How to Complete and File Form AOC-CV-634: NC Motion to Modify Custody

To file Form AOC-CV-634 in North Carolina, complete the Motion To Modify Custody using the caption and file number from your existing custody order, describe the substantial change in circumstances and how it affects your child, and file the original plus at least two copies with the Clerk of Superior Court in the county that entered the original order. You then have to serve the other parent and, in most cases, attend custody mediation before the court will schedule a hearing.

Get the Right Form

The form is AOC-CV-634, “Motion To Modify Custody,” available free on the North Carolina Judicial Branch website and at any clerk’s office in English, Spanish, and Vietnamese.¹

Do not confuse it with Form AOC-CV-600, which modifies child support rather than custody or visitation.² Filing the wrong form will delay your case and could result in outright dismissal.

Depending on your circumstances, you may need to file additional forms alongside AOC-CV-634:

AOC-CV-632, Motion and Order To Waive Custody Mediation, if domestic violence or another safety concern makes mediation inappropriate.³
AOC-G-106, Petition To Proceed As An Indigent, if you cannot afford the filing fee.⁴

Some judicial districts also require a local coversheet or scheduling form. Call the clerk’s office in the county where you plan to file before you make the trip.

Fill Out the Form

Start at the top with the case caption. Enter the county where the original custody case was filed, the file number from the existing order, and the full legal names of both parties as plaintiff and defendant, exactly as they appear on the original caption. A mismatched case number or misspelled name can prevent the clerk from linking your motion to the existing file.

The body of the form is a narrative section where you explain what has changed and why the current order no longer works for your child. Write in plain, factual language. Judges read dozens of these and skim emotional appeals that lack concrete facts. Focus on three things:

What changed. Identify each new circumstance that has arisen since the last order, with approximate dates.
How it affects the child. Tie each change directly to the child’s well-being. A parent’s relocation matters because it disrupts the child’s school schedule, not because it inconveniences the other parent.
What you want. State the specific custody arrangement you’re asking the court to order. Vague requests like “more time” give the judge nothing to work with.

If you run out of space, attach additional pages. Label each attachment with the case number, your name, and “Attachment to AOC-CV-634.” Chronological order works well for most narratives.

What You Have To Prove

North Carolina law allows a court to modify a custody order “at any time, upon motion in the cause and a showing of changed circumstances.”⁵ Courts interpret this as requiring a substantial change, not just any difference from the time the last order was signed.⁶ You also have to show that the change affects the child in a way that makes the existing order inadequate for the child’s best interests. Motions often fail because filers address one half of that standard and skip the other.

Circumstances that typically satisfy the standard include a parent’s relocation, a serious decline in a parent’s physical or mental health, substance abuse, changing educational or medical needs, or domestic violence. A new job or a new partner, by itself, usually will not be enough unless the change directly and meaningfully impacts the child’s daily life. The more specific and documented your examples, the stronger your motion.

File the Motion

File the completed motion with the Clerk of Superior Court in the county that entered the original custody order. Bring the original and at least two copies. The clerk stamps all copies, keeps the original for the court file, and returns the extras to you: one for your records, one for serving the other parent.

The clerk will charge a filing fee. The exact amount depends on the current civil court costs set by the General Assembly, which are updated periodically.⁷ Ask the clerk for the current amount before your trip and bring cash or a money order if the office does not accept cards. If you cannot afford the fee, file Form AOC-G-106 at the same time; the court can waive costs for qualifying filers.⁴

North Carolina courts also accept electronic filing through the state’s File & Serve system.⁸ Not all counties have implemented e-filing for every case type, so confirm with the clerk that your county accepts e-filed custody motions before relying on it.

Serve the Other Parent

The other parent must receive a copy of the filed motion before the court can act on it. Because a custody modification is a motion within an existing case, service generally follows Rule 5 of the North Carolina Rules of Civil Procedure, which governs papers filed after the original complaint.⁹ You have two main options:

Sheriff’s office. Take or mail the documents to the sheriff in the county where the other parent lives. The statutory fee for serving a single item of civil process is $30.00.¹⁰
Certified mail. Send the documents by certified mail, return receipt requested, to the other parent’s home. The signed return receipt card is your proof of delivery.¹¹

If the other parent never appeared in the original case or has defaulted, you may need the more formal service methods under Rule 4, which require personal delivery by the sheriff or another authorized person.¹² Ask the clerk which method your situation requires. Defective service is one of the most common reasons motions stall.

Expect Mandatory Custody Mediation

Once you file a contested custody modification, the court will send the case to mediation before it schedules a hearing. Mediation is required by statute for all contested custody and visitation issues, including modification motions.¹³ The program has two mandatory steps: an orientation class and at least one session with a neutral mediator.¹⁴

The mediator does not decide your case. Their job is to help both parents work toward a revised parenting plan without a judge getting involved. If you reach an agreement, it becomes a consent order for the judge to sign. Sessions are confidential, and statements made during mediation cannot be used against you later in court.

