In North Carolina there are only two grounds for absolute divorce, incurable insanity and separation for more than one year. The great majority of people in North Carolina are getting a divorce based on the separation for a year. Now, the next question then becomes, what does separation mean?
In most cases, separation means that both parties are living under two separate roofs. Which means that one person has to move out of the marital residence and establish two separate residences. Now, after there have been two separate residences and they’ve been living separate and apart for a year and a day you can go ahead and file for your absolute divorce and that process typically takes around three months.