Been thinking' about....a new NC court

Once in a while a General Assembly has the courage to try something new and there is a Governor who supports it. The North Carolina Business Court (NCBC) was created in 1996 and it is a success. North Carolina was not the first state to have a business court, in fact, there have been similar courts world-wide for centuries. However, we were among the earliest states to create one. The 2025 General Assembly has created the North Carolina Complex Family Financial Court (NCCFFC), Governor Stein has approved it, and both should be applauded. We are the first state in America with the courage to create such a court. We are now the ninth largest state by population, have a growing economy, and may need a special court that can address the financial issues in extraordinarily complicated divorce cases.

Special courts need special circumstances and the requirements to qualify for a petition to a District Court are stringent. These cases require timely and expert resolution of difficult family financial disputes over the division of trusts, business shares, real property, stock options, profit-sharing, defined contributions, bonuses, tax loss carry forwards, loans, tax consequences, estimated changes of values over time, and a host of other financial questions that require exceptional judicial training and experience. I suspect there are some District Court Judges who will be delighted to move these few cases to a special court.

The Chief Justice of our Supreme Court is tasked with appointing three NCCFFC justices. Each of the three accepted divisions of North Carolina (Eastern/Central/Western) will be served by a judge. The requirements to be one of them call for preeminence as a family law attorney, and satisfactory peer review by ten lawyers who have personal knowledge of that attorney’s competence and qualifications in handling complex family financial matters. What struck me while studying the requirements to be considered a NCCFFC Judge is this requirement: "Substantial involvement handling complex family financial cases during the 10 calendar years prior to the year of application…". This stringent requirement should ensure that only the best, brightest and most experienced family law attorneys are even considered for this appointment. Since 10 years experience is required just for application, we should expect older applicants and that could interfere with the standard retirement age of seventy-two. A NCCFFC judge will not be required to retire until age 78.

There may be some blow-back about the 78 maximum retirement age for these few judges but this is a wise move in the right direction. Thoughtful judges and Justices have long recommended that the mandatory judicial retirement age be advanced to at least 76 years.

One of several good features of this new court is a requirement to report to the Joint Legislative Oversight Committee on Justice and Public Safety, and the Legislature’s Fiscal Research Division, by August 1, 2027 on the activities of this new court. The legislative intent is to determine if there is a need for such a court and if it is cost effective. Every taxpayer should applaud this smart move and encourage a similar requirement for any new legislative initiative. There is a line in the report that requires, "(6) Recommendations for improvement or expansion of the program." That line could be improved by changing it to read: (6) Recommendations for improvement, expansion or dissolution of the program.

Now we’re going to see who are the first NCCFFC judges, what cases are recommended for hearing, how the intended process functions, how much this special court costs, whether it is an acceptable addition to our judicial system, and…how many states follow our lead.

ATTABOY TO THE 2025 GENERAL ASSEMBLY AND THE GOVERNOR FOR THE COURAGE— ESSE QUAM VIDERI !!!