How to File a Complaint for Child Custody or Visitation in NC

To file a complaint for child custody in NC, you prepare a verified Complaint for Custody along with a UCCJEA affidavit, file both with the Clerk of Superior Court in the county where the child lives, pay the $150 filing fee (or request a waiver), and arrange for the other parent to be served with the summons and complaint. Everything else in a custody case flows from getting those first steps right.

Confirm You Can File in North Carolina

Two things have to line up before a North Carolina court will hear your case: you have to have standing, and the court has to have jurisdiction over the child.

Standing is broad. Any parent, relative, or other person claiming a right to custody of a minor child can bring the action.¹ Parent-versus-parent cases are the straightforward situation. A grandparent, stepparent, or other non-parent faces a higher bar: courts presume a fit parent’s decisions serve the child’s interests, and a non-parent generally has to show the parent is unfit or has acted in a way that forfeits that protection before the court will weigh best interests.

Jurisdiction is set by the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act. The primary test is the home-state rule: North Carolina is the home state if the child lived here for at least six consecutive months immediately before you file.² For a baby younger than six months, the home state is wherever the child has lived since birth.³ If no state qualifies as the home state, North Carolina can still take the case when the child and at least one parent have a significant connection beyond mere physical presence and substantial evidence about the child’s care is available here. Physical presence alone is never enough. A short visit will not do it.

What to Gather Before You Draft

Pull your paperwork together first. Drafting is faster, and you avoid the delays that come from missing information.

Full legal names and current addresses for both parents.
Each child’s full legal name and date of birth.
A five-year residency history for the child: every address the child has lived at during the past five years, with dates and the name of each adult the child lived with at that address.⁴
Any related or prior court cases involving the child, with case numbers and courts: custody matters in other states, domestic violence protective orders, and Department of Social Services proceedings.
Names and addresses of anyone not named as a party who has physical custody of the child or claims custody or visitation rights.
Any conviction for a sexually violent offense, human trafficking offense, or sexual exploitation of a minor, and any prior case in which you were granted or denied custody of a child in any jurisdiction. These disclosures are required in the complaint itself.¹

If some of this is genuinely unavailable, the statute asks for what is “reasonably ascertainable.” Judges take gaps seriously, though. Leaving out required information can get your case frozen until you supply it.⁴

Draft the Complaint and the UCCJEA Affidavit

North Carolina uses standardized forms published by the Administrative Office of the Courts. The complaint identifies the parties, lists the children, states the facts about where the child lives and who has been caring for the child, and sets out the custody arrangement you want the court to order. The factual section carries the most weight, so keep it concrete: the child’s school, daily routine, health care, and relationships, rather than general accusations about the other parent.

Every custody complaint must be filed with a UCCJEA affidavit on form AOC-CV-609.⁵ The affidavit is where the five-year residency history and related-case disclosures go. You sign it under oath before a notary or the clerk of court. If disclosing your address or the child’s address would put either of you in danger, you can ask the court to seal that identifying information.⁴

Think about what you are actually asking for. Either parent can request joint custody, and the court must consider that arrangement when asked. There is no legal presumption favoring one parent over the other. The judge’s job is to promote “the interest and welfare of the child,” considering all relevant factors, with specific attention to acts of domestic violence between the parties, the safety of the child, and the safety of either party from domestic violence by the other.⁶ Frame your requested arrangement around those considerations.

If you want the court to award your attorney fees, include that request in the complaint. The court has discretion to order one party to pay the other’s reasonable fees only if the requesting party is acting in good faith and has insufficient means to cover the litigation.⁷

File With the Clerk and Pay the Fee

File the complaint package with the Clerk of Superior Court in the county where the child resides. The filing fee is $150, subject to change; the current amount is published each year on the North Carolina Judicial Branch website.⁸

If you cannot afford the fee, file a Petition to Proceed as an Indigent on form AOC-G-106.⁹ The clerk must grant the petition if you receive food and nutrition benefits, Work First Family Assistance, or Supplemental Security Income, or if you are represented by a legal services organization that serves indigent clients. Even without meeting those criteria, a judge or clerk can waive the fee on a showing that you cannot advance the costs.¹⁰

Once the clerk accepts the complaint, you will be issued a Civil Summons on form AOC-CV-100.⁸ That summons is what you deliver to the other parent along with a copy of the complaint.

