Legal Question in Family Law in North Carolina
daughter went through seperation and papers were filed at the court house. she and her husband have gone back together. My question (what happens to the papers on file at the court house?) is there anything she should do about them and their existance..is she still married?
1 Answer from Attorneys
You don't mention what type of 'papers' were filed. I suspect you mean either a divorce action was filed and / or a separation agreement was entered into. In North Carolina Separation Agreements are contracts and are not 'filed' at the Court House unless they are incorporated into a court judgment. Separation Agreements can be filed at the Registar of Deeds office solely for safekeeping purposes but again this is not a requirement. Depending on how the Separation Agreement is drafted, eventhough they may have gotten back together, the terms of the Separation Agreement may still be in effect. If they no longer want the Separation Agreement to be in effect they would most likely need to do a new agreement resinding the original Separation Agreement. If this is the case and the 'papers' you mentioned are a Separation Agreement then they are most likely still married.
If the 'papers' you mentioned were a divorce action, the Plaintiff may need to file a Motion to Dismiss if they no longer want to get divorced. They will still be married unless a judgment of absolute divorce has been granted. There are also other things that might fit your vauge discription of 'papers' but the Separation Agreement and a Divorce Action would be the most common possibilities.