What you need to know about Communicating Threats in North Carolina
Threatening to harm or kill a spouse, child, or other family member is a criminal offense in North Carolina. 
It doesn’t matter if the threats are made in person, online, or through text messages- communications that threaten bodily harm (physical harm to another person) may be deemed criminal and result in criminal charges.
If you are being threatened by someone close to you, it is important to know your rights and take action to protect yourself and your loved ones.
In this blog post, we will discuss what constitutes communicating a threat in North Carolina, the implications of Domestic Violence in Family Court, and the legal consequences that can come with it.
What is Communicating Threats in North Carolina?
Communicating threats includes things such as:
- Threats to Kill or Physically Injure another person
- Threats to injure (physically) someone’s spouse, the person’s child, parent, or sibling
- Threats to cause physical injury to dependents
The threat may be made indirectly or directly.
This means that making a threat through text messages, social media posts, phone calls, or in-person threats all constitute communicating threats.
North Carolina Communicating Threats Law
It is important to note that the communication to physically injure someone does not have to be directed at a specific person for it to be considered a crime.
For example, if you post on social media that you are going to kill your ex-spouse, that could be considered communicating a threat- even if your ex-spouse is not specifically named in the post. 
On the other hand, exaggerated, hyperbolic statements like, “Oh, he makes me so mad I could kill him” may not necessarily constitute communicating threats.
The law requires a reasonable person would fear for their physical safety, and the person threatened believes the threat.
What does “Reasonable Person” mean?
The reasonable person standard is an objective test applied in court to determine whether the defendant’s actions would have caused a reasonable person in the victim’s shoes to fear for their safety.
It is important to note that the reasonable person does not need to actually be scared, but a reasonable person threatened believes that they were in danger of a threat of physical harm.
What is considered Domestic Violence? 
Domestic Violence is a pattern of coercive, controlling behavior that is used by an intimate partner to gain or maintain power and control over the other intimate partner.
The use of physical violence, sexual violence, emotional abuse, economic abuse, and/or threats of violence may be used in Domestic Violence cases.
Communicating Threats is often one form of abuse that is used in Domestic Violence cases.
If you are a victim of domestic violence, it is important to know that there are resources available to help you.
The National Domestic Violence Hotline provides 24-hour support for victims of domestic violence.
You can also contact your local domestic violence shelter for assistance.
If you are in immediate danger, please call 911.
Finally, if you are a victim of someone communicating threats and/or domestic violence, please call the attorneys at Powers Law Firm PA.
We may be able to provide legal assistance or point you in the right direction in the event circumstances preclude representation.
With communicating threats matters, we believe establishing an attorney-client relationship with a lawyer well versed in criminal law and well as domestic law is a good idea.
Contact us now at: 704-342-HELP
What are the Consequences of Communicating Threats? 
Communicating threats is a Class 1 misdemeanor offense in North Carolina.
This means that someone convicted of this crime could face up to 120 days in jail (incarceration).
Communicating threats charges may also carry legal consequences, including the issuance of a domestic violence protective order, and can affect child custody and visitation.
Why hiring a Divorce Lawyer is So Important
Communicating Threats is ordinarily a misdemeanor criminal charge. There are instances when other related criminal charges may be brought in coordination with allegations of Communicating Threats.
For example, in the Domestic Violence context, Communicating Threats may be one of many related criminal charges such as Simple Assault, Assault on a Female, Injury to Personal Property, Assault Inflicting Serious Bodily Injury, and Felony Strangulation in North Carolina.
What if the Threat is Made Against a Child?
When a threat is made against a child, this may also be considered child abuse under North Carolina law.
Child Abuse is generally defined as:
Physical injury, sexual exploitation, sexual abuse, or grossly negligent treatment of a child who is younger than 18 years old. It can include parents, foster parents, custodians, and guardians.
If you have been threatened by someone and you are concerned for your safety or your child’s safety, it is important to contact law enforcement.
An experienced domestic violence attorney may be able to assist you in getting a protective order to help keep you and your family safe from further harm.
The Family Courts in Charlotte and throughout North Carolina take Communicating Threats and other instances of DV seriously.
