23.0117.02000
Sixty-eighth
Legislative Assembly HOUSE BILL NO. 1037
of North Dakota
Introduced by
Legislative Management
(Judiciary Committee)
1 A BILL for an Act to amend and reenact section 14-05-24.1 of the North Dakota Century Code,
2 relating to spousal support; and to provide for application.
3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF NORTH DAKOTA:
4 SECTION 1. AMENDMENT. Section 14-05-24.1 of the North Dakota Century Code is
5 amended and reenacted as follows:
6 14-05-24.1. Spousal support.
7 1. As used in this section:
8 a. "Length of marriage" means from the date of the marriage until the service of a
9 summons for an action for legal separation or divorce.
10 b. "Material change in circumstances" means a change that substantially affects the
11 financial abilities or needs of the parties and which was not contemplated by the
12 parties at the time of the original award.
13 2. Taking into consideration the circumstances of the parties, theThe court may not
14 award permanent spousal support. Upon consideration of the provisions of this
15 section, the court may require one party to pay spousal support to the other party for a
16 limited period of time in accordance with this sectionupon expressly finding:
17 a. The recipient lacks sufficient property or income or the property or income is
18 insufficient to enable the recipient to provide for the recipient's reasonable needs,
19 considering the marital standard of living; and
20 b. The payor has the ability to supply those means without undue economic
21 hardship. The court may modify its spousal support orders.
22 3. In addition to any other factors the court considers relevant in determining the amount
23 and duration of spousal support, the court shall consider:
24 a. The age of the parties;
Page No. 1 23.0117.02000
Sixty-eighth
Legislative Assembly
1 b. The earning ability of each party;
2 c. The duration of the marriage;
3 d. The conduct of the parties during the marriage;
4 e. The station in life of each party;
5 f. The circumstances and necessities of each party;
6 g. The health and physical condition of each party; and
7 h. The financial circumstances of the parties as shown by the property owned at the
8 time of the divorce, including the value of the property at the time of the divorce,
9 the income-producing capacity of the property, and whether the property was
10 acquired before or after the marriage.
11 4. After considering the factors in subsection 3, the court may award:
12 a. Rehabilitative spousal support when it is possible to restore a spouse to
13 independent economic status or to equitably divide the burden of the divorce by
14 increasing that spouse's earning capacity.
15 b. General term spousal support when a spouse is not capable of rehabilitation,
16 self-support, or to minimize the burden of the divorce.
17 c. Lump sum spousal support as additional marital property to a spouse or the court
18 may otherwise adjust the distribution of the marital property and debt to eliminate
19 the need for spousal support or to reduce the amount or the duration of the
20 spousal support.
21 5. Except upon written findings by the court which require a deviation beyond the time
22 limits of this section is necessary, spousal support terminates upon the following:
23 Length of Duration of spousal support award as percentage of
24 marriage the number of months of the length of the marriage
25 Less than 5 years Up to 50%
26 Between 5 and 10 years Up to 60%
27 Between 10 and 15 years Up to 70%
28 Between 15 and 20 years Up to 80%
29 20 years or more Duration agreed upon by parties
30 6. The court may modify its spousal support order, subject to the following limitations:
Page No. 2 23.0117.02000
Sixty-eighth
Legislative Assembly
1 a. If a material change in circumstances occurs during the rehabilitative period,
2 rehabilitative spousal support may be modified.
3 b. If a material change in circumstances occurs, general term spousal support may
4 be modified.
5 7. Upon the filing of a judgment, the parties may not seek and the court may not order a
6 modification of lump sum spousal support.
7 8. The parties may expressly preclude or limit the modification of spousal support
8 through a written agreement that is part of the judgment for divorce.
9 9. Unless otherwise agreed to by the parties in writing, spousal support is terminated
10 upon the remarriage or death of the spouse receiving support. The court may require
11 reasonable security from the payor spouse in the event of the payor's death.
12 Immediately upon remarriage, the spouse receiving support shall provide notice of the
13 remarriage to the payor spouse at the last known address of the payor spouse.
14 310. Unless otherwise agreed to by the parties in writing, upon an order of the court based
15 upon a preponderance of the evidence that the spouse receiving support has been
16 habitually cohabiting with another individual in a relationship analogous to a marriage
17 for one year or more, the court shall terminate spousal support.
18 4. Subsections 2 and 3 do not apply to rehabilitative spousal support.
19 11. There is a rebuttable presumption that spousal support terminates upon the payor's
20 attaining full retirement age for social security purposes. The rebuttable presumption
21 may be overcome if the court determines spousal support should continue based on
22 the following factors:
23 a. The ages of the parties at the time of the marriage, the time of the entry of the
24 spousal support award, and the time of the application for retirement;
25 b. The degree and duration of the economic dependency of the recipient upon the
26 payor during the marriage;
27 c. Whether the recipient has foregone, relinquished, or otherwise sacrificed claims,
28 rights, or property in exchange for a more substantial or longer spousal support
29 award;
30 d. The duration or amount of spousal support already paid;
31 e. The health of the parties at the time of the retirement application;
Page No. 3 23.0117.02000
Sixty-eighth
Legislative Assembly
1 f. Assets of the parties at the time of the retirement application;
2 g. Sources of income, both earned and unearned, of the parties, including whether
3 the payor spouse intends to continue employment;
4 h. The ability of the recipient to have saved adequately for retirement; and
5 i. Any other factors the court deems relevant.
6 SECTION 2. APPLICATION. It is the intent of the sixty-eighth legislative assembly that this
7 Act becomes effective on August 1, 2023, and applies to actions for divorce or legal separation
8 filed on or after August 1, 2023.
Page No. 4 23.0117.02000
Statutes affected: INTRODUCED: 14-05-24.1
FIRST ENGROSSMENT: 14-05-24.1
Enrollment: 14-05-24.1