Uncontested Divorce Petition Packet - North Dakota

NORTH DAKOTA UNCONTESTED-DIVORCE ROUTE WORKBOOK

Do not file this workbook. North Dakota's file-together route is available
only when both spouses agree in writing on 100 percent of the divorce issues
before filing. The Legal Self Help Center publishes separate current packets
for cases with and without children; its forms are not official court forms,
and courts are not required to accept them.

1. STOP—SELECT THE CURRENT COURT ROUTE

☐ File together—no children. Both spouses agree in writing on every issue,
and the current no-children packet fits all facts.

☐ File together—with children. Both spouses agree in writing on every
property, debt, support, parental-responsibility, parenting-time, and child-
support issue, and the current with-children packet fits all facts.

☐ One spouse starts the case. Stop using the file-together route. Use the
current plaintiff-started process, even if settlement may occur later.

☐ Default route. Stop. A missing answer is not a file-together agreement;
use the current default-motion process and its own notices and deadlines.

☐ Fault ground, missing spouse, disputed issue, unsafe negotiation, complex
asset, out-of-state order, tribal issue, or other excluded circumstance.
Stop and obtain route-specific review.

Selected court page and packet URL: [________________________________]

Packet revision or access date: [__/__/____]

Reviewed by: [________________________________]

2. RESIDENCY AND GROUND

Plaintiff residence—§ 14-05-17

☐ Plaintiff resided in North Dakota in good faith for the six months
immediately before commencement.

☐ If not, Plaintiff will have resided in North Dakota in good faith for the six
months immediately before entry of judgment.

• Plaintiff: [________________________________]
• Residence start date: [__/__/____]
• Commencement or proposed filing date: [__/__/____]
• Proposed judgment date: [__/__/____]
• Evidence and counsel calculation: [________________________________]

Irreconcilable differences

The selected no-fault ground is N.D.C.C. §§ 14-05-03(7) and 14-05-09.1.

• Facts supporting the requested finding: [________________________________]
• Other pending marital case or order: [________________________________]

3. COMPLETE PACKET CONTROL

List every document in the current route rather than using the former
all-in-one complaint, summons, admission, agreement, and judgment.

Confirm separately:

☐ Correct case caption, county, and judicial district

☐ Confidential-information documents

☐ Settlement agreement and every schedule

☐ Property and debt listing

☐ Parenting plan and child-support documents, if applicable

☐ Proposed findings, order, and judgment

☐ Fee or current fee-waiver request

☐ Local clerk or judicial requirements

4. 100-PERCENT AGREEMENT TEST

No blank, “reserved,” future agreement, or disputed item belongs in a
file-together submission unless the current packet and court permit it.

If any required issue remains unresolved, switch to the current started-case
route.

5. PROPERTY AND DEBT RECONCILIATION

N.D.C.C. § 14-05-24 requires equitable distribution. Do not omit an asset or
debt because it is titled individually or was acquired before marriage.

Valuation

• Agreed valuation date: [__/__/____]
• If no agreed date, initially scheduled trial date: [__/__/____]
• Sixty-days-before-trial date: [__/__/____]
• Federal-law valuation issue: [________________________________]
• Substantial value change: [________________________________]

Assets

Debts

A spouse-to-spouse allocation does not state that a creditor released a
borrower. Identify every separate deed, title, refinance, sale, payoff, or
third-party consent.

6. SPOUSAL SUPPORT

Use the current § 14-05-24.1 category, need/ability, duration, modification, and
termination framework.

☐ No support requested; disclosure and consideration:
[________________________________]

☐ Rehabilitative support: [________________________________]

☐ General-term support: [________________________________]

☐ Lump-sum support or property adjustment: [________________________________]

• Recipient need and reasonable expenses: [________________________________]
• Payor ability without undue economic hardship: [________________________________]
• Statutory factors and duration band: [________________________________]
• Amount, duration, payment method, and security: [________________________________]
• Modification limit and termination treatment: [________________________________]

Do not use “reserved” as a substitute for the complete written agreement the
file-together route requires.

