North Dakota Divorce Laws Dissolution of Marriage

ND Child Support

North Dakota divorce laws, unlike most states, use a flat percentage of the non-custodial parent's income, as opposed to the Income Shares model, which adds the two parents incomes together and then uses a chart to determine percentages for each. (It is important to note that your neighbor South Dakota computes child support using the latter method). Any deviation from state guidelines by the court will be accompanied with an explanation for the deviation. The court can order ND child support payments be guaranteed by wage assignments and wage withholding orders. All child support orders will be reviewed every 3 years, unless neither parent requests such a review.

Split Custody - In general, North Dakota child support is determined by the family law court by making calculations for the cost of supporting the child(ren) under each parent's care. A child support obligation must be determined for the child or children in each parent's custody, with the lesser obligation being subtracted from the greater obligation. The difference is the child support owed by the parent with the greater obligation.

Excluded from the calculation of North Dakota child support (and are typically items that reduce gross income) are: Medicare and Social Security taxes, Federal and state income taxes, union dues and health insurance payments, and any other fixed, mandatory payments.

Also taken into account in the calculation of both parents incomes are the amount of time the child spends with each parent, the number of offspring, and any special educational or medical expenses.

The court issues a decree requiring the payment of child support until the child attains majority, or continues the order until the end of the month during which the child is graduated from high school or attains the age of nineteen years, whichever occurs first.

If you are looking for a child support calculator to determine what might be required from the non-custodial parent, you can find such a child support calculator provided by the State of North Dakota.

North Dakota Child Custody

North Dakota divorce laws, like most states, mandate actions and decisions that are in the best interest of the child. The courts will examine factors that will help determine child custody and what may be in the best interest of the child. Some factors the court may consider when settling child custody issues include:

	The disposition of the parents to provide the child with food, clothing, medical care, or other remedial care recognized and permitted under the laws of this state in lieu of medical care, and other 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 record of the child
	The reasonable preference of the child, if the court deems the child to be of sufficient intelligence, understanding, and experience to express a preference
	Evidence of domestic violence
	The interaction and interrelationship, or the potential for interaction and interrelationship, of the child with any person who resides in, is present, or frequents the household of a parent and who may significantly affect the child's best interests. 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
	Any other factors considered by the court to be relevant to a particular child custody dispute

Visitation
Co Parenting

During the process of a divorce or separation proceeding, the parties have the opportunity to create and agree to a Child Custody Schedule. Should they be unable to fashion the visitation schedule, the court will impose its own on the couple. Either way, it is wise to consider and incorporate the following considerations into the agreement:

How is the decreed custody defined?
What are the rights and responsibilities?
Who has legal custody?
Which holiday does the child spend with you?
What time and where may the other parent pick the child up?
What time should the child be returned home?
What is the procedure to follow if either of you are running
late and won't be there on time?
How much notice should you be given if they are planning a vacation?
How far away may the other spouse move?
What about future partners?
Should those partners stay overnight in front of the children?

The visitation agreement is likely to contain the following details as the basis the non-custodial parents time with the children: alternate weekend visitation (3-day weekends included), mid-week visitation, sharing of the children during periods of school recess -winter, spring and summer, New Year's Eve, Easter, Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, Thanksgiving, and Christmas with one parent or the other in alternate years, Father's Day with Father, Mother's Day with Mother, alternate years on the children's birthdays, and open communication by phone and computer.

Be aware that you have to guide your side of the divorce. Don't rely that your attorney will think of everything. You set the course; your lawyer navigates. Familiarize yourself with your state's divorce laws. If you anticipate any problems with custody or visitation, we suggest you own Child Custody Strategies.   

Spousal Support
Alimony
Maintenance

Grounds For Divorce

A divorce may be granted under ND divorce laws based on the following grounds for divorce:

	Adultery;
	Extreme cruelty;
	Willful desertion for a period of one year;
	Willful neglect for a period of one year;
	Habitual intemperance for a period of one year;
	Conviction of a felony;
	Insanity for a period of five years; and,
	Irreconcilable differences

Marriage Annulment
Marital Annulment

	Fraud & Duress- If you have given your consent for the marriage under a threat or duress, you can get annulment under North Dakota annulment laws,
	Bigamy- When a married person enters into another marriage without divorcing from his or her prior spouse and is a valid ground for annulment,
	Mental illness- your spouse isn't likely to gain back herself, and
	Physical disability- unable to consummate the marriage.

Mediation
Marriage Counseling

Marriage Separation
Legal Separation
Marital Separation

For a legal separation (sometimes called a marital separation), one must petition the court in much the same fashion as a divorce, by claiming grounds in a complaint and having the partner served. The decree of separation in North Dakota can be temporary or permanent. A Legal Separation Agreement must be submitted to the court, resolving all issues between the couple except marital status. That remains married and without the ability to remarry. The court will likely include in the decree an order requiring a party to pay for spousal support and for the support of any minor children of the parties. The decree will likely provide for the equitable division of the property and debts of the parties. Legal separation is sometimes pursued when one of the parties wants to stay married for religious reasons, wants the advantage of deductibility of spousal support payments for income tax reasons, wants to maintain various insurance coverage's, or do not want to wait the state statutory waiting period for termination of marital status.

How to file for legal separation is similar to the process of filing for a dissolution (divorce). You will use the same petition, file your separation papers, have your spouse served with a summons to answer the petition in a timely manner. Links to divorce forms can be found at the top of this page.    

Waiting Period

Other than Residency requirements, there are no waiting periods.   

Grandparents Rights

Divorce Settlement
Distribution of Assets

If the parties have not reached a property or divorce settlement, the court will equitably distribute the real and personal property of the parties as it deems just and proper. North Dakota divorce statutes mandate that this state be treated as an "equitable distribution" state. When the parties are unable to reach an agreement, the Court will first determine which assets and debt are marital, and will subsequently divide the remainder in an equitable manner (equitable does not necessarily mean equal).

Did you come into this marriage owning a house? Concerned about the equity in that house that you brought into the marriage and might become part of a divorce settlement? Here's how it works generally. What you brought into the marriage is usually all yours. However, any appreciation of the house or the property value is normally treated as a "marital asset", meaning that you will likely forfeit a third to a half of that appreciation to your spouse in the divorce.  

Residency Requirements