North Dakota courts determine custody judgments by determining what type of custody arrangement would be in the best interests of the child in the situation. In North Dakota, your custody arrangement will cover both physical custody and legal custody, which are referred to as “residential responsibility” and “decision-making responsibility” respectively.
A parent who has “residential responsibility” for a child is the parent who resides with the child most of the time. The “custodial parent” is the parent who has main residential responsibilities.
A parent who has “decision-making responsibility” for their child can make significant educational, medical, legal, and religious decisions on his or her behalf.
According to state law, the best interests and welfare of a child are decided by a court’s study and review of all elements impacting the best interests and welfare of the child in order to determine parental rights and obligations.
When appropriate, these considerations encompass all of the following factors: N.D. Cent. Code § 14-09-06.2
- The love, affection, and other emotional ties existing between the parents and child and the ability of each parent to provide the child with nurture, love, affection, and guidance;
- The ability of each parent to assure that the child receives adequate food, clothing, shelter, medical care, and a safe environment.
- The child’s developmental needs and the ability of each parent to meet those needs, both in the present and in the future.
- The sufficiency and stability of each parent’s home environment, the impact of extended family, the length of time the child has lived in each parent’s home, and the desirability of maintaining continuity in the child’s home and community.
- The willingness and ability of each parent to facilitate and encourage a close and continuing relationship between the other parent and the child.
- The moral fitness of the parents, as that fitness impacts the child.
- The mental and physical health of the parents, as that health impacts the child.
- The home, school, and community records of the child and the potential effect of any change.
- If the court finds by clear and convincing evidence that a child is of sufficient maturity to make a sound judgment, the court may give substantial weight to the preference of the mature child.
- Evidence of domestic violence.
- The interaction and inter-relationship, 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 making of false allegations not made in good faith, by one parent against the other, of harm to a child.
- Any other factors considered by the court to be relevant to a particular parental rights and responsibilities dispute.
There is no single factor that is more significant than another since the court will consider all of the information given that pertains to these criteria in order to determine what is in the best interest of the kid.
Joint Custody
When a judge assigns residential duty and decision-making authority to parents, it might be either joint or sole responsibility.
Couples that have joint physical custody (also known as “joint residential responsibility”) will both spend significant amounts of time with their children, albeit not always in the same proportion.
If a couple has joint legal custody (also known as “joint decision-making responsibility”), they will share equal responsibility for the raising of their children and will collaborate on significant educational, medical, and religious choices concerning the child.
There is no presumption as to which parent will do more to promote the best interests and welfare of the child in the relationship between the mother and father, whether they are married or not.