolina Board-Certified Family Law Specialist, a credential earned through examination and peer review.
She is also a Certified Family Financial Mediator, recognized as Legal Elite by Business North Carolina and a Super Lawyers Rising Star by Thomson Reuters. That background shows most in contested custody cases and in divorces with complicated finances, where the details decide the outcome.
Our Compassionate Family Law Attorneys
Client Testimonials
“Highly recommend Jordan and her team! She has been responsive and informative throughout the entire process. Her professionalism and demeanor are unmatched. I am so very grateful to have worked with her during the most difficult experience.” — Mandy D.
“Mrs. Bragg is a brave, strong and intelligent attorney who stands her ground for her client and she doesn’t back down in the face of the opposing counsel. Also within her brave, strong and intelligent armor lies compassion as well. However don’t mistake her compassion as weakness as I have been witness to her keen ability to wittingly maneuver her skills against a lying opponent. Mrs. Bragg is keen, yet patient, in her legal knowledge and her professional skill in handling each case with care. Not to mention that I’ve experienced nothing but kind professionalism from the entire staff at Leitner, Bragg & Griffin. Thank you Ellen Bragg, I appreciate you and your legal counsel.” — Holly S.
What Does a North Carolina Family Law Attorney Do?
A North Carolina family law attorney handles the legal side of the changes a family goes through, from ending a marriage to dividing property to protecting a parent’s time with a child. One matter often touches several others, which is why the same firm usually handles the full range.
Our family law attorneys handle:
- Divorce and legal separation
- Child custody and visitation
- Child support
- Alimony and post-separation support
- Property division and equitable distribution
- Adoption
- Grandparents’ rights
- Separation and marital agreements
- Mediation
Because these matters overlap, an attorney can consider all aspects, from the parenting schedule to the retirement accounts, and determine the order in which each claim is raised. The wider firm can also handle the estate or business questions a family case often brings up.
How Does Divorce Work in North Carolina?
Getting divorced in North Carolina starts with time apart. The state grants an absolute divorce once spouses have lived separate and apart for one year, and one spouse must have lived in North Carolina for at least six months before filing. The controlling statute is N.C. Gen. Stat. § 50-6.
North Carolina is a no-fault state for this ground, so neither spouse has to prove wrongdoing to end the marriage. The one-year separation is the requirement that controls the timeline.
An absolute divorce ends the marriage, but on its own it does not divide property or set support. Two claims in particular come with an early deadline that is easy to miss. Alimony and equitable distribution must be raised before the absolute divorce is granted, or the right to pursue them can be permanently waived and cannot be reopened later.
The timeline depends on whether the divorce is contested. An uncontested absolute divorce is often finalized about 30 to 60 days after filing. A contested case, or one with unresolved property and support claims, can run considerably longer.
Many couples settle property, support, and custody terms in a separation agreement during the year apart, which can make the divorce itself straightforward.
How Do North Carolina Courts Decide Child Custody and Support?
North Carolina courts decide custody on one standard: the best interest of the child. Judges weigh factors such as each parent’s relationship with the child, stability, and the safety of everyone involved, and the analysis is set out in N.C. Gen. Stat. § 50-13.2.
Custody usually breaks into two parts. Legal custody covers major decisions about health, education, and welfare, and physical custody covers where the child lives and the day-to-day schedule.
Unlike divorce, child custody and child support are separate claims that can be filed at any time, with no one-year wait. Child support is set by the North Carolina Child Support Guidelines, which use both parents’ incomes, the custody schedule, and the cost of health insurance and childcare.
When each parent has the child for at least 123 overnights a year, a shared-custody formula applies, which can change the amount. The current figures are published in the North Carolina Child Support Guidelines.
When a child faces immediate danger, a parent can ask for emergency custody. Under N.C. Gen. Stat. § 50-13.5(d)(3), a court can enter an emergency order before the other parent is served only when it finds one of three things:
- The child is exposed to a substantial risk of bodily injury.
- The child is exposed to a substantial risk of sexual abuse.
- There is a substantial risk the child will be abducted or removed from North Carolina to avoid the state’s courts.
These orders are temporary and are followed by a full hearing, so an attorney can move quickly to file the request and then build the case for the longer-term arrangement.
Grandparents’ rights to visitation also exist in North Carolina, but only in narrow situations. A grandparent may seek visitation within an existing custody order under § 50-13.2(b1), and a biological grandparent may seek it after a stepparent or relative adoption under § 50-13.2A. Both routes depend on the specific facts of the family, so a grandparents’ rights claim starts with a close look at how the family is structured.
How Is Property Divided and Alimony Decided in North Carolina?
North Carolina divides marital and divisible property through equitable distribution. The law presumes an equal split is fair, but a judge can adjust it based on statutory factors such as each spouse’s income, the length of the marriage, and each spouse’s contributions to the home and to the other’s career. The framework is set out in N.C. Gen. Stat. § 50-20.
Alimony depends on three things: whether one spouse is financially dependent, whether the other can pay, and the conduct of both during the marriage. Under N.C. Gen. Stat. § 50-16.3A, marital misconduct can decide the question, and illicit sexual behavior committed before or on the date of separation is treated in three specific ways:
- If the dependent spouse committed it, alimony is barred.
- If the supporting spouse committed it, alimony is required.
- If both spouses committed it, the court decides based on all the circumstances.
Post-separation support is the temporary version, paid while the case is pending, and a final alimony award can follow. An attorney can assess the value of the property and support claims and present each one in the proper order.
Talk Through Your Family Law Options With Leitner, Bragg & Griffin
A family law matter reaches into the parts of life you most want to protect: your children, your home, and your financial footing. Claims for property division and alimony can be permanently waived if they are not raised before the divorce is final, and custody and support questions are often easier to address early than to undo later.
A family law attorney at our firm can review your situation, explain the North Carolina rules that apply, and walk you through the filings and negotiations so you can decide your next step with a clear picture of where your case stands.
To schedule a consultation, call 704-271-9805 in the Greater Charlotte area or 919-352-9140 in Raleigh and the Triangle, or contact our office. We answer the phone 24 hours a day, so you can reach us when the question cannot wait until morning.
Written By Tee Leitner
Tee Leitner received his undergraduate degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and received his Juris Doctrate Degree from the University of Mississippi School of Law. Tee spent time in Private Practice and at the Union County District Attorney’s Office as an Assistant District Attorney. Tee founded Leitner Bragg and Griffin in 2016.
