N.C. Gen. Stat. » Chapter 8
NC General Statutes

N.C. Gen. Stat. § 8-57.1 (2026)

Husband-wife privilege waived in child abuse

✓ current as of July 2026
Find cases: SyfertCases citing this section NCLEGncleg.gov (official) JustiaChapter 8 CornellLII Search CasesGoogle Scholar

Notwithstanding the provisions of G.S. 8-56 and G.S. 8-57, the husband-wife privilege shall not be ground for excluding evidence regarding the abuse or neglect of a child under the age of 16 years or regarding an illness of or injuries to such child or the cause thereof in any judicial proceeding related to a report pursuant to the Child Abuse Reporting Law, Article 3 of Chapter 7B of the General Statutes of North Carolina. (1971, c. 710, s. 3; 1998-202, s. 13(d).)

 

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 3 cases (1 in the last 5 years), 1992–2025 · leading case: State v. Godbey, 792 S.E.2d 820 (N.C. Ct. App. 2016).
Sort: Relevance Newest Treatment
State v. Godbey, 792 S.E.2d 820 (N.C. Ct. App. 2016). · cites it 74× “*424 Where N.C. Gen. Stat. § 8-57.1 is applicable in any judicial proceeding in which the abuse of a child is in issue, the trial court did not err in applying section 8-57.”
State v. Holmes, 412 S.E.2d 660 (N.C. 1992). · cites it 8× “Section 8-57.1 provides that notwithstanding the provisions of sections 8-56 and 8-57, "the husband-wife privilege shall not be ground for excluding evidence [under certain circumstances relating to the abuse or neglect of a child under the age of *665 sixteen years].”
In Re E.H. & R.H. (N.C. 2025). · cites it 3× “”); N.C.G.S. § 8-57.1 (The “husband‑wife privilege shall not be ground for excluding evidence regarding the abuse or neglect of a child” in these juvenile proceedings.”
Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.