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North Dakota Divorce Law Summary
Introduction
The decision to remain married or file for divorce is one of the most challenging and impactful choices you will ever have to make.
Educating yourself on your state’s divorce laws and process is a crucial first step to making informed and well-thought-out decisions about your options.
This North Dakota summary provides you with an essential overview of your state’s divorce laws and process as it relates to the following topics:
- Residency Requirement
- Grounds for Divorce
- Separation
- Property Distribution
- Alimony – Spousal Support
- Child Custody
- Child Support
- Premarital Agreements
- Mediation
Residency Requirement
A legal separation or divorce may not be granted unless the plaintiff has lived in North Dakota for six months immediately before filing the petition.
The action must be brought in the county where the defendant or one of the defendants resides at the time of the commencement of the action.
Grounds For Divorce
No-Fault Grounds
No-fault divorce is the most common ground for divorce in North Dakota. Either spouse may assert that the marriage has irretrievably broken down and there is no chance of reconciliation.
Fault-Based Grounds
While less common, North Dakota recognizes several fault-based grounds for divorce, including:
- Adultery
- Extreme cruelty
- Willful desertion
- Willful neglect
- Habitual drug and alcohol abuse
- Conviction of felony
Separation
In North Dakota, separation is not a formal legal status like divorce. However, it can impact divorce proceedings. In North Dakota, spouses may choose to live apart while deciding whether to reconcile or proceed with divorce.
Should the spouses decide to divorce, a separation agreement can be converted into a settlement agreement.
Many couples opt for mediation to resolve issues during separation, which can lead to more amicable divorce proceedings.
Watch The North Dakota Hartland Law Office Discusses the Different Types Of Child Custody In North Dakota:
Property Distribution
When a divorce is granted, the court shall make an equitable distribution of the parties’ property and debts. The court may redistribute property in a post-judgment proceeding if a party fails to disclose property and debts as required by rules adopted by the court or fails to comply with the terms of a court order distributing property and debts.
Alimony – Spousal Support
In North Dakota, alimony, or spousal support, is intended to provide financial assistance to spouses after their divorce.
There are three types of alimony in North Dakota:
Temporary Alimony: This type of alimony is provided during the divorce proceedings to help a lower-earning spouse maintain a reasonable standard of living.
Permanent Alimony: This type of alimony usually involves long-term marriages. It is granted after the divorce and can continue indefinitely.
Rehabilitative Alimony: This form of alimony is awarded to support a spouse until they can become self-sufficient, often by acquiring additional education and job training.
Factors considered by the court in determining alimony include:
- Length of the marriage
- Financial needs and resources of both spouses
- Standard of living during the marriage
- Age and health of both spouses
- Contributions to the marriage of both spouses
Child Custody
Custody may be awarded to either the father or the mother. For custody, the best interests and welfare of the child are determined by the court’s consideration and evaluation of all factors affecting the child’s best interests and welfare of the child.
These factors include all of the following when applicable:
- The love, affection, and other emotional ties that exist between the parents and child.
- The capacity and disposition of the parents to give the child love, affection, and guidance and to continue the child’s education.
- The parents’ disposition to provide the child with food, clothing, medical care, or other remedial care is recognized and permitted under the laws of this state in place of medical care and different material needs.
- The length of time the child has lived in a stable, satisfactory environment and the desirability of maintaining continuity.
- The permanence, as a family unit, of the existing or proposed custodial home.
- The moral fitness of the parents.
- The mental and physical health of the parents.
- The home, school, and community records of the child.
- The child’s reasonable preference is determined if the court deems the child to be of sufficient intelligence, understanding, and experience to express a preference.
- Evidence of domestic violence. The court shall consider that person’s history of inflicting, or tendency to inflict, physical harm, bodily injury, assault, or the fear of physical harm, bodily injury, or assault on other persons.
- The making of false allegations not made in good faith, by one parent against the other, of harm to a child.
- Any other factors the court considers relevant to a particular child custody dispute.
Child Support
In North Dakota, child support is governed by specific guidelines to ensure that children receive adequate financial support from both parents.
The North Dakota Child Support Guidelines provide a formula that determines the basic support obligation based on:
- The income of both parents
- The number of children needing support
- Other factors like health insurance costs and childcare expenses
The Department of Human Services shall establish child support guidelines to assist courts in determining the amount a parent should be expected to contribute toward the child’s support under this section.
Premarital Agreement
The right of a child to support may not be adversely affected by a premarital agreement.
Parties to a premarital agreement may contract concerning:
- The rights and obligations of each of the parties in any of the property of either or both of them whenever and wherever acquired or located;
- The right to buy, sell, use, transfer, exchange, abandon, lease, consume, expend, assign, create a security interest in, mortgage, encumber, dispose of, or otherwise manage and control the property.
- The disposition of property upon separation, marital dissolution, death, or the occurrence or nonoccurrence of any other event;
- The modification or elimination of spousal support; and
- Any other matter, including their rights and obligations, is not in violation of public policy or a statute imposing a criminal penalty.
Mediation
In any proceeding involving an order, modification of an order, or enforcement of an order for the custody, support, or visitation of a child in which the custody or visitation issue is contested, the court may order mediation at the party’s own expense.
The court may not order mediation if the custody, support, or visitation issue involves or may involve physical or sexual abuse of any party or the child of any party to the proceeding.
Sources and References
North Dakota Legal Self-Help Center
Cornell Legal Information Institute – Divorce
