North Dakota

Divorce Residency Requirements To Get Divorce In North Dakota

To file for divorce in North Dakota, the filing spouse must be a resident of the state for at least six months before the date of filing. There is no requirement as to how long the responding spouse has to have lived in the state, or if they need an established residence at all.

Reasons For Divorce In North Dakota

It is possible to file for divorce in North Dakota on a fault or no-fault basis. This is possible whether you are filing a divorce without a lawyer or a standard court-based case. The no-fault ground for divorce in North Dakota is “irreconcilable differences.” There are also fault-based reasons for divorce, such as conviction of a felony, cruelty, adultery, abuse of drugs or alcohol, desertion of a year or longer, willful neglect and potentially other reasons.

Custody Of The Children In North Dakota

Custody agreements in North Dakota are determined based on what is in the best interests of the child. The court will consider many factors, including the moral fitness of the parents, wishes of a child mature enough to make such decisions, mental and physical wellbeing of all parties, and a child’s adjustment to home, school, and community, when they are making custody decisions.

Venue

In addition to the residency requirements, there are venue requirements in North Dakota. When you file for divorce in North Dakota, it should be done in the county in which the responding party lives, at the time it is presented. This is the case, whether an online divorce is filed or the divorce is filed in court with lawyers on both sides. If the respondent lives out of state, then it should be brought to the county in which the petitioning party lives.

Divorce Mediation

Mediation is one way to help ease the divorce process and smooth over difficult and misunderstood situations. Either before the divorce is filed or after it is initiated, parties can agree to submit any or all disputed issues to mediation. Doing this may allow the process to go to filing as an uncontested divorce, and thus will enable you to utilize the fast and easy services offered by Divorce.com.

Filing Fees

The court filing fees in North Dakota are charged in addition to the fees for using Divorce.com. These filing fees can vary from county to county. For more information on the costs, we provide an easy way to look up the filing fees for your area. This ensures that you have a clear picture of all expenses specific to your situation before moving forward.