IF you live in North Dakota, you can find divorce laws, divorce forms, lawyers, and support services here. You can also find more information in the divorce articles section.

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DIVORCE & SEPARATION FORMS

Divorce & Separation Forms - uslegalforms link
Online Divorce - divorcesource link

FAMILY LAW RESOURCES

North Dakota Child Support Guidelines
North Dakota Child Support Calculator
North Dakota Child Support Enforcement

DIVORCE LAWYERS & FIRMS

Need a Divorce Lawyer? LegalMatch allows you to present your case, and respond only to attorneys who want to help you. It's Free & Confidential. You can post your legal issues with LegalMatch and receive a reply from qualified attorneys who can handle your case. LegalMatch is a good directory that empowers consumers to locate and thoroughly review the experience, availability and price of pre-screened attorneys before deciding whom to contact.

UNCONTESTED DIVORCE FORMS

WITH NO Children

No Children and No Marital Home
No Children and Dividing Proceeds From the Sale of Marital Home
No Children and Transfer of Marital Home From One Spouse to the Other

WITH Children
With Children and One Parent Has Legal and Physical Custody
With Children and Both Parents Have Legal Custody and One Parent Has Physical Custody

When You CANNOT LOCATE Your Spouse
State Specific - Divorce Software - Missing Spouse - With No Children

DIVORCE FORM PREPARATION

Divorces can be painful and complicated, but they do not have to be. LegalZoom can help you obtain your uncontested divorce if you simply follow their three-step plan. They'll prepare your divorce forms, and other documentation that may be needed, review them for consistency and completeness, and provide you with all of the necessary paperwork within 7-10 business days. Start your North Dakota divorce form preparation today.

COUNSELING

BACKGROUND CHECKS

Conduct Background Checks and Investigations - Find people, unlisted phone numbers, obtain vital statistics, criminal record checks, credit record checks, sex offender searches, driving and vehicle records, property records, general public records, business registration and property resources.

DOMESTIC VIOLENCE RESOURCES

North Dakota Domestic Violence Crisis Assistance
North Dakota Domestic Violence Shelters and Hotlines

SUPPORT

Support Groups

NORTH DAKOTA DIVORCE LAW RESOURCES

North Dakota Divorce Statutes
North Dakota Domestic Relations and Divorce Statutes

RESIDENCY REQUIREMENTS AND WHERE TO FILE: A separation or divorce may not be granted unless the plaintiff has been a resident of the state for six months before filing the petition. If the plaintiff has not been a resident of this state for the six months preceding commencement of the action, a separation or divorce may be granted if the plaintiff in good faith has been a resident of this state for the six months immediately preceding entry of the decree of separation or divorce. The action must be brought in the county in which the defendant or one of the defendants resides at the time of the commencement of the action. [Based on North Dakota Century Code; Chapters 14-05-17 and 28-04-05]

LEGAL GROUNDS FOR DIVORCE: Divorces may be granted for any of the following causes:

1. Adultery;
2. Extreme cruelty;
3. Willful desertion;
4. Willful neglect;
5. Abuse of alcohol or controlled substances;
6. Conviction of felony; or
7. Irreconcilable differences.
[Based on North Dakota Century Code; Chapters 14-05-03]

LEGAL SEPARATION: The court may grant a temporary or permanent decree of separation for any cause for which a divorce may be decreed. Upon the granting of a separation, the court may 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 may also provide for the equitable division of the property and debts of the parties. [Based on North Dakota Century Code; Chapters 14-05-03.1 and 14-05-27]

MEDIATION OR COUNSELING REQUIREMENTS: 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. [Based on North Dakota Century Code; Chapters 14-09.1-02]

PROPERTY DISTRIBUTION: When a divorce is granted, the court shall make an equitable distribution of the property and debts of the parties. The court may redistribute property in a post-judgment proceeding if a party has failed to disclose property and debts as required by rules adopted by the supreme court or the party fails to comply with the terms of a court order distributing property and debts. [Based on North Dakota Century Code; Chapters 14-05-24]

ALIMONY/MAINTENANCE/SPOUSAL SUPPORT: Taking into consideration the circumstances of the parties, the court may require one party to pay spousal support to the other party for any period of time. [Based on North Dakota Century Code; Chapters 14-05-24.1]

CHILD CUSTODY: Custody may be awarded to either the father or the mother. For the purpose of custody, the best interests and welfare of the child is determined by the court's consideration and evaluation of all factors affecting the best interests and welfare of the child. These factors include all of the following when applicable:

1. The love, affection, and other emotional ties existing between the parents and child;
2. The capacity and disposition of the parents to give the child love, affection, and guidance and to continue the education of the child;
3. 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;
4. The length of time the child has lived in a stable satisfactory environment and the desirability of maintaining continuity;
5. The permanence, as a family unit, of the existing or proposed custodial home;
6. The moral fitness of the parents;
7. The mental and physical health of the parents;
8. The home, school, and community record of the child;
9. The reasonable preference of the child, if the court deems the child to be of sufficient intelligence, understanding, and experience to express a preference;
10. Evidence of domestic violence;
11. 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;
12. The making of false allegations not made in good faith, by one parent against the other, of harm to a child.
13. Any other factors considered by the court to be relevant to a particular child custody dispute.

[Based on North Dakota Century Code; Chapters 14-09-06.2]

CHILD SUPPORT: The court may compel either or both of the parents to provide for the support of their children. A judgment or order requiring the payment of child support until the child attains majority continues as to the child 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: a) The child is enrolled and attending high school and is eighteen years of age prior to the date the child is expected to be graduated; and b) The child resides with the person to whom the duty of support is owed.

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 support of the child under this section. [Based on North Dakota Century Code; Chapters 14-09-08, 14-09-08.2, 14-09-09.7]

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 with respect to:

1. 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;
2. 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 property;
3. The disposition of property upon separation, marital dissolution, death, or the occurrence or nonoccurrence of any other event;
4. The modification or elimination of spousal support;
5. he making of a will, trust, or other arrangement to carry out the provisions of the agreement;
6. The ownership rights in and disposition of the death benefit from a life insurance policy;
7. The choice of law governing the construction of the agreement;
8. Any other matter, including their personal rights and obligations, not in violation of public policy or a statute imposing a criminal penalty.

A premarital agreement is not enforceable if the party against whom enforcement is sought proves that: a) That party did not execute the agreement voluntarily; or b) The agreement was unconscionable when it was executed and, before execution of the agreement, that party: (1) Was not provided a fair and reasonable disclosure of the property or financial obligations of the other party; (2) Did not voluntarily sign a document expressly waiving any right to disclosure of the property or financial obligations of the other party beyond the disclosure provided; and (3) Did not have notice of the property or financial obligations of the other party.

If a provision of a premarital agreement modifies or eliminates spousal support and that modification or elimination causes one party to the agreement to be eligible for support under a program of public assistance at the time of separation or marital dissolution, a court, notwithstanding the terms of the agreement, may require the other party to provide support to the extent necessary to avoid that eligibility. [Based on North Dakota Century Code; Chapters 14-03.1]

You can find more divorce information in the following articles: