North Carolina § 50-16 - 3: Repealed by Session Laws 1995, c. 319, s. 1.

§ 50-16. 3: Repealed by Session Laws 1995, c. 319, s. 1.

Cross References. - As to postseparation support, see G.S. 50-16.2 A. Editor's Note. - It was formerly held that alimony pendente lite could not be awarded in the absence of a statute conferring this power. Wilson v. Wilson, 19 N.C. 377 (1837); Reeves v. Reeves, 82 N.C. 348 (1880). In 1852, the legislature passed an act authorizing the courts, upon a petition for divorce and alimony, to decree the petitioner a sum sufficient for her support during the pendency of the suit. See Everton v. Everton, 50 N.C. 202 (1857). In Medlin v. Medlin, 175 N.C. 529 , 95 S.E. 857 (1918), the court overruled the former doctrine mentioned above, and stated that the courts possessed the right to grant alimony pendente lite by virtue of the common law, the practice having come down from the English ecclesiastical courts. The effect of this holding was to make the statute remedial in its nature, affirmative in its terms and cumulative in its effect, not abrogating the common law existent on the subject nor withdrawing from the court any powers already possessed in administering its principles. Medlin v. Medlin, 175 N.C. 529 , 95 S.E. 857 (1918), overruling Reeves v. Reeves, 82 N.C. 348 (1880), on this point. Session Laws 1995, c. 319, which repealed this section, in section 12 provides that the act applies to civil motions filed on or after that date, and shall not apply to pending litigation, or to future motions in the cause seeking to modify orders or judgments in effect on October 1, 1995. This section, prior to the repeal by Session Laws 1995, c. 319, read as follows: " Grounds for alimony pendente lite. "(a) A dependent spouse who is a party to an action for absolute divorce, divorce from bed and board, annulment, or alimony without divorce, shall be entitled to an order for alimony pendente lite when: It shall appear from all the evidence presented pursuant to G.S. 50-16.8(f), that such spouse is entitled to the relief demanded by such spouse in the action in which the application for alimony pendente lite is made, and It shall appear that the dependent spouse has not sufficient means whereon to subsist during the prosecution or defense of the suit and to defray the necessary expenses thereof. (b) The determination of the amount and the payment of alimony pendente lite shall be in the same manner as alimony, except that the same shall be limited to the pendency of the suit in which the application is made." Legal Periodicals. - As to basis of award of alimony pendente lite in North Carolina, see 39 N.C.L. Rev. 189 (1961). For survey of 1979 family law, see 58 N.C.L. Rev. 1471 (1980). For 1984 survey, "Estoppel and Foreign Divorce," see 63 N.C.L. Rev. 1189 (1985). For note, "The Contingent Fee Contract in Domestic Relations Cases," see 7 Campbell L. Rev. 427 (1985). For note, "Post-Separation Failure to Support a Dependent Spouse as a Sole Ground for Alimony Despite the Absence of Marital Misconduct Before Separation - Brown v. Brown," see 15 Campbell L. Rev. 333 (1993).