NORTH DAKOTA DIVORCE
North Dakota law requires that the filing spouse (the Plaintiff) must have been a resident of the state for either at least six (6) months immediately prior to the filing of the Complaint, or at least 6 months prior to the entry of the Decree of Divorce.
If you have minor children living with your spouse in another state for over six months then you should consider filing in that state as that court has jurisdiction over the children. You spouse can waive that jurisdiction in writing.
County of Filing:
You should file the divorce in the county your spouse lives in, or in the county that you both lived in when you separated, or in your county if your spouse lives out of state. You or your spouse must have a North Dakota address in the county of filing. North Dakota civilian residents living overseas may file in North Dakota if they have maintained their residency in North Dakota.
MILITARY:
Active duty members of the military (or their spouses) may file in North Dakota if they have been stationed in North Dakota for six months or were residents of North Dakota when they entered active duty. Smart Divorce.com staff includes former active duty officers and enlisted personnel and are completely knowledgeable on the special military requirements and the “Soldiers and Sailors Civil Relief Act”. Our staff prides themselves on the service they provide our military members.
GROUNDS FOR DIVORCE: NO-FAULT or FAULT ?
North Dakota law allows no-fault divorce based on “irreconcilable differences” defined by statute as, “Those grounds which are determined by the court to be substantial reasons for not continuing the marriage and which make it appear that the marriage should be dissolved.”
WAITING PERIOD:
The parties must wait 20 days after the entry of judgment to marry again, unless they marry each other.
The law further requires that neither party to the divorce may remarry, except to each other, until sixty (60) days after the judgment of divorce is entered
PROPERTY OF THE MARRIAGE:
In a divorce, the property (land, house, buildings, and items of personal property) owned (and debts owed) by the couple is divided between the parties. In an uncontested divorce, this division is accomplished by means of a Marital Separation Agreement (MSA). You and your spouse must agree to the property and debt division and memorialize your agreement in the Marital Separation Agreement, which will be incorporated by reference into the Decree of Divorce that ultimately ends your marriage. You may agree to divide the property any way you like, as long as a basic fairness is maintained. You do not need to list items already divided or not an important issue in the divorce. You may revise the MSA after receipt of the documents from us by sending an email with your changes. There is never a charge for revisions at any time up to one year.
If you cannot agree on any item of this division, the dissolution of marriage transforms into a contested divorce. If at the final hearing the divorce is still contested we do not provide advice for that hearing. You may need to consult an attorney or be prepared to tell the judge why you feel your requested division of property is fair.
SPOUSAL SUPPORT:
Spousal Support is either agreed upon by the parties or determined by the judge in a contested hearing. We cannot give legal advice regarding spousal support but will include your request in the documents.
The questionnaire you fill out will outline the custody, visitation and support for the children. We will prepare the documents accordingly, and we will also prepare a Marital Separation Agreement (at no additional cost) which outlines in specific detail all the provisions regarding the children. Both parties must attend the parenting class or get a waiver. A list of the places in North Dakota to attend may be obtained from the court.
CHILD SUPPORT:
The child support will either be an amount you and your spouse agree upon, or it will be determined for you by the court, according to the North Dakota Child Support Guidelines. If you wish the court to calculate the amount then you will need to file the standardized Child Support Guidelines form and Child Support Income Statement/Affidavit which we provide. See “North Dakota Child Support Calculator” on any search engine such as Google, Yahoo, MSN, etc.
CUSTODY:
You may have Joint Legal Custody or Sole Legal Custody. This determines how the decisions are made regarding the raising of the child(ren).
Physical custody may be with one residential parent or “SPLIT CUSTODY” where the child(ren) live a substantial time with each parent.
VISITATION:
This can be any program agreed upon by the parties and may change from time to time. If the parties cannot agree then the state guidelines are in effect. State guidelines are outlined in the MSA provided with your documents. You do not need to list your present visitation agreement as it will change from time to time but you may if you wish. “No Visitation” or “Restricted Visitation” may be requested by supplying the reason on the questionnaire.
COURT ADDRESSES:
You must file the divorce documents in the Circuit Court in the county that you are filing in. Some court addresses for larger counties are as follows:
Burleigh County District Court: Burleigh County Courthouse, 514 East Thayer Ave, P.O. Box 1055, Bismarck, ND 58502-1055 Phone 701-222-6690
Stark County District Court: Stark County Courthouse, 51 3rd St. E., Suite 106, Dickinson, ND 58601 Phone 701-227-3184, Fax 701-227-3185
Ward County District Court: Ward County Courthouse, 315 SE 3rd St., P.O. Box 5005, Minot ND 58702-5005 Phone 701-857-6600
Stutsman County District Court: Stutsman County Courthouse, 511 2nd Ave. SE, Jamestown, ND 58401-4210 Phone 701-252-9042, Fax 701-251-1006
Cass County District Court: Cass County Courthouse, 211 S. 9th St., P.O. Box 2806, Fargo, ND 58108-2806 Phone 701-241-5645
Grand Forks County District Court: Grand Forks County Courthouse, P.O. Box 5939, Grand Forks, ND 58206-5939 Phone Civil 701-787-2715 Fax: 701-787-2716
Richland County District Court: Richland County Courthouse, 418 2nd Ave. N., Wahpeton, ND 58075 Phone 701-671-1524, Fax: 701-671-4444
FILING FEES:
The court filing fees for a divorce in North Dakota is approximately $80.
If your spouse won't sign and must be served, then the sheriff may charge a fee of around $25 to serve your spouse.
If you don't know the whereabouts of your spouse, then your spouse will need to be served by publication. The average publication fee is approximately $75.
You may call the Clerk of the Court in your county to determine the exact fees in your county.
METHODS OF SERVICE:
1. The most common way is to have your spouse sign the documents AFTER you have filed the complaint with the court. You can hand deliver the documents , mail them or have a third party deliver them to your spouse. This method is available even though your spouse is incarcerated.
2. If your spouse will not sign or you not not sure if your spouse will sign then you can get service by having the sheriff in spouse’s county serve a copy of the filed documents along with other documents requiring spouse’s signature. You can contact the sheriff in any state to serve your spouse. You can also get service by Certified Mail, (Return Receipt Requested) if your spouse lives out of state. If your spouse is incarcerated then you can get service by having the prison/jail officials serve your spouse.
3. Service by publication. If you cannot find your spouse after a diligent search then you can publish. The publication fee for the newspaper is approximately $65 but varies for different counties. Upon the filing of the Affidavit the clerk shall direct that service of notice be made by publication in a newspaper of general circulation in the county in which the complaint is filed. We provide all the required documents for service by publication.
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