Legal Question in Family Law in North Carolina

He is your boyfriend, not your husband, right? Where have you been living? Do you own the home if its a home?

If you are not married, then pack up when he is not there and go! Take anything that is yours or which belongs to your children. If you fear a confrontation, then back up a U-Haul when he is out of the house and just go.

If this is a domestic violence situation, then take out a 50B on him (go to your local magistrate's office or court for information about that) but don't just file a 50B unless there is real abuse occurring.

If you have a property settlement agreement, follow what it says. If you don't (most people don't) take (besides what is yours) anything that you might have bought for the house. For example, if you bought the tv, take it. If there is something that you did not buy but really want, take it. Once you have possession, it will be difficult for him to get it back, but if he raises a stink, you can always give something back to him. You can fight about property later, but if you leave something behind it will be next to impossible to get it so take it now.

The children are yours. Take them too! The question is whether the boyfriend is the father. If so and there are no custody orders, definitely take the children. The boyfriend can always bring an action for custody or visitation. If you move outside of North Carolina, he has 6 months to do that. Once you have been gone from the state with the children for over 6 months, the boyfriend can still bring a custody/visitation action but he now has to do it in whatever new state you and the children reside in. It puts up more of a roadblock if he does not have a lot of money for the litigation.

If he is not the father of the children, then he could bring a visitation action possibly, but that is unlikely as he is not the biological parent. If he is not the biological parent, did he ever adopt? If, so, then he would be treated just like a biological parent.