Child custody laws in North Dakota:

Child custody laws in North Dakota: 

When parents are unable to agree on legal and physical custody, the court will make the determination, taking into account such things as:

- The emotional ties the child has with each parent, as well as their ability to love, care for, and provide guidance for the child.

- Each parent's ability to provide adequate food, clothing, housing, and a safe environment for the child.

- The child's developmental needs and each parent's capacity to meet those needs, currently and in the future.

- How long the child has lived in each parent's home, as well the stability of that environment, including any extended family, and how desirable it is to maintain continuity in the child's life concerning the home, school, and community.

- Each parent's willingness to support the child's close relationship with the other parent.

- How each parent's moral fitness will affect the child.

- The physical and mental health of each parent to the extent that it affects the child.

- The preferences of the child regarding custody, taking into consideration age and maturity.

- The evidence of domestic abuse, especially if it resulted in great bodily harm, involved the use of a dangerous weapon, or reveals a pattern of violence. In such cases, physical custody will not be awarded to the violent parent.

- The interaction between the child and anyone who is living with, or frequently visits, a parent's home who may affect the child's best interest (especially if that person has a history of abuse).

- Falsely accusing the other parent of harming the child.

- Any other issues the court deems relevant.

Every child custody order will include a parenting plan, determined either mutually between the parents, or issued by the court. The parenting plan shall detail at a minimum the decision-making responsibilities for the child, legal residence for school purposes, custodial responsibilities, a parenting (visitation) schedule, visitation transportation of the child, methods to modify the parenting plan, and provisions for resolving disputes.

Unless the parents agree in writing or include a provision in their parenting plan, they cannot petition for a change in custody any sooner than two years after the initial custody order was established. A modification in residential custody may be granted after the two year period if the court determines there has been a material change in the circumstances of the child or the parents, or if changing custody is in the child's best interest.

The two-year time limit doesn't apply if the court determines:

- A parent is continually denying or interfering with the other parent's parenting time;

- The child's present environment may jeopardize his or her physical or emotional health or impair the child's emotional development; or

- The custodial responsibility for the child has changed to the other parent for longer than 6 months.