The Most Well-Known Divorces in UNC Records

Despite not having the same “celebrity status” as places like California or New York, North Carolina has had a number of noteworthy divorces over the years. While some of these divorces set significant legal precedents, others involved well-known politicians and celebrities.

Examining how some of these divorces have been handled could be helpful if you are considering divorce in the Tar Heel State. We can learn a lot from previous divorces, and a competent divorce lawyer keeps a close eye on significant prior rulings as well as recent advancements in family law. So, which divorces in North Carolina’s past have received the most notoriety?

A single divorce in North Carolina had a significant impact on family law nationwide. This was in 1942, Williams v. North Carolina. The case included two North Carolina residents who went to Nevada to file for divorce from their respective husbands before returning home and getting married.

When the state of North Carolina accused them of “bigamous cohabitation,” they encountered problems. This led to a significant legal quandary. They each produced documents of their divorce decrees from Nevada and claimed that their divorces were lawful in both Nevada and North Carolina after being charged with the felony.

The couple claimed to have traveled to Nevada expressly to take advantage of the state’s more lenient divorce laws, therefore the North Carolina court declined to recognize the divorce. In the end, the North Carolina Supreme Court ruled in favor of the state’s refusal to recognize the divorce from Nevada. The pair was consequently found guilty and given a lengthy prison sentence

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Eventually, the divorce from Nevada was declared lawful by the Supreme Court. Because of this case, all fifty states now allow divorce on at least one “no-fault” basis. It is important to note that no court would order two people to be divorced in the present period, hence this scenario would never arise.