How to modify child custody and parenting time in North Dakota

Sources last checked 7 November 2026. Information only, not legal advice. This page rests on the text of North Dakota Century Code chapter 14-09 (parent and child), in particular section 14-09-06.6 (limits on changing primary residential responsibility) and section 14-09-06.2 (best interests), from the chapter PDF on ndlegis.gov. North Dakota says “primary residential responsibility” and “parenting time”. Read what we could not confirm below.

North Dakota divorce kit Child custody in North Dakota Modifying child support and spousal support in North Dakota After your divorce: changing a support or custody order

The short version

North Dakota is stricter than most states about timing and procedure. Section 14-09-06.6 sets a two-year waiting period, a paper-first screening where the judge can reject your motion without a hearing, and, after two years, a two-part test: a material change and a modification that is necessary for the child. The burden is yours: “the burden of proof is on the moving party”. This page covers changing which parent has primary residential responsibility. For support instead, see modifying child support and spousal support in North Dakota.

The test, step by step

Two-year wait. Unless you both agree in writing or the parenting plan allows it, no motion to modify primary residential responsibility may be made within two years after the order was entered, except in the situations listed next. After a motion is decided on its merits, a new motion generally cannot be filed for two years either.
Exceptions to the wait. The wait does not apply if the court finds “The persistent and willful denial or interference with parenting time”, that the child’s present environment may endanger the child’s physical or emotional health or impair emotional development, or that primary residential responsibility has already changed to the other parent for longer than six months. Inside the two years, the court must also find the change is “necessary to serve the best interests of the child”.
Paper screening. You file moving papers and supporting affidavits and give notice. The court decides on briefs and without oral argument or an evidentiary hearing, and it denies the motion unless you have “established a prima facie case justifying a modification”. Only then does the court set an evidentiary hearing.
After two years. The court may modify if, based on facts that arose since the prior order or were unknown to the court then, “a material change has occurred in the circumstances of the child or the parties”, and the modification is “necessary to serve the best interests of the child”.
By agreement. The court may modify at any time if it finds that a stipulated agreement to modify is in the child’s best interests.

Best-interest factors

Section 14-09-06.2 tells the court to weigh all factors affecting the child’s best interests. They include each parent’s emotional ties, ability to meet the child’s needs, home stability, willingness to support the child’s relationship with the other parent, the parents’ health as it affects the child, the child’s home, school and community record, and the preference of a mature child. Domestic violence evidence must be considered, and a qualifying pattern or serious incident creates a rebuttable presumption against awarding residential responsibility to the abusive parent. False allegations of harm to a child, made in bad faith, are also a factor.

Forms and filing

We did not locate a North Dakota court form for this motion. The court that entered your decree normally keeps the case, so ask its clerk about forms, fees and local rules. Because the judge decides first on affidavits alone, the facts in your affidavit matter more than in most states. See child custody in North Dakota for more.

What we could not confirm

Case law. We read the statute only. We did not read North Dakota Supreme Court opinions on what counts as a material change, how strict the prima facie screen is, or how courts treat a move.
Other kinds of change. This page covers primary residential responsibility. We did not check how the statute treats changes to parenting time alone.
Moves. Section 14-09-07 limits moving the child to another state, but we did not read it closely for this page.
Procedure. We did not check filing fees, fee waivers, local rules, temporary orders or the jurisdiction act (UCCJEA).

Sources

North Dakota Legislative Branch, Century Code chapter 14-09, sections 14-09-06.2 and 14-09-06.6, read 7 November 2026

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