{
  "id": 8526140,
  "name": "DAVID E. LOFTON v. ETHEL LOFTON",
  "name_abbreviation": "Lofton v. Lofton",
  "decision_date": "1984-12-04",
  "docket_number": "No. 848DC258",
  "first_page": "635",
  "last_page": "636",
  "citations": [
    {
      "type": "official",
      "cite": "71 N.C. App. 635"
    }
  ],
  "court": {
    "name_abbreviation": "N.C. Ct. App.",
    "id": 14983,
    "name": "North Carolina Court of Appeals"
  },
  "jurisdiction": {
    "id": 5,
    "name_long": "North Carolina",
    "name": "N.C."
  },
  "cites_to": [
    {
      "cite": "N.C. Gen. Stat. \u00a7 50-21",
      "category": "laws:leg_statute",
      "reporter": "N.C. Gen. Stat.",
      "weight": 2,
      "year": 1983,
      "pin_cites": [
        {
          "page": "(a)"
        }
      ],
      "opinion_index": 0
    }
  ],
  "analysis": {
    "cardinality": 151,
    "char_count": 2252,
    "ocr_confidence": 0.774,
    "pagerank": {
      "raw": 4.351389287593408e-08,
      "percentile": 0.2735711618708272
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    "sha256": "c3c67d93ca1f4c9a012850439cba1d1c78a817c557cb97351a51817b49aaaf1f",
    "simhash": "1:63a4466b7347bc66",
    "word_count": 342
  },
  "last_updated": "2023-07-14T17:51:06.115640+00:00",
  "provenance": {
    "date_added": "2019-08-29",
    "source": "Harvard",
    "batch": "2018"
  },
  "casebody": {
    "judges": [
      "Judges Arnold and Becton concur."
    ],
    "parties": [
      "DAVID E. LOFTON v. ETHEL LOFTON"
    ],
    "opinions": [
      {
        "text": "WELLS, Judge.\nThe Equitable Distribution Act specifically provides that where a divorce action and an application for equitable distribution are pending, \u201c[t]he equitable distribution may not precede a decree of absolute divorce.\u201d N.C. Gen. Stat. \u00a7 50-21(a) (Supp. 1983). \u201cUpon application of a party to an action for divorce, an equitable distribution of property shall follow a decree of absolute divorce.\u201d Id. The record in this case does not contain any judgment of absolute divorce, nor any indication that such a judgment ever has been entered in North Carolina or elsewhere.\nOn the present record, the trial court\u2019s dismissal of defendant\u2019s equitable distribution claim was premature. The trial court lacked authority to consider or grant plaintiffs motions. The order appealed from is therefore\nVacated.\nJudges Arnold and Becton concur.",
        "type": "majority",
        "author": "WELLS, Judge."
      }
    ],
    "attorneys": [
      "Braswell, Taylor & Brantley, by Roland C. Braswell, for plaintiff.",
      "Paul Jones for defendant."
    ],
    "corrections": "",
    "head_matter": "DAVID E. LOFTON v. ETHEL LOFTON\nNo. 848DC258\n(Filed 4 December 1984)\nDivorce and Alimony \u00a7 30\u2014 dismissal of equitable distribution \u2014 premature\nIn an action for absolute divorce, the trial court lacked authority to consider and grant plaintiffs motions to strike and dismiss defendant\u2019s counterclaim for equitable distribution where the record contained no judgment of absolute divorce or any indication that such a judgment had ever been entered. Equitable distribution may not precede a decree of absolute divorce. G.S. 50-21(a) (Supp. 1983).\nAppeal by defendant from Jones, Arnold, Judge. Order entered 8 November 1983 in WAYNE County District Court. Heard in the Court of Appeals 15 November 1984.\nPlaintiff husband, a retired military man, filed an action for an absolute divorce on 14 July 1983. Defendant wife answered and counterclaimed for equitable distribution, seeking at least 40% of plaintiffs annual military retirement pension. Pleading a prior judgment in an alimony action as a bar, plaintiff moved to dismiss and/or strike defendant\u2019s counterclaim. The trial court, found that the prior judgment in the alimony action was a property settlement which precluded any equitable distribution. The court granted plaintiffs motions to strike and dismiss defendant\u2019s counterclaim and defendant appealed.\nBraswell, Taylor & Brantley, by Roland C. Braswell, for plaintiff.\nPaul Jones for defendant."
  },
  "file_name": "0635-01",
  "first_page_order": 669,
  "last_page_order": 670
}