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How much does it cost to file for custody in North Carolina?

Filing a custody action in North Carolina costs $150 in court costs. Custody claims under Chapter 50 are civil actions in district court, and N.C.G.S. §7A-305(a) fixes the costs of every district court civil action at three components: $130 for support of the General Court of Justice, $16 for the use of the courtroom and related judicial facilities, and $4 for court telecommunications and data connectivity — $150 in total, collected by the clerk of superior court as advance costs when the complaint is filed. A counterclaim pleading pays the same stack again under subsection (a5), and a noticed motion adds $20 under subsection (f).

North Carolina custody fees at a glance

The district court line is the middle of North Carolina's three civil price points, and the statute states all three in one breath: $180 of General Court of Justice fee in superior court, $130 in district court, and $80 where a case is assigned to a magistrate — with the $16 facilities and $4 telecommunications components constant across district and superior court. A custody complaint therefore costs $150 where the same family's estate or name change before the clerk costs $120 as a special proceeding under §7A-306, the schedule on this site's North Carolina name change costs page. One custody-adjacent charge deserves its own line because it surprises divorcing parents: subsection (a2) adds a $75 cost, remitted to the Domestic Violence Center Fund, in every action for absolute divorce filed in district court — custody decided inside a divorce rides in a case that carries that extra $75, while a standalone custody complaint does not. Section 7A-305(c) makes the timing plain: the clerk collects the facilities, General Court of Justice and any divorce-fund amounts as advance costs at filing, except in suits by an indigent. The national comparison is on the child custody filing costs hub.

Motions, counterclaims and the assessable-extras list

Inside the case, the meter is modest but real. A party who files a pleading containing a counterclaim, third-party complaint or cross-claim pays the full district court stack again — $130 plus $16 plus $4 under subsection (a5) — which matters in custody litigation because a defendant's answer that counterclaims for custody is a new $150 filing, not a free response. Each notice of hearing on a motion costs $20 under subsection (f), charged once per motion however often the hearing is continued or rescheduled, and the subsection exempts motions whose sole claim is the taxing of costs and motions filed by a child support enforcement agency. Beyond those fixed lines, subsection (d) lists the expenses that are assessable or recoverable when incurred — witness and counsel fees as provided by law, service of process including sheriff's fees, mediation and guardian ad litem fees, interpreter fees, expert witness time and deposition costs — and calls that list complete and exclusive. The statute fixes the categories, not their amounts: a custody evaluation or a mediator's day rate is set by the provider or the court's appointment order, so this page names those costs without inventing figures.

How the case runs

1. File the custody complaint in district court and pay the advance costs $150
2. Serve the other parent — sheriff or other lawful service, priced as provided by law and recoverable under (d)
3. A counterclaiming answer pays the filing stack again $150; attend any custody mediation the district requires
4. Work inside the case at $20 per noticed motion $20
5. Finish with the custody order; later changes return by motion in the same case rather than a new filing

What custody really costs beyond the clerk

The contested-custody budget in North Carolina is dominated by items §7A-305 lists but does not price: attorney fees, mediation charges, a guardian ad litem or custody evaluator, expert witnesses and the sheriff's charge for serving the complaint. Those amounts are set by providers, by the appointing order or by the sheriff's separate fee statute, so this page names them without inventing figures — the same discipline applied on this site's Pennsylvania custody costs and Minnesota custody costs pages. What a North Carolina filer can predict exactly from the statute is the court-side spine: $150 to file, $150 for a counterclaim filing, $20 per noticed motion, and the $75 divorce-fund addition when custody travels inside an absolute divorce. The wider state picture is on the North Carolina court costs guide.

Can't afford the fee?

Section 7A-305(c) excepts suits by an indigent from the clerk's advance collection, and North Carolina's indigency process lets a custody plaintiff ask the court to proceed without prepaying costs on a sworn showing of inability to pay. The request is made when the complaint is filed; an approved indigent filer is excused the advance $150, while costs the statute makes recoverable can still be taxed at the end of the case as the court directs. Ask the clerk of superior court for the indigent application before filing. The general mechanics of fee waivers are explained in the fee waiver guide.

Sources: N.C.G.S. §7A-305, official text at ncleg.gov, read directly — (a)(2) General Court of Justice $130 in district court ($180 superior court, $80 before a magistrate); (a)(1) facilities $16 in district and superior court; (a)(1a) telecommunications $4; total $150; (a2) $75 additional cost in absolute divorce actions for the Domestic Violence Center Fund; (a5) counterclaim, third-party complaint and cross-claim filings assessed the same stack; (c) advance collection at filing, except in suits by an indigent; (d) assessable expenses list (witness, counsel, service and sheriff's fees, mediators, guardians ad litem, interpreters, experts) as provided by law; (f) notice of hearing on a motion $20 · N.C.G.S. ch. 50 (custody actions in district court). Last verified: November 2026 — confirm current figures with the clerk of superior court.