How to Complete and File the NC Notice of Voluntary Dismissal (AOC-CV-405)

North Carolina’s Notice of Voluntary Dismissal, form AOC-CV-405, is the one-page document a plaintiff files to end a civil case on their own initiative. Download the current version from the North Carolina Judicial Branch website, complete the case information, check whether the dismissal is with or without prejudice, and file it with the Clerk of Superior Court in the county where the case is pending. It works for Small Claims, District Court, and Superior Court matters, and it takes effect the moment the clerk stamps it. No judge has to sign.

When You Can Still File It

You can file a voluntary dismissal at any time before you rest your case at trial. The window stays open through discovery, through pretrial motions, and even after a summary judgment motion has been filed against you. The cutoff is the moment you finish presenting your evidence to the judge or jury.¹

Once you’ve rested, this form is no longer available to you. Dismissal then requires a stipulation signed by every party or a court order under Rule 41(a)(2), and a judge can attach conditions, including payment of the defendant’s attorney fees or a bar on refiling.¹ If you’re thinking about dismissing, do it before trial starts rather than hoping to pull the plug mid-trial.

How to Fill Out the Form

Every field on AOC-CV-405 maps to information already in your case file. Keep your original complaint or summons next to you while you work through it.

County. The North Carolina county where the case was filed.
File number. The case number the clerk’s office assigned when you filed the complaint.
Court division. Check the box for Small Claims, District Court, or Superior Court.²
Plaintiff and defendant names. Use the full names exactly as they appear in the original filings.
Dismissal type. Check either “with prejudice” or “without prejudice.”
Signature block. Sign, print your name, and add your address and phone number. If an attorney is handling the case, the attorney signs.

You can dismiss the whole action against every defendant, or dismiss as to specific defendants while the case continues against the others. If you’re dropping only certain defendants, write their names clearly on the form. Dropping two defendants in one filing counts as a single dismissal of the action, not two, which matters if you ever face the two-dismissal rule described below.

With Prejudice or Without Prejudice

This single checkbox is the most consequential choice on the form.

Without prejudice ends the case for now but keeps your right to refile. You get a one-year window to bring the same claim again, even if the original statute of limitations expires in the meantime.³ Plaintiffs choose this when they need more time to gather evidence, when settlement talks look promising, or when something about the case has changed temporarily.

With prejudice ends the case permanently. The court treats it as a final judgment on the merits, and you cannot bring the same claim against the same defendant again. Pick this only when you’ve settled, when the claim is no longer valid, or when you’re sure you won’t pursue it.

If you’re unsure, “without prejudice” is the safer box. You can always decide later not to refile. You cannot undo a dismissal with prejudice.

Filing and Serving the Notice

File the completed form with the Clerk of Superior Court in the county where the case is pending. North Carolina courts use the eCourts File & Serve system; attorneys generally file and serve through it. Self-represented parties should ask the local clerk’s office whether electronic filing is available in that county or bring the paper form in person.

After filing, you have to serve a copy on every other party. North Carolina Rule 5 requires service of all documents filed after the original complaint.⁴ Service through eCourts satisfies the rule for attorneys. For a self-represented party on the other side, personal delivery or mail works, and electronic service is allowed if that party has filed a written consent to it.

A certificate of service goes in with the filing. The eCourts system generates one automatically, but it still needs to be filed in the case record. For paper filings, list each party you served, the date, and the method. Keep a date-stamped copy of everything.

Court Costs You’ll Owe

There’s no separate fee to file the dismissal itself, but Rule 41(d) taxes the dismissing plaintiff with the costs of the case unless you filed in forma pauperis.³ Costs means court costs and fees that built up during the case, not attorney fees.

Those costs matter most if you plan to refile. If you bring a new case on the same claim against the same defendant without first paying what you owe, the defendant can ask the court to order payment within 30 days. The new case is stayed until you pay. If you don’t, the court dismisses it.³

City and county government plaintiffs have a separate wrinkle. Under G.S. 7A-317, they may not have been required to pay all court costs when the original complaint was filed. The form itself carries a note reminding government plaintiffs that those deferred costs must be paid to the clerk when the voluntary dismissal is taken.²

Refiling Within One Year

When you dismiss without prejudice, North Carolina’s savings provision gives you one year from the date of dismissal to refile the same claim. That clock runs even if the original statute of limitations expired while the first case was pending.¹

The window is firm. Miss it, and if the original limitations period has already passed, the claim is gone.

The Two-Dismissal Trap

If you’ve already voluntarily dismissed the same claim once before, in any North Carolina court, any other state court, or any federal court, filing a second voluntary dismissal operates as a dismissal with prejudice automatically.¹ Checking “without prejudice” on the form does not save you. The second dismissal is treated as a final judgment on the merits, and the claim is permanently barred.

In practice, you get one free dismissal per claim. Treat the next one as final.

Limits on the Right to Dismiss

Two situations take this form off the table.

If your case has been certified as a class action under Rule 23, you cannot dismiss it without the judge’s approval. Other class members have rights at stake, and the court has to sign off.¹

And, as noted above, once you’ve rested at trial, the Rule 41(a)(1) notice is no longer available. Any dismissal from that point forward goes through stipulation or court order.

What Happens the Moment You File

A voluntary dismissal under Rule 41(a)(1) is self-executing. When the clerk stamps the form, the court loses jurisdiction over the case. No hearing gets scheduled, no judge reviews the filing, and no order needs to be entered. The case drops off the active docket right away.¹

For the defendant, that’s the end of discovery obligations, hearings, and trial preparation on the dismissed claims. For the plaintiff, what comes next depends on the box you checked. With prejudice closes the matter. Without prejudice means marking your calendar for the one-year refiling deadline and clearing any outstanding court costs before you try to bring the case back.

1
North Carolina General Assembly. North Carolina Code 1A-1 – Rule 41 Dismissal of Actions
2
North Carolina Judicial Branch. AOC-CV-405 – Notice of Voluntary Dismissal
3
North Carolina General Assembly. North Carolina Code 1A-1 – Rule 41 Dismissal of Actions
4
North Carolina General Assembly. North Carolina General Statutes 1A-1 Rule 5 – Service and Filing of Pleadings and Other Papers