Legal Question in Family Law in North Carolina

Depends on how absent. If there has been no contact and no child support paid for years - you can file a Motion to Terminate absentee parents parental rights and you have a decent shot of that being granted. Or if absentee parent has no objection, you can file to terminate rights. However, if there has been at least some sporadic contact and absentee parent objects to the termination of rights, most judges would be very reluctant to do so. You also need to be aware that terminating the absentee parents rights also means they have no obligation to pay child support - you don't gets to eat your cake and still have it.