The Complex Family Financial Court Judge – North Carolina Criminal Law Blog

Jeff wrote last week about several provisions in the 2026 Appropriations Act that might be of interest to readers. This week, I’m back with one more: Section 16.19 of the Act establishes special procedures for the disposition of matters designated as complex family financial cases. Those special procedures include the creation of a new type of special superior court judge, the Complex Family Financial Court Judge – a superior court judge who is appointed to hear and enter orders in complex family financial cases filed in district court.

Wait, am I reading the North Carolina Criminal Law Blog? Yes, you are reading the criminal law blog. And, no, this doesn’t relate to criminal law. It does, however, relate to the topic of judicial authority and administration and the court system more generally, topics that we do occasionally cover in this forum. With that disclaimer, I’ll carry on.

Three new judgeships authorized. New G.S. 7A-45.1(a14) requires the Chief Justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court to appoint three Complex Family Financial Court Judges by September 1, 2026. The Chief Justice must designate one of the three judges as Chief Complex Family Financial Court Judge. Chief Justice Newby has already made one such appointment, appointing Marcia (“Marci”) Armstrong as the inaugural Chief Complex Family Financial Court Judge.

Complex Family Financial Court Judges serve eight-year terms and have the most advanced mandatory retirement age (78 years of age) of any trial or appellate court judge. G.S. 7A-45.1(a14). (The mandatory retirement age for other superior court and district court judges is 72, see G.S. 7A-40.1, -140.1, and the mandatory retirement age for appellate judges and supreme court justices is 76, see G.S. 7A-5(b).)

A licensed attorney must satisfy exacting statutory qualifications to be eligible for appointment as a Complex Family Financial Court Judge. G.S. 50-111. Those qualifications require, among other things, that the person have substantial experience handling complex family financial cases during the previous ten years. Id.

How does this work? A party who wishes to designate a claim as a complex family financial claim files a designation notice, which must be served on the parties and on the Chief Complex Family Financial Court Judge. G.S. 50-113(a). A family court judge assigned to the case or a chief district court judge also may request such a designation. G.S. 50-113(c). Eligible claims are equitable distribution, alimony, postseparation support, child support, or any combination of such claims. G.S. 50-110(2). A nonmoving party may oppose the request for designation. G.S. 50-113(b).

The Chief Complex Family Financial Court Judge determines whether the action should be designated as a complex family financial claim based upon consideration of enumerated statutory factors. G.S. 50-113(d). Among those factors is whether the claim or claims involve valuation and classification issues related to trusts, businesses, or complex retirement benefits along with the length of time requested for trial on the claim or claims for which designation is sought. G.S. 50-114(13).

Upon designation of a claim as a complex family financial claim, each party must pay equal shares of an additional $1,100 filing fee. G.S. 50-113(e); 7A-305(a)(2). The claim is then “administered as a complex family financial case” and assigned to a Complex Family Financial Court Judge. G.S. 50-113(f). The applicable statute provides that “[a]ll proceedings related to the [designated] claims” shall be before the assigned judge. G.S. 50-113(f). The meaning of this provision is not entirely clear. It may mean that other aspects of a domestic relations case, such as child custody, continue to be administered by the district court through a district court judge, while the Complex Family Financial Court Judge presides over the designated financial claims.  

The legislation grants authority to the Chief Justice to create additional rules or procedures necessary to give effect to the provisions for complex family financial case disposition. S.L. 2026-41 (S 257), Section 16.19.(c). We will undoubtedly learn more about how these procedures will work after those rules are adopted.

Where is the case heard? A Complex Family Financial Court Judge is authorized to conduct hearings in district court on complex family financial cases statewide. G.S. 50-112(b). Motion hearings in complex family financial law cases must be held virtually unless the assigned judge determines that good cause exists to hold the hearing in person; other hearings must be held in person. G.S. 50-115(a), (b). In-person hearings must be held at the courthouse in the county in which the action was filed in an available district or superior courtroom staffed by a deputy or assistant clerk and bailiff. G.S. 50-115(b). Complex family financial case hearings must be recorded, and any hearing on final disposition of such a case must be scheduled on consecutive days. G.S. 50-115(c), (d).

Effective date. The provisions of the Act related to complex family financial cases became effective July 1, 2026, and notices of designation may be filed beginning January 1, 2027.

Report to the legislature. The Chief Complex Family Financial Court Judge and the Administrative Office of the Courts must prepare a report to the General Assembly by August 1, 2027, and annually thereafter, informing the legislature about the total number of requests for designation, the number of cases so designated, the number of cases disposed of, the manner of disposition, and the shortest, longest, and average length of time from designation to final disposition. See S.L. 2026-41 (S 257), Section 16.19(d).

Constitutional questions. I noted at the outset that these new judgeships and procedures result in superior court judges presiding in district court. Is that constitutionally permissible?

The North Carolina Constitution specifically authorizes the General Assembly to create special superior court judgeships. See N.C. Const. Art. IV, § 9 (“The General Assembly may provide by general law for the selection or appointment of special or emergency Superior Court Judges not selected for a particular district.”) There is no corresponding authorization for special district court judgeships. Instead, the state constitution simply provides for the election of district court judges for each district court district. See N.C. Const. Art. IV, § 10.

As for jurisdiction, the state constitution provides that the superior court has “original general jurisdiction throughout the State,” “[e]xcept as otherwise provided by the General Assembly.” N.C. Const. Art. IV, § 12(3). The jurisdiction of district court, in contrast, is solely conferred by the legislature rather than the state constitution. See N.C. Const. Art. IV, § 12(4) (“The General Assembly shall, by general law uniformly applicable in every local court district of the State, prescribe the jurisdiction and powers of District Courts and Magistrates.”). The General Assembly has designated district court as the proper division “for the trial of civil actions and proceedings for annulment, divorce, equitable distribution of property, alimony, child support, child custody and the enforcement of separation or property settlement agreements between spouses, or recovery for the breach thereof.” G.S. 7A-244. Thus, district court has jurisdiction over domestic relations cases because that jurisdiction has been bestowed by the legislature.

If the General Assembly can bestow jurisdiction on district court and by extension authorize action by the judges who preside over those courts, it also may limit the jurisdiction of district courts and, presumably, the judges who preside over those courts. Arguably, that is what the legislature has done in the case of complex family financial cases. It has left those cases within the jurisdiction of the district court division but has provided that only a special type of superior court judge may preside over designated claims.