Serve the Other Parent

North Carolina Rule of Civil Procedure 4 governs service, and the court will not schedule a hearing until proof of service is on file. Two methods handle most cases:

Sheriff’s service. The sheriff in the county where the other parent lives personally delivers the documents. The fee is $30 per item served.¹¹
Certified mail, return receipt requested. The signed receipt is your proof of delivery.

Sloppy service is one of the fastest ways to derail a case. If the sheriff cannot find the other parent, or they refuse to sign for certified mail, you may need to pursue service by publication, which requires a separate court order.

The summons directs the other parent to file an answer within 30 days of being served. If they do not respond, the court can enter a default, but judges in custody cases rarely issue final orders without hearing from both sides. The best-interests standard applies either way.

What Happens After You File

Filing starts the clock, but it does not put you in front of a judge right away. In contested cases, North Carolina law routes you through the court’s Child Custody and Visitation Mediation Program before any hearing.¹ You attend an orientation session, then work with a neutral mediator to try to reach a parenting agreement. The program is free, and if the parents agree, the plan goes to the judge for approval as an order.

The court can waive mediation for good cause. Recognized grounds include domestic violence between the parents, allegations of abuse or neglect of the child, alcoholism or drug abuse, severe psychological or emotional problems affecting a party, undue hardship, or either party living more than 50 miles from the court.¹² Either party can ask for a waiver, or the judge can order one on the court’s own initiative.

If mediation is waived or does not produce agreement, the case moves to a contested hearing. In the meantime, after both parents have been served and had notice, the court can enter a temporary custody order to govern the arrangement until a permanent order is entered after a full hearing.¹³

If the Situation Is Urgent

Sometimes you cannot wait for the normal timeline. The court can enter an emergency ex parte custody order, before the other parent is served, only when it finds the child faces a substantial risk of bodily injury or sexual abuse, or a substantial risk of being removed from the state to escape the court’s jurisdiction.¹³ That is a deliberately high bar. Conflict between parents, or disagreement with the other parent’s choices, will not meet it. You need concrete, specific evidence of immediate danger. If the court grants emergency relief, the other parent gets notice and a return hearing at a date the judge sets based on the circumstances.

1
North Carolina General Assembly. North Carolina Code 50-13.1 – Action or Proceeding for Custody of Minor Child
2
North Carolina General Assembly. North Carolina Code 50A-201 – Initial Child-Custody Jurisdiction
3
North Carolina General Assembly. North Carolina Code Chapter 50A – Uniform Acts on Children
4
North Carolina General Assembly. North Carolina Code 50A-209 – Information to Be Submitted to Court
5
North Carolina Judicial Branch. North Carolina Code 50A-209 – Affidavit As to Status of Minor Child
6
North Carolina General Assembly. North Carolina Code 50-13.2 – Custody and Visitation of Minor Children
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North Carolina General Assembly. North Carolina Code 50-13.6 – Counsel Fees in Actions for Custody and Support of Minor Children
8
North Carolina Judicial Branch. Complaint for Custody and/or Visitation
9
North Carolina Judicial Branch. Petition To Proceed As An Indigent
10
North Carolina General Assembly. North Carolina Code 1-110 – Suit as an Indigent
11
North Carolina General Assembly. North Carolina Code 1A-1 – Rule 4
12
North Carolina General Assembly. North Carolina Code 50-13.1 – Action or Proceeding for Custody of Minor Child
13
North Carolina General Assembly. North Carolina Code 50-13.5 – Procedure in Actions for Custody or Support of Minor Children