Waiving Mediation for Safety Reasons

The court can waive mediation for good cause. Recognized grounds include allegations of domestic violence between the parents, alcoholism, drug abuse, or severe psychological or emotional problems.¹³ File Form AOC-CV-632 with your modification motion or any time before mediation begins.³ Attach a copy of any domestic violence protective order. The waiver is at the judge’s discretion.

The Hearing

If mediation does not resolve the dispute, the case goes to a hearing before a district court judge. You request a hearing date through the clerk’s office or the judge’s scheduling assistant. Family court calendars in many counties are crowded, and it can take several months from filing to hearing, especially in larger districts.

The judge evaluates two questions in order. First, have circumstances substantially changed since the last order? If you cannot clear that threshold, the judge stops there and denies the motion. Second, what custody arrangement now serves the child’s best interests?

For best interests, the statute specifically requires judges to weigh domestic violence between the parents, the safety of the child, and the safety of either parent from domestic violence by the other, and to issue written findings reflecting consideration of each factor.¹⁵ Judges also routinely look at each parent’s ability to provide a stable home, the child’s existing relationship with each parent, the child’s adjustment to school and community, and each parent’s willingness to support the child’s relationship with the other parent.

Bring organized evidence: school records, medical records, communication logs, and any documentation supporting the changes you described in the motion. Witnesses who can speak to the child’s circumstances are valuable, but keep the list focused. Calling a dozen character witnesses who all say the same thing will not persuade the judge.

Emergencies Follow a Different Track

If your child faces immediate danger, you do not have to wait for the standard mediation-then-hearing timeline. North Carolina allows courts to enter temporary custody orders that change a child’s living arrangements without first serving the other parent, but only when the child faces a substantial risk of bodily injury, sexual abuse, or abduction from the state.¹⁶ Outside those narrow circumstances, a temporary order changing custody cannot be entered without notice to the other parent and a chance to respond. Emergency orders are temporary; the court will schedule a full hearing quickly to decide whether the arrangement should continue.

If a Parent Lives Out of State

Confirm North Carolina still has jurisdiction before you invest time in the form. Under the Uniform Child-Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act, adopted as Chapter 50A of the General Statutes, the state that issued the original order keeps exclusive jurisdiction to modify it as long as at least one parent or the child still lives there.¹⁷¹⁸ If everyone has left the state, North Carolina loses modification jurisdiction and the child’s new home state, where the child has lived at least six consecutive months, takes over. A North Carolina court can also decline jurisdiction if it decides another state is a more convenient forum.

Military Parents

Federal law protects servicemembers in custody modification proceedings. Under the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act, an active-duty parent whose military service prevents court attendance can request a stay of at least 90 days. The request must include a written statement of why the servicemember cannot appear, a date they will be available, and a letter from their commanding officer confirming that military duty prevents attendance and that leave is not authorized.

Separately, 50 U.S.C. § 3938 prohibits courts from using a parent’s deployment as the sole basis for modifying custody, and any temporary order based solely on deployment must expire no later than the period justified by that deployment.¹⁹ North Carolina’s own statute mirrors this protection: a court may not consider past or possible future deployment as the only factor in a best-interests determination.¹⁵

1
North Carolina Judicial Branch. Motion To Modify Custody
2
North Carolina Judicial Branch. Motion and Notice of Hearing for Modification of Child Support Order
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North Carolina Judicial Branch. Motion and Order To Waive Custody Mediation
4
North Carolina Judicial Branch. Petition To Proceed As An Indigent
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North Carolina General Assembly. North Carolina Code 50-13.7 – Modification of Order for Child Support or Custody
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North Carolina Judicial Branch. Child Custody
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North Carolina Judicial Branch. Current Court Costs
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North Carolina Judicial Branch. Services
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North Carolina General Assembly. North Carolina Code 1A-1, Rule 5 – Service and Filing of Pleadings and Other Papers
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North Carolina General Assembly. North Carolina Code 7A-311 – Uniform Civil Process Fees
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North Carolina Judicial Branch. Rule 4 – How Do I Serve the Other Party With My Summons and Complaint
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North Carolina General Assembly. North Carolina Code 1A-1, Rule 4 – Process
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North Carolina General Assembly. North Carolina Code 50-13.1 – Action or Proceeding for Custody of Minor Child
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North Carolina Judicial Branch. Child Custody and Visitation Mediation Program
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North Carolina General Assembly. North Carolina Code 50-13.2 – Best Interests of the Child
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North Carolina General Assembly. North Carolina Code 50-13.5 – Procedure in Actions for Custody or Support of Minor Children
17
North Carolina General Assembly. North Carolina Code Chapter 50A – Uniform Child-Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act
18
Office of Justice Programs. The Uniform Child-Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act
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Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 50 USC 3938 – Child Custody Protection