Terms Used In North Carolina General Statutes 50-16.7

  • Alimony: means an order for payment for the support and maintenance of a spouse or former spouse, periodically or in a lump sum, for a specified or for an indefinite term, ordered in an action for divorce, whether absolute or from bed and board, or in an action for alimony without divorce. See North Carolina General Statutes 50-16.1A
  • Appeal: A request made after a trial, asking another court (usually the court of appeals) to decide whether the trial was conducted properly. To make such a request is "to appeal" or "to take an appeal." One who appeals is called the appellant.
  • Appellate: About appeals; an appellate court has the power to review the judgement of another lower court or tribunal.
  • Arrest: Taking physical custody of a person by lawful authority.
  • Attachment: A procedure by which a person's property is seized to pay judgments levied by the court.
  • Bail: Security given for the release of a criminal defendant or witness from legal custody (usually in the form of money) to secure his/her appearance on the day and time appointed.
  • Clerk of court: An officer appointed by the court to work with the chief judge in overseeing the court's administration, especially to assist in managing the flow of cases through the court and to maintain court records.
  • Deed: The legal instrument used to transfer title in real property from one person to another.
  • Dependent: A person dependent for support upon another.
  • Dependent spouse: means a spouse, whether husband or wife, who is actually substantially dependent upon the other spouse for his or her maintenance and support or is substantially in need of maintenance and support from the other spouse. See North Carolina General Statutes 50-16.1A
  • Garnishment: Generally, garnishment is a court proceeding in which a creditor asks a court to order a third party who owes money to the debtor or otherwise holds assets belonging to the debtor to turn over to the creditor any of the debtor
  • Injunction: An order of the court prohibiting (or compelling) the performance of a specific act to prevent irreparable damage or injury.
  • Lien: A claim against real or personal property in satisfaction of a debt.
  • Mortgage: The written agreement pledging property to a creditor as collateral for a loan.
  • Obligation: An order placed, contract awarded, service received, or similar transaction during a given period that will require payments during the same or a future period.
  • Payor: means any payor, including any federal, State, or local governmental unit, of disposable income to an obligor. See North Carolina General Statutes 50-16.1A
  • Personal property: All property that is not real property.
  • personal property: shall include moneys, goods, chattels, choses in action and evidences of debt, including all things capable of ownership, not descendable to heirs at law. See North Carolina General Statutes 12-3
  • Postseparation support: means spousal support to be paid until the earlier of any of the following:

    a. See North Carolina General Statutes 50-16.1A

  • property: shall include all property, both real and personal. See North Carolina General Statutes 12-3
  • Real property: Land, and all immovable fixtures erected on, growing on, or affixed to the land.
  • state: when applied to the different parts of the United States, shall be construed to extend to and include the District of Columbia and the several territories, so called; and the words "United States" shall be construed to include the said district and territories and all dependencies. See North Carolina General Statutes 12-3
  • Supporting spouse: means a spouse, whether husband or wife, upon whom the other spouse is actually substantially dependent for maintenance and support or from whom such spouse is substantially in need of maintenance and support. See North Carolina General Statutes 50-16.1A
  • Trial: A hearing that takes place when the defendant pleads "not guilty" and witnesses are required to come to court to give evidence.

(a) Alimony or postseparation support shall be paid by lump sum payment, periodic payments, income withholding, or by transfer of title or possession of personal property or any interest therein, or a security interest in or possession of real property, as the court may order. The court may order the transfer of title to real property solely owned by the obligor in payment of lump-sum payments of alimony or postseparation support or in payment of arrearages of alimony or postseparation support so long as the net value of the interest in the property being transferred does not exceed the amount of the arrearage being satisfied. In every case in which either alimony or postseparation support is allowed and provision is also made for support of minor children, the order shall separately state and identify each allowance.

(b) The court may require the supporting spouse to secure the payment of alimony or postseparation support so ordered by means of a bond, mortgage, or deed of trust, or any other means ordinarily used to secure an obligation to pay money or transfer property, or by requiring the supporting spouse to execute an assignment of wages, salary, or other income due or to become due.

(c) If the court requires the transfer of real or personal property or an interest therein as a part of an order for alimony or postseparation support as provided in subsection (a) or for the securing thereof, the court may also enter an order which shall transfer title, as provided in N.C. Gen. Stat. § 1A-1, Rule 70 and N.C. Gen. Stat. § 1-228

(d) The remedy of arrest and bail, as provided in Article 34 of Chapter 1 of the N.C. Gen. Stat., shall be available in actions for alimony or postseparation support as in other cases.

(e) The remedies of attachment and garnishment, as provided in Article 35 of Chapter 1 and Article 9 of Chapter 110 of the N.C. Gen. Stat., shall be available in actions for alimony or postseparation support as in other cases, and for such purposes the dependent spouse shall be deemed a creditor of the supporting spouse.

(f) The remedy of injunction, as provided in Article 37 of Chapter 1 of the N.C. Gen. Stat. and N.C. Gen. Stat. § 1A-1, Rule 65, shall be available in actions for alimony or postseparation support as in other cases.

(g) Receivers, as provided in Article 38 of Chapter 1 of the N.C. Gen. Stat., may be appointed in actions for alimony or postseparation support as in other cases.

(h) A dependent spouse for whose benefit an order for the payment of alimony or postseparation support has been entered shall be a creditor within the meaning of Article 3A of Chapter 39 of the N.C. Gen. Stat. pertaining to voidable transactions.

(i) A judgment for alimony or postseparation support obtained in an action therefor shall not be a lien against real property unless the judgment expressly so provides, sets out the amount of the lien in a sum certain, and adequately describes the real property affected; but past-due periodic payments may by motion in the cause or by a separate action be reduced to judgment which shall be a lien as other judgments.

(j) Any order for the payment of alimony or postseparation support is enforceable by proceedings for civil contempt, and its disobedience may be punished by proceedings for criminal contempt, as provided in Chapter 5A of the N.C. Gen. Stat..

Notwithstanding the provisions of N.C. Gen. Stat. § 1-294 or N.C. Gen. Stat. § 1-289, an order for the periodic payment of alimony that has been appealed to the appellate division is enforceable in the trial court by proceedings for civil contempt during the pendency of the appeal. Upon motion of an aggrieved party, the court of the appellate division in which the appeal is pending may stay any order for civil contempt entered for alimony until the appeal is decided if justice requires.

(k) The remedies provided by Chapter 1 of the N.C. Gen. Stat. Article 28, Execution; Article 29B, Execution Sales; and Article 31, Supplemental Proceedings, shall be available for the enforcement of judgments for alimony and postseparation support as in other cases, but amounts so payable shall not constitute a debt as to which property is exempt from execution as provided in Article 16 of Chapter 1C of the N.C. Gen. Stat..

(l) The specific enumeration of remedies in this section shall not constitute a bar to remedies otherwise available.

(l1) The dependent spouse may apply to the court for an order of income withholding for current or delinquent payments of alimony or postseparation support or for any portion of the payments. If the court orders income withholding, a notice of obligation to withhold shall be served on the payor as required by N.C. Gen. Stat. § 1A-1, Rule 4, Rules of Civil Procedure. Copies of the notice shall be filed with the clerk of court and served upon the supporting spouse by first-class mail. (1967, c. 1152, s. 2; 1969, c. 541, s. 5; c. 895, s. 18; 1977, c. 711, s. 26; 1985, c. 482, s. 1; c. 689, s. 18; 1995 c. 319, s. 5; 1998-176, ss. 2, 3; 1999-456, s. 14; 2015-23, s. 3.)

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