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Child Support
 North
Dakota divorce laws, unlike most states, uses
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
will be accompanied with an explanation. The court
can order 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.
Excluded from
the calculation of 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.
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Child Custody
North
Dakota divorce laws, unlike most states, uses
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
will be accompanied with an explanation. The court
can order 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.
Excluded from
the calculation of 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.
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Visitation/Co-Parenting
During the process of a
divorce or separation proceeding, the parties
have the opportunity to create and agree to a
visitation (parenting) agreement. 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. If you anticipate
any problems with custody or visitation, we suggest
you own Child
Custody Strategies.
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Alimony/
Maintenance/ Spousal Support
North Dakota divorce statutes
specify the terms of this hot potato topic. Either
party may be ordered to pay alimony (it can also
be called spousal support or maintenance) to the
other spouse for support during life or for shorter
duration as the court deems just, taking into
consideration the circumstances of the parties.
In North Dakota, any support payments can influence
how the marital property distribution is awarded,
which is why it can become a very intricate part
of the final outcome of any divorce.
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Grounds
For Divorce
A divorce may be granted
under North Dakota divorce laws based on the following
grounds: 1. Adultery; 2. Extreme cruelty; 3. Willful
desertion for a period of one year; 4. Willful
neglect for a period of one year; 5. Habitual
intemperance for a period of one year; 6. Conviction
of a felony; 7. Insanity for a period of five
years; and, 8. Irreconcilable differences
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Marriage
Annulment
Marital Annulment
When a North Dakota court
declares a marriage annulment, they are declaring
a marriage void and illegal. A marriage annulment
(sometimes called a marital annulment) must be
petitioned to the court as divorce and separations
are. Your partner will be served. The burden of
proof is greater for an annulment than it is for
a divorce. In order to qualify for a petition
for annulment, one must cite and prove one of
the following grounds for 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- Bigamy
is when a married person enters into another marriage
without divorcing from his or her first 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.
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Marriage
Counseling/
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 parties' 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.
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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.
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Waiting
Period
Other than Residency
requirements, there are no waiting periods. |
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Grandparents Rights
The grandparents and great-grandparents
of an unmarried minor may be granted reasonable
visitation rights to the minor by the district
court upon a finding that visitation would be
in the best interests of the minor and would not
interfere with the parent child relationship.
The court shall consider the amount of personal
contact that has occurred between the grandparents
or great-grandparents and the minor and the minor's
parents.
State
Fact Sheets for Grandparents and Other Relatives
Raising Children |
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Divorce
Settlement
Upon
divorce, if the parties have not reached a property
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.
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Residency
Requirements
North Dakota divorce statutes
require that the plaintiff to a divorce action
be a resident in good faith of the State for at
least six months prior to granting a Decree of
Divorce.
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