Wake County Courthouse

Wake County Courthouse
Address:	Attn: Civil Court Clerk PO Box 351 Raleigh, NC 27602
Divorce by Clerk?	Yes, this county complies with the divorce by clerk statute 50-10(e)
Local Rules	Wake County Family Court Rules

The Wake County Courthouse may be where your divorce disputes are litigated if at least one of the spouses live in Wake County. Like most North Carolina courts, the Wake courthouse has a lot of rules, deadlines, forms, and procedures that are specific to that courthouse. This courthouse's local rules and forms can be found here. However, most spouses will not end up using all 100+ forms or need to read all 57 pages of the family court rules. This wiki will summarize the rules and forms are applicable to a large number of Wake cases.

Directions

Parking for the Wake County Courthouse is a couple blocks away from the courthouse itself at 216 W. Cabarrus Street. From there, you'll need to walk a couple blocks over to the courthouse at 316 Fayetteville St, Raleigh, NC 27601. Make sure you enter the civil courthouse, not the "Justice Center" across the street. The justice center is for criminal court. The clerk's office is on the first floor on the right-hand side as you enter from the Fayetteville Street entrance. However, if you're coming from the parking structure, you will likely enter from the S. Salisbury entrance. From there, you'll need to take the elevator up one floor and the clerk's office will be on the left, just before the security entrance.

Local Forms

• Judicial Assignment: The "Affidavit of Judicial Assignment" (Form Wake-DOM-02) is required in most new lawsuits, except for simple, uncontested divorces and certain emergencies.
• Custody: When filing a new custody claim:
  • A "Custody Mediation Cover Sheet" (Form WAKE-DOM-06) is required with the initial filings.
  • An "Order to Attend Child Custody Mediation and Orientation" (Form WAKE-DOM-07A) must be served on the opposing spouse.
• Alimony or Child Support
  • A "Financial Affidavit" (Form WAKE-DOM-10) is due within 30 days by the party asserting a support claim. The other spouse must serve theirs within 45 days of being served the claim, or 15 days before a hearing date, whichever comes first.
  • When filing an alimony claim, you are also required to serve a blank "Financial Affidavit" (Form WAKE-DOM-10) on your spouse or their attorney and a "Notice of Financial Information Required" (WAKE-DOM-11)
  • A "Certification of Initial Disclosures" (Form 17A) is due within 15 days by the party claiming support and within 25 days by the other spouse

Financial Disclosures

Child Support or Alimony

In a child support or alimony case, you are required to make the following financial disclosures without waiting for any request from the other party:

• 2 years of tax returns
• 3 months of pay stubs
• Documentation for each line of the child support worksheet if applicable
• Documentation related to current stock or stock options
• Check the local rules for more information if one spouse is self-employed or a spouse is seeking an exception to the general formula used to calculate child support.

Equitable Distribution

• "Equitable Distribution Inventory Affidavit" (Form WAKE-DOM-19)

Hearings

Scheduling a Hearing

• File a motion
• Contact the family case coordinator to get penciled in for a date
• Attempt to consult the opposing counsel or spouse about their availability for that date
• Within one week file and serve a "Calendar Request" (Form WAKE-DOM-94) and a "Notice of Hearing" (Form WAKE-DOM-01)
• The morning of the hearing, you'll need to attend a "Calendar Call" at 9:00 a.m. in the assigned courtroom. This is where the court makes sure everyone is there and the hearing is ready to proceed.

At an interim hearing, each spouse must provide any initial affidavits 10 days before the hearings, or 5 days for an affidavit that is in response to the other spouse's affidavit.

Divorce

The Wake County Courthouse complies with § 50-10(e) in allowing divorce by clerk for simple, uncontested cases. When a divorce is done before a judge, it is scheduled on Fridays in courtroom 2b at 9:00 a.m. for divorces done by an attorney and starting at 10:00 a.m. for pro se divorces.

Contact an Attorney

This wiki is provided by North Carolina divorce lawyer David King and his firm King @ Law. You can learn more about King @ Law at www.kinglawnc.com. If you are looking to hire an attorney, have questions, or would like to contribute to this wiki, you can contact attorney King using any of the following methods:

• Schedule a Consultation
• Start a Facebook Chat
• Email: david@kinglawnc.com
• Voicemail: 919 706 5322