N.C. Gen. Stat. » Chapter 50
NC General Statutes

N.C. Gen. Stat. § 50-8 (2026)

Contents of complaint; verification; venue and service in action by nonresident; certain divorces validated

✓ current as of July 2026
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In all actions for divorce the complaint shall be verified in accordance with the provisions of Rule 11 of the Rules of Civil Procedure and G.S. 1-148. The plaintiff shall set forth in his or her complaint that the complainant or defendant has been a resident of the State of North Carolina for at least six months next preceding the filing of the complaint, and that the facts set forth therein as grounds for divorce, except in actions for divorce from bed and board, have existed to his or her knowledge for at least six months prior to the filing of the complaint: Provided, however, that if the cause for divorce is one-year separation, then it shall not be necessary to allege in the complaint that the grounds for divorce have existed for at least six months prior to the filing of the complaint; it being the purpose of this proviso to permit a divorce after such separation of one year without awaiting an additional six months for filing the complaint: Provided, further, that if the complainant is a nonresident of the State action shall be brought in the county of the defendant's residence, and summons served upon the defendant personally or service of summons accepted by the defendant personally in the manner provided in G.S. 1A-1, Rule 4(j)(1). Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, any suit or action for divorce heretofore instituted by a nonresident of this State in which the defendant was personally served with summons or in which the defendant personally accepted service of the summons and the case was tried and final judgment entered in a court of this State in a county other than the county of the defendant's residence, is hereby validated and declared to be legal and proper, the same as if the suit or action for divorce had been brought in the county of the defendant's residence.

In all divorce actions the complaint shall set forth the name and age of any minor child or children of the marriage, and in the event there are no minor children of the marriage, the complaint shall so state.

In all prior suits and actions for divorce heretofore instituted and tried in the courts of this State where the averments of fact required to be contained in the affidavit heretofore required by this section are or have been alleged and set forth in the complaint in said suits or actions and said complaints have been duly verified as required by Rule 11 of the Rules of Civil Procedure, said allegations so contained in said complaints shall be deemed to be, and are hereby made, a substantial compliance as to the allegations heretofore required by this section to be set forth in any affidavit; and all such suits or actions for divorce, as well as the judgments or decrees issued and entered as a result thereof, are hereby validated and declared to be legal and proper judgments and decrees of divorce.

In all suits and actions for divorce heretofore instituted and tried in this State on and subsequent to the 5th day of April, 1951, wherein the statements, averments, or allegations in the verification to the complaint in said suits or actions are not in accordance with the provisions of Rule 11 of the Rules of Civil Procedure and G.S. 1-148 or the requirements of this section as to verification of complaint or the allegations, statements or averments in the verification contain the language that the facts set forth in the complaint are true "to the best of affiant's knowledge and belief" instead of the language "that the same is true to his (or her) own knowledge" or similar variation in language, said allegations, statements and averments in said verifications as contained in or attached to said complaint shall be deemed to be, and are hereby made, a substantial compliance as to the allegations, averments or statements required by this section to be set forth in any such verifications; and all such suits or actions for divorce, as well as the judgments or decrees issued and entered as a result thereof, are hereby validated and declared to be legal and proper judgments and decrees of divorce. (1868-9, c. 93, s. 46; 1869-70, c. 184; Code, s. 1287; Rev., s. 1563; 1907, c. 1008, s. 1; C.S., s. 1661; 1925, c. 93; 1933, c. 71, ss. 2, 3; 1943, c. 448, s. 1; 1947, c. 165; 1949, c. 264, s. 4; 1951, c. 590; 1955, c. 103; 1965, c. 636, s. 3; c. 751, s. 1; 1967, c. 50; c. 954, s. 3; 1969, c. 803; 1971, c. 415; 1973, c. 39; 1981, c. 599, s. 15; 1997-433, s. 4.3; 1998-17, s. 1; 2013-93, s. 1.)

 

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 41 cases (1 in the last 5 years), 1945–2023 · leading case: In re T.R.P., 636 S.E.2d 787 (N.C. 2006).
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In re T.R.P., 636 S.E.2d 787 (N.C. 2006). · cites it 7× “Faced with similar language pertaining to divorce proceedings, see N.C.G.S. § 50-8 (2005) (“In all actions for divorce the complaint shall be verified in accordance with the provisions of Rule 11 of the Rules of Civil Procedure and G.”
Carpenter v. Carpenter, 93 S.E.2d 617 (N.C. 1956). · cites it 36× “Ellis, supra; that the filing of the affidavit required by G.S. § 50-8 is a prerequisite to jurisdiction; and that, if an essential averment therein is sufficient on its face but false in fact, even though it relates solely to the alleged cause for divorce, such falsity destroys…”
Eudy v. Eudy, 215 S.E.2d 782 (N.C. 1975). · cites it 7× “G.S. 50-8, in part, provides that in all actions for divorce plaintiff shall set forth in his or her complaint that complainant or defendant has been a resident of the State of North Carolina for at least six months next preceding filing of the complaint.”
Boyd v. Boyd, 300 S.E.2d 569 (N.C. Ct. App. 1983). · cites it 6× “G.S. 50-8 states in part: “In all actions for divorce the complaint shall be verified in accordance with the provisions of Rule 11 of the Rules of Civil Procedure and G.”
Brooks v. Brooks, 418 S.E.2d 534 (N.C. Ct. App. 1992). · cites it 6× “N.C.G.S. § 50-8 (1987). Nevertheless, jurisdiction over custody and support of a minor child does not necessarily "`automatically become a concomitant of a divorce action and vest in th[e] *538 court a continuing and exclusive jurisdiction to determine [these] matters.”
Matter of Triscari Child., 426 S.E.2d 435 (N.C. Ct. App. 1993). · cites it 2× “Actions for divorce also require a verified complaint, see N.C. Gen. Stat. § 50-8 (1987), and in such an action, verification is mandatory for jurisdiction.”
Pruett v. Pruett, 100 S.E.2d 296 (N.C. 1957). · cites it 4× “590, 1951 Session Laws, rewrote G.S. 50-8. Prior to the 1951 Act, the court acquired no jurisdiction of an action for divorce, absolute or from bed and board, unless the plaintiff filed with the complaint an affidavit containing required statutory averments.”
In Re Trp, 636 S.E.2d 787 (N.C. 2006). · cites it 7× “We must acknowledge that such a strategy is possible in any case where a court lacks subject matter jurisdiction. Nevertheless, we believe the unambiguous statutory language mandates our holding.”
Powers v. Parisher, 409 S.E.2d 725 (N.C. Ct. App. 1991). · cites it 3× “Allegations of the names and ages of any children of a party seeking divorce in North Carolina are required by N.C.G.S. § 50-8, in order that the court may protect the interests of such children if the parties have failed to do so.”
State v. Mills, 754 S.E.2d 674 (N.C. Ct. App. 2014). · cites it 2× “§ 50-3, which states that summons for divorce proceedings shall be returnable to the court of the county in which either plaintiff or defendant resides, and G.S. § 50-8, which states that a complainant who is a nonresident of this State shall bring any divorce action in the…”
Allred v. Tucci, 354 S.E.2d 291 (N.C. Ct. App. 1987). “and no judgment shall be given in favor of the plaintiff in any such complaint until such facts have been found by a judge or jury.”
Pratt v. Bishop, 126 S.E.2d 597 (N.C. 1962). “The adoption statute does not place the allegation with reference to abandonment in the same category as the divorce statute, G.S. 50-8, places the allegation of residence and knowledge of the grounds of divorce.”
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