North Dakota Best Interest Factors: How Courts Decide Custody
When North Dakota parents can't agree on residential responsibility and parenting time, a judge must decide — and the decision isn't discretionary. Under N.D.C.C. § 14-09-06.2(1), the court is required to evaluate 13 specific statutory factors and make written findings on each one. Missing even a single factor in the findings can be grounds for appeal. Here's what each factor actually measures and how courts have applied them.
The 13 Factors, Explained
Factor (a): Love, Affection, and Emotional Ties
The court assesses the quality of the emotional bond between each parent and the child. This isn't about who the child "loves more" — it's about which parent has consistently provided nurture, affection, and emotional guidance. Evidence includes involvement in daily routines (bedtime, homework, meals), attendance at school events, and the quality of the parent-child interaction observed during evaluations.
Factor (b): Basic Needs and Safety
Can each parent provide adequate food, clothing, shelter, medical care, and a safe environment? The court looks at housing stability, employment, and whether either parent's living situation poses risks. This factor doesn't require wealth — it requires adequacy and safety.
Factor (c): Developmental Needs
The child's current developmental stage and each parent's ability to meet those needs now and in the future. For a toddler, this might mean the ability to maintain consistent routines. For a teenager, it might mean supporting academic goals or managing behavioral challenges.
Factor (d): Home Stability and Continuity
The sufficiency of each parent's home, the role of extended family, how long the child has lived in each environment, and the desirability of maintaining continuity. Courts generally prefer not to uproot a child from a stable school, neighborhood, and social network unless there's a compelling reason.
Factor (e): Willingness to Foster the Other Parent's Relationship
This is where parental alienation comes under heavy scrutiny. The court evaluates whether each parent actively encourages and supports the child's relationship with the other parent — or whether they undermine it through negative comments, gatekeeping, or interference with parenting time. A parent who consistently blocks or discourages the child's relationship with the other parent can lose residential responsibility on this factor alone.
Factor (f): Moral Fitness
The moral fitness of each parent, but only as it directly impacts the child. A 2025 bill (SB 2383) tried to eliminate this factor entirely, arguing it invited subjective judicial bias. The bill failed 12–35 in the Senate. Courts apply this narrowly: substance abuse, criminal behavior, or conduct that exposes the child to harm. A parent's personal lifestyle choices that don't affect the child typically receive little weight.
Factor (g): Mental and Physical Health
Each parent's mental and physical health, specifically as it impacts their ability to parent. A diagnosed condition alone doesn't disqualify a parent — the court asks whether the condition impairs the parent's capacity to provide care. Managed conditions with documented treatment carry far less weight than untreated conditions that affect daily functioning.
Factor (h): School, Community, and Social Records
The child's academic performance, community involvement, and social relationships. Courts examine whether a change in residential responsibility would disrupt the child's education, friendships, and extracurricular activities.
Factor (i): The Child's Preference
There is no fixed age at which a child can choose where to live. The judge conducts a private interview and evaluates whether the child has "sufficient intelligence, understanding, and experience" to express a sound preference. Even when a child's preference carries weight, the court examines whether it reflects genuine desire or parental coaching.
Factor (j): Domestic Violence
The most powerful factor in the statute. Credible evidence of domestic violence — a single incident causing serious bodily injury, use of a dangerous weapon, or a pattern of abuse — creates a rebuttable presumption against awarding residential responsibility to the perpetrator. Overcoming this presumption requires clear and convincing evidence.
Factor (k): Household Members
The interaction between the child and anyone who lives in or regularly visits either parent's home. This includes new partners, roommates, relatives, and their history of inflicting harm on children or adults.
Factor (l): False Allegations
If one parent makes false allegations of abuse or harm against the other parent — and the court finds they were not made in good faith — this factor works against the accusing parent. Courts distinguish between allegations that were investigated and found unsubstantiated (which may still have been made in good faith) and allegations that were fabricated.
Factor (m): Catch-All
Any other factor the court deems relevant. This gives judges flexibility to consider circumstances that don't fit neatly into the other 12 categories — such as a parent's work schedule, military deployment, or a child's special medical needs.
How Judges Actually Weigh These Factors
No single factor is automatically dispositive (except the domestic violence presumption in extreme cases). Judges weigh the totality of the evidence across all 13 factors. In practice, factors (d) (stability), (e) (willingness to co-parent), and (j) (domestic violence) tend to carry the most weight in contested cases.
The court's written findings must address each factor individually. If a judge's decision doesn't include specific findings on all 13, the North Dakota Supreme Court has reversed and remanded — which means starting the analysis over.
Preparing Your Case Around the Factors
Understanding these factors is critical whether you're heading to trial or negotiating in mediation. The North Dakota Custody & Parenting Plan Guide includes a best-interest factors worksheet that helps you organize evidence for each factor, identify your strongest and weakest areas, and prepare for how the other parent may present their case.
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