North Carolina lawmakers are considering changes that would shorten the state's mandatory separation period for divorce and eliminate two lawsuits rooted in the state's so-called heart-balm laws. Senate Bill 626 would reduce the required separation from one year to six months, waive the waiting period for uncontested divorces involving no minor children, and abolish North Carolina's alienation-of-affection law. Its sponsor says the current system can leave people in a painful and costly legal limbo.
State Sen. Woodson Bradley, a Democrat representing District 42, filed Senate Bill 626 in March 2025, according to LegiScan. A related measure, Senate Bill 836, was filed April 27, 2026, and the North Carolina General Assembly lists its next recorded action as referral to the Senate Appropriations/Base Budget Committee on April 28, 2026. As reported by ABC11 News, Bradley has described the existing divorce timeline as antiquated and said her own divorce experience helped shape her support for the legislation. She has said the goal is not to encourage divorce, but to remove barriers for people who have already decided their marriages are over.
What the Official Record Shows
The North Carolina General Assembly's bill page says Senate Bill 836 was filed April 27, 2026, and referred to the Senate Appropriations/Base Budget Committee on April 28, 2026, according to the North Carolina General Assembly. The proposed repeal would affect claims with a long history in North Carolina. In a Dec. 4, 1984, decision, the North Carolina Court of Appeals explained in Cannon v. Miller that an alienation-of-affection claim did not require the spouses to be physically separated or an act of adultery.
What the Current Law Requires
Under North Carolina General Statutes § 50-6, married couples must live separate and apart for one year before either spouse can file for an absolute no-fault divorce, according to Justia Law.
The bill also targets a quirk in current law that can affect spouses who cannot afford to move out. Under the existing statute, isolated incidents of sexual intercourse between separated spouses do not toll the one-year separation period. Senate Bill 626 and Senate Bill 836 explicitly bar that outcome, according to the UNC School of Government, a change intended to protect economically vulnerable spouses who cannot immediately afford two households.
A Waiver for Domestic Violence Victims
Beyond shortening the general waiting period, the legislation would let domestic violence victims waive the separation requirement entirely for people with documented evidence of abuse. ABC11 News reports the bill would waive the waiting period for people who can present evidence of domestic violence from sources like law enforcement records, domestic violence programs, or medical professionals. Bradley has said North Carolina should not force domestic violence victims to remain legally tied to their abusers.
Ending Affair Lawsuits
The legislation's most sweeping change may be its elimination of alienation of affection, a law that allows a spouse to sue a third party accused of interfering in a marriage. North Carolina is one of five states that allow alienation-of-affection claims, according to FindLaw. Alienation of affection is sometimes called a heart-balm tort.
The legislation would eliminate lawsuits involving alleged interference in a marriage.
The legislation also concerns divorce-law claims involving third parties.
A Family Law Attorney Pushes Back
Jones, who handles several alienation of affection cases each year, opposes the legislation as written and supports keeping the current one-year separation requirement, per ABC11 News. She has said alienation of affection claims compensate spouses for real losses — including lost income, child support, and the loss of love and affection — and that the current waiting period gives couples a genuine chance to reconcile.
Jones has also warned that shortening the waiting period could strain an already overloaded court system. She said courts are already full, and cutting the separation period could effectively mean twice the caseload moving through the system at once, according to the same ABC11 News report.
A Viral Push From a Nurse-Influencer
Bradley is working with social media influencer Jen Hamilton to raise public awareness of North Carolina's divorce laws, and the two had planned a fundraiser and fireside chat for Thursday, per ABC11 News. Hamilton, a North Carolina labor and delivery nurse, joined Bradley's campaign after publicly documenting her own 2026 separation and marital dissolution online, according to Parade. Hamilton and Bradley have worked together to raise public awareness of the state's divorce laws.
Bradley says Senate Bill 626 has bipartisan support and hopes to move it out of committee during the next legislative session. The measures remain under consideration as lawmakers weigh victims' safety and financial autonomy against arguments for preserving the state's traditional separation timeline.
