North Carolina – Case Law Wire

North Carolina Court of Appeals

In re: J.E.S., P.K.S., P.E.S. — Termination of Parental Rights Affirmed Where Psychological Evaluation Shows Persistent Incapacity and Prior History Predicts Future Neglect

/ June 9, 2026

The North Carolina Court of Appeals affirmed termination of parental rights on neglect grounds as to three children removed after a nighttime car accident left two infants with traumatic brain injuries, holding that the mother’s extensive CPS history, prior criminal conviction for a child’s death, psychological diagnosis showing parenting incapacity, and continued unsafe conduct during supervised visits established the likelihood of future neglect required by N.C. Gen. Stat. § 7B-1111(a)(1).

North Carolina Family Law

North Carolina Court of Appeals

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Raburn v. Cook — Trial Court Has Discretion to Award Primary Custody to One Fit Parent Without Finding the Other Unfit

/ June 9, 2026

The North Carolina Court of Appeals affirmed a custody modification that maintained primary physical custody with the mother during the school year and equal summer custody, holding that a trial court has broad discretion to award primary custody to one fit parent without finding the other unfit, and that findings linking communication difficulties and the children’s need for a stable school-year routine rationally supported the arrangement.

North Carolina Breach of Contract Civil Procedure Municipal Law

North Carolina Court of Appeals

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Outer Banks Ventures, Inc. v. Currituck County — Developer’s 1986 Water and Sewer Reimbursement Agreement Not an Installment Contract; Claims Against County Time-Barred

/ June 9, 2026

The North Carolina Court of Appeals affirmed summary judgment dismissing a developer’s twelve-year-old breach-of-contract claim against Currituck County under an assumed water and sewer reimbursement agreement, holding that the 1986 developer agreement was not an installment contract because the county’s payment obligation was contingent on its own decision to connect customers, making the consideration unified and all claims time-barred under N.C. Gen. Stat. § 1-53(1)’s two-year limitations period.

North Carolina Administrative Law Evidence Municipal Law

North Carolina Court of Appeals

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Hall v. Henderson County — Board of Adjustment Properly Permitted Addiction-Recovery Facility as Assisted Living Residence; Quasi-Judicial Body Not Bound by Rules of Evidence

/ June 9, 2026

The North Carolina Court of Appeals reversed the superior court and reinstated Henderson County’s grant of a special use permit for a residential addiction-recovery facility, holding that the Board of Adjustment properly classified the facility as an Assisted Living Residence because the county code’s use table enumerated ALR but not Mental Health Facility, and clarifying that a quasi-judicial body’s evidentiary rulings are reviewed for due process violation (on exclusion) or competent-evidence support (on admission)—not as errors of law under the Rules of Evidence.

North Carolina Civil Procedure Civil Rights Constitutional

North Carolina Court of Appeals

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Doe v. Fulton — SAFE Child Act Revival Window Applies to School Board Sexual Abuse Claims; Ten-Year Repose Period in § 1-52(16) Limited to Latent Injuries

/ June 9, 2026

The North Carolina Court of Appeals affirmed denial of a school board’s motion to dismiss a SAFE Child Act revival claim, holding that the ten-year repose period in N.C. Gen. Stat. § 1-52(16) applies only to latent injuries (not sexual assault) and that governmental immunity is not established at the pleading stage when the record leaves an unexplained gap in insurance coverage for any year in which the alleged abuse occurred.

North Carolina Municipal Law Real Estate Standing

North Carolina Court of Appeals

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Daedalus, LLC v. Mecklenburg County — County Cannot Sue for Homeowner Damages, Owners Who Never Pleaded Their Own Claims Lose Damages Award

/ June 9, 2026

The North Carolina Court of Appeals vacated a trebled-damages award in a Mecklenburg County building-code enforcement suit, holding that a county lacks standing under Dillon’s Rule to recover monetary damages on behalf of private homeowners and that intervenors who never pleaded their own claims cannot collect from the county’s judgment, while remanding the underlying duplex-vs.-townhouse liability issue for re-evaluation under the 2012 and 2018 code editions that governed at the time of construction.

North Carolina Appellate Procedure Real Estate Real Property

North Carolina Court of Appeals

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Alston v. Jacox — Prescriptive Easement Over Decades-Old Pathway Upheld Even After Third-Party Permission Grant

/ June 9, 2026

The North Carolina Court of Appeals affirmed a prescriptive easement over a rural pathway that had been used for ingress and egress since the 1950s, holding that the required twenty-year period need not immediately precede the dispute and that an easement already vested by adverse use cannot be destroyed by a later permission grant to a third party.