GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA
1993 SESSION
CHAPTER 209
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
Section 1. G.S. 50-21 reads as rewritten:
"§ 50-21. Procedures in actions for equitable distribution of property.
(a) At any time after a
husband and wife begin to live separate and apart from each other, a claim for
equitable distribution may be filed, either as a separate civil action, or
together with any other action brought pursuant to Chapter 50 of the General
Statutes, or as a motion in the cause as provided by G.S. 50-11(e) or
(f). Within 90 days after service of a claim for equitable distribution,
the party who first asserts the claim shall prepare and serve upon the opposing
party an equitable distribution inventory affidavit listing all property
claimed by the party to be marital property and all property claimed by the
party to be separate property, and the estimated date-of-separation fair market
value of each item of marital and separate property. Within 30 days after
service of the inventory affidavit, the party upon whom service is made shall
prepare and serve an inventory affidavit upon the other party. The
inventory affidavits prepared and served pursuant to this subsection shall be
subject to amendment and shall not be binding at trial as to completeness or
value. The court may extend the time limits in this subsection for good cause
shown. During the pendency of any such the action for
equitable distribution, discovery may proceed, and the court may enter
temporary orders as appropriate and necessary for the purpose of preventing the
disappearance, waste, or destruction of marital or separate property or to
secure the possession thereof.
A judgment for an equitable distribution shall not be entered prior to entry of a decree of absolute divorce, except for a consent judgment, which may be entered at any time during the pendency of the action, or except if the parties have been separated for at least six months and they consent, in a pleading or other writing filed with the court, to an equitable distribution trial prior to the entry of the decree for absolute divorce.
Real or personal property located outside of North Carolina is subject to equitable distribution in accordance with the provisions of G.S. 50-20, and the court may include in its order appropriate provisions to ensure compliance with the order of equitable distribution.
(b) For purposes of equitable distribution, marital property shall be valued as of the date of the separation of the parties.
(c) Nothing in G.S. 50-20 or this section shall restrict or extend the right to trial by jury as provided by the Constitution of North Carolina."
Sec. 2. This act becomes effective October 1, 1993, and applies to actions filed on or after that date.
In the General Assembly read three times and ratified this the 23rd day of June, 1993.
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Dennis A. Wicker
President of the Senate
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Daniel Blue, Jr.
Speaker of the House of Representatives