The right to jury trial is governed by a statutory provision stating that a jury may render the verdict on issues of fault, but a judge alone decides the issues of dependency and amount of postseparation support and/or alimony.
The parties must still be married when a claim for postseparation support or alimony is filed. They cannot have been divorced when such a claim is first filed, as one of the statutory provisions in Chapter 50 provides that an absolute divorce does not affect the rights of either spouse with respect to any action for postseparation support or alimony pending at the time the judgment for divorce is granted.
Our case law makes clear that a party may not, after the time of divorce, seek alimony in an action not in fact already pending at the time of the divorce. A somewhat different rule exists, however, for foreign divorces obtained without personal jurisdiction over the dependent spouse. In such cases, absolute divorce does not impair the dependent spouse’s right to seek alimony under North Carolina law.