We recommend victims seek legal representation without delay.
Can a Family Law Attorney help?
Again, if you are a victim of domestic violence, we think it is important to seek legal assistance as soon as possible.
An experienced Family Law attorney can help you understand the criminal justice system and can assist you in navigating the consequences in Family Court.
Civil Contempt of Court – Support, Custody, and Family Law Issues in NC
A Family Law attorney may recommend and further assist you get a protective order (DVPO) to help keep you and your family safe from further harm.
In North Carolina, that is often referred to as a Domestic Violence Protective Order or “DVPO.” Attorneys may also refer to it as a “50B Order.”
An experienced Family Law attorney can help you understand the criminal justice system and can assist you in navigating the consequences in Family Court.
Domestic Violence can impact Child Custody and Visitation when one parent willfully threatens another parent in the presence of the child may have long-lasting consequences to the child.
Felony Assault Inflicting Serious Bodily Injury 
As you might imagine, Felony Assaults in North Carolina carry substantial consequences both in criminal court and Family Court.
An assault that results in serious bodily injury is a Class F Felony in North Carolina.
Serious bodily injury may include bodily harm that:
- Creates a risk, a substantial risk, of death
- That causes a coma, disfigurement, or another permanent injury
- That causes a protracted condition that results in extreme pain
- Protracted or permanent impairment or loss of function of any bodily organ or member
- Results in hospitalization that is prolonged
Divorce Lawyers in Charlotte – Powers Law Firm PA
Communicating Threats is an all too common aspect of family law cases in Mecklenburg County.
If you are a victim of domestic violence, it is important to seek legal assistance as soon as possible both for yourself and your children.
The attorneys at Powers Law Firm PA are experienced in handling these types of cases and can help you understand the criminal justice system and navigate the consequences in Family Court.
Learn More
Contempt of Court in the Family Law Setting
N.C. Court of Appeals Family Law Update – Contempt of Court
The Powers Law Firm in Charlotte is dedicated to providing helpful information to people interested in the NC Divorce Laws.
To that end, we regularly post materials on our blog and website regarding advances in the law and legal rulings.
We believe good decisions during divorce are predicated on good information and sound legal advice. Divorce is complicated and sometimes an emotional, messy affair. We want to help people. That’s why we do what we do – Bill Powers, Charlotte Divorce Lawyer
What’s in this Blog Post?
In this blog post, we will discuss civil contempt in family law cases in North Carolina.
Civil contempt can serve as a powerful tool to enforce Court Orders.
In the family law context, it is often used to compel parents to comply with child custody and support orders. 
What’s new in Divorce in North Carolina?
N.C. Court of Appeals, on July 5, published a new batch of cases, two of which provided insight and clarity into some nuances within NC family law.
In Bossian v. Bossian, the Court—authored by Judge April Wood—touched on an array of issues including private modification of a custody order, effectuating a prior contempt order, and Rule 59 & Rule 60 Motions.
Background Fact Pattern
In Bossian, the parties were married in August 1998 and had two minor children before they eventually separated and divorced after February 2013.
A child custody and support order was entered in February 2015 granting primary custody of the parties’ two minor children to the Plaintiff-mother and secondary physical custody in the form of visitation during the minor children’s school breaks to the Defendant-father, who was living in Rhode Island.
The Order also required Defendant to pay $1,225.87 in monthly child support until the order was modified or terminated.
In March 2015, the court resolved the pending equitable distribution claim requiring Defendant to pay a $1,800 distributive award to Plaintiff from the proceeds following the sale of the marital home. These two orders remained in effect and were never modified by the court.
Shortly after, in January 2016, the parties privately agreed—absent the court’s involvement or permission—to modify the custody order allowing the parties’ younger minor son to move and live with Defendant-father, who ostensibly would assume primary custody.
The minor child remained with Defendant from January 2016 until July 2018 when he returned to North Carolina to live with Plaintiff. Defendant did not pay child support pursuant to the child support order during this period.
Later, in March 2020, Plaintiff filed a show cause motion to hold Defendant in contempt for Defendant’s failure to pay child support, unreimbursed medical expenses, and the distributive award pursuant to the March 2015 Order.
