NORTH CAROLINA Part 23

Second, you must have an actual order that would need to be modified. A child custody order means that a court file was opened and an order was entered (i.e. signed) by a judge. Lots of people will file a child custody action, but then resolved the case outside of court (typically via a separation agreement) and then dismiss the child custody action. In this situation, you would not be seeking a child custody modification, but rather you would be requesting an initial child custody determination. I know this seems confusing, but the takeaway here is that to request a child custody modification, you must have a valid child custody order in place. If you are not sure about this, then I recommend you go down to your local clerk of court, pull the old child custody file (or files) and look to see if there is a valid child custody order in the court file.