Modifying support orders in North Carolina
There may be North Carolina residents who can benefit from understanding more about the laws governing alimony. According to state statute, an alimony order may be modified if either party can show a significant change in circumstances. Once the recipient is determined to be engaged in cohabitation or has remarried, the support order is terminated. Ultimately, the support order is discontinued once either party has died.
Cohabitation may be described as two adults living together habitually and continuously in a private heterosexual or homosexual relationship. Even without an official marriage, cohabitation may exist once the couple mutually adopts the duties, obligations, rights and intimate relations realized by married spouses. Once North Carolina assumes jurisdiction over an alimony order issued in another state, the new order supersedes any existing order, and be modified if there has been a significant change in circumstances.
In order to change the jurisdiction from another state to North Carolina, civil action may be required. A new order will be entered in the local judicial system, and it will either supersede or modify the previous order if changes in the family’s dynamic warrants as much. The new order will only be modified to the extent that it would have been in the state where the order originated.
People who need more information about modifying an existing divorce order may benefit from consulting a divorce lawyer who has experience in family law matters. Legal counsel may be prepared to review the current circumstances of each party and the existing order in an effort to help determine whether or not a modification is warranted.