After a contempt hearing, the trial court entered an order in September 2020 holding Defendant in contempt for his failure to pay his aforementioned legal obligations, as well as awarding Plaintiff attorney’s fees.
The court set Defendant’s purge amount at $31,398.52 to be paid by the end of October 2020. The Contempt Order required Defendant to be taken into custody if the amount was not paid by the deadline.
A few days following the Contempt Order, Plaintiff filed a Rule 60 Motion for Relief to correct a clerical error resulting in a lower miscalculation of Defendant’s child support arrearages. 
Defendant filed a Rule 59 Motion for Relief from Civil Contempt and Attorney’s Fees arguing that no evidence was presented at the hearing of Defendant’s current ability to pay—a statutory requirement to be held in civil contempt—contesting his civil contempt adjudication.
Both the party’s respective motions were heard at a hearing in April 2021. The presiding judge granted Plaintiff’s Rule 60 Motion and denied Defendant’s Rule 59 Motion.
The judge concluded the hearing by inquiring whether Defendant had purged his contempt pursuant to the September 2020 Contempt Order. The judge found that Defendant had the present ability to purge his contempt and ordered Defendant to pay $9,300—a reduction from the previously ordered $31,398.52—and be taken into custody until he had satisfied this purge amount.
Defendant appealed the trial court’s granting of Plaintiff’s Rule 60 Motion, denial of Defendant’s Rule 59 Motion, and Defendant’s order to be taken into custody.
Court of Appeals’ Holding & Key Takeaways
The Court of Appeals in its reasoning provided several takeaways in its Bossian holding:
1. A Judge May Effectuate a Previously Adjudicated Contempt Order Without Providing New Notice to the Contemnor
Defendant’s first argument was that the trial court’s holding him in contempt and his arrest after the April 2021 hearing on the party’s respective Rule 59 and 60 motions was a violation of his due process rights because he was not provided notice of the potential contempt hearing and of his arrest.
The Court disagreed holding that so long as the original contempt order was properly initiated—via a judicial order to show cause—and the contemnor had notice of the order and has presently not purged his contempt, then it is within a trial court judge’s discretion whether to stay or effectuate the enforcement of a civil contempt order.
Neither the trial court’s use of a second contempt order to enforce the original contempt order, nor the modification of the original purge amount in a second contempt order, constitutes a “new” contempt order that would require new notice.
2. A Clerical Error in a Contempt Order Does Not Give a Contemnor Legal Justification to Not Comply with the Order
The next argument that Defendant makes is that because both parties were contending that there were errors in the original contempt order, his failure to make the ordered payments could not be willful because 
he did not have the ability to comply, thereby preventing him from being held in contempt.
The Court noted that two statutory elements of civil contempt are that the contemnor’s violation is willful (i.e., an ability to comply and an intentional failure to do so) and he must have the actual ability to take reasonable measures to comply. However, it disagreed with Defendant’s argument citing Rule 62(b), and held that absent a Rule 62 motion to stay a contempt order, a contemnor’s compliance is mandatory.
3. Private Agreement, Absent a Court Order, Does Not Justify Noncompliance with a Court Order
The final key takeaway from the Court of Appeals’ ruling in Bossian is a contemnor’s noncompliance is still willful regardless of if the parties privately agree to not comply with a court order.
Defendant argued that it was error for the trial court to deny his Rule 59 motion because the evidence showed that his non-payment of his child support obligation was not willful due to the parties’ private modification of the child custody agreement.
The Court was unpersuaded by this argument.
The Court emphasized that pursuant to N.C. law, a child support order can only be modified by the court via a pending child support action and a showing of changed circumstances.
The Court iterated, and then later reiterated, that parties may not modify a court order through extrajudicial written or oral agreement, and a party has an obligation to follow a court order until it has been lawfully changed via judicial decree.
Charlotte Divorce Lawyers – Powers Law Firm
- Equitable Distribution
- Civil Contempt
- Child Support
- Alimony
- Visitation
- Why you should hire a Divorce Lawyer
- Domestic Violence Protective Orders