Whitaker v. Whitaker

VAUGHN, Judge.

The question presented is as follows: In an action for alimony without divorce based on abandonment, does the failure of defendant to file answer constitute an admission of the abandonment? G.S. 50-16.8(a), effective 1 October 1967, provides that “the procedure in actions for alimony and actions for alimony pendente lite shall be as in other civil actions.”

There is no question but that an answer is required in “other civil actions.” “There shall be a complaint and an answer.” G.S. 1A-1, Rule 7(a). (Emphasis added.) The effect of failure to respond with a required pleading (as…