North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein signed budget legislation yesterday that resolved a long-standing stand-off between Republicans in the state House and Senate. Republicans in both chambers passed their own budgets in 2025 but couldn’t reach a final deal over employee raises and tax cuts. Buried beneath the headlines is a provision in the bill that takes the NC Business Court’s “specialty court” concept and applies it to “complex family financial” cases.

Under the new article 6 in Chapter 50 of the General Statutes, complex family financial claims get a similar treatment to that already afforded to complex commercial claims. The new law provides:

  • Complex family financial cases filed in district court are ones that raise “equitable distribution, alimony, postseparation support, child support, or any combination of those claims”;
  • Fourteen factors, including numerous valuation and classification issues related to trusts, businesses, real property, and retirement benefits – as well as the total value of real and person property at issue – will guide the statutory designation and opposition process;
  • Over at our North Carolina Appellate Practice Blog, Matt Leerberg notes how appeals of these complex family decisions are routed to the Court of Appeals, as opposed to direct appeals to the Supreme Court for Business Court decisions;
  • There will be three special superior court judges appointed by the Chief Justice as Complex Family Financial Court Judges, including a Chief who will determine which cases get complex designations;
  • The judges are authorized to conduct hearings in district court on a statewide basis, will get eight-year terms, and have a mandatory retirement age of 78; and
  • During the prior ten years, a complex family special judge needs to have averaged at least 600 hours per year handling complex family financial claims, and not less than 400 hours in any one year.

Brad Risinger is a partner in the Raleigh office of Fox Rothschild LLP.