7. CHILD-RELATED ROUTE

Complete only for the with-children packet.

• Child or children: [________________________________]
• Parentage established by: [________________________________]
• Child-custody jurisdiction: [________________________________]
• Protection, tribal, or other order: [________________________________]

Parenting plan—§ 14-09-30

Attach the current packet's complete plan addressing or explaining:

☐ Routine and major decisionmaking

☐ Information sharing and access

☐ Legal residence for school attendance

☐ Residential responsibility and full parenting schedule

☐ Transportation and safe exchanges

☐ Review and adjustment

☐ Dispute resolution

Child and medical support

Child support must be calculated even when the spouses agree. Section
75-02-04.1-12 requires credible evidence of the obligor's income and financial
circumstances showing that the agreed amount conforms to the guidelines.

• Current calculator or worksheet source: [________________________________]
• Obligor and income evidence: [________________________________]
• Guideline amount: $[________________________________]
• Any requested rebuttal criterion and evidence: [________________________________]
• Health insurance and medical support: [________________________________]
• Child-care and other expenses: [________________________________]

8. RETIREMENT, TAX, INSURANCE, AND ESTATE CONTROLS

This workbook makes no tax, benefit, coverage, beneficiary, probate, or title
conclusion.

An individual retirement plan may need a plan-specific separate order. The
court page states that the judge or referee will not draft that order.

9. RULE 8.3 AND ROUTE BOUNDARY

Rule 8.3 requires a post-service meeting, informational statement, preliminary
property/debt listing, and information exchange in a started case. The
file-together packet has its own prefiling document sequence.

☐ File-together route confirmed; current packet sequence followed.

☐ Case was already started or served; Rule 8.3 and the court's case-management
page reviewed.

☐ Thirty-day meeting date: [__/__/____]

☐ Seven-day filing date after meeting: [__/__/____]

☐ Paystubs, income, tax, pension, asset, debt, and expense documents exchanged.

☐ Scheduling, mediation, discovery, conference, and trial deadlines identified.

Do not combine the file-together, contested, response, and default deadlines.

10. SAFETY AND CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION

☐ Domestic violence, coercion, or unsafe direct negotiation is present.

☐ A protection, no-contact, criminal, juvenile, or tribal order exists.

☐ Address, account, child, or Social Security information requires protected
handling.

☐ Independent counsel or another safeguard is needed before agreement.

Current orders and safeguards: [________________________________]

Do not place protected addresses, full account numbers, or Social Security
numbers in this workbook.

11. FINAL PACKET RECONCILIATION

Before filing:

☐ Both spouses still agree in writing on every issue.

☐ Every form is the current version for the correct with-children or no-children
route.

☐ Names, dates, values, amounts, schedules, and defined terms agree across every
document.

☐ Settlement terms and proposed judgment match exactly.

☐ Separate deeds, titles, retirement orders, beneficiary forms, and other
implementation documents are identified.

☐ Required signatures and acknowledgments are complete on the actual forms.

☐ Filing fee or current waiver materials are confirmed from the live source.

☐ No blank term, incompatible option, or homemade replacement form remains.

12. REVIEW AND HANDOFF

• Attorney for Plaintiff: [________________________________]
• Attorney for Defendant: [________________________________]
• Current route and packet checked: [__/__/____]
• Complete disclosure checked: [__/__/____]
• Child-support calculation checked: [__/__/____]
• Settlement-to-judgment comparison completed: [__/__/____]
• Separate instruments prepared: [________________________________]
• Clerk-specific requirements checked: [________________________________]
• Unresolved issues: [________________________________]

CURRENT OFFICIAL SOURCES

• N.D.C.C. chapter 14-05
• N.D.C.C. chapter 14-09
• North Dakota Child Support Guidelines
• North Dakota Rule of Court 8.3
• North Dakota Courts—Divorce route and packets

Disclaimer: This is a route and reconciliation workbook, not a court form,
settlement, or judgment. Use the current selected packet and obtain licensed
North Dakota legal review before filing.