Opinions

Interest of B.S. 2024 ND 200
Docket No.: 20240259
Filing Date: 10/24/2024
Case Type: Appeal - Juvenile - Termination of Parental Rights
Author: Per Curiam

Highlight: A juvenile court order terminating parental rights is summarily affirmed under N.D.R.App.P. 35.1(a)(2) and (4).

Malloy, et al. v. Behrens 2024 ND 199
Docket No.: 20240071
Filing Date: 10/24/2024
Case Type: Appeal - Civil - Contracts
Author: Crothers, Daniel John

Highlight: Under N.D.C.C. § 28-21-06(1), when a sheriff receives an execution, the sheriff must satisfy the judgment out of the personal property of the judgment debtor, and if sufficient personal property cannot be found, out of the real property belonging to the debtor.

Applying a statute retroactively results in the attachment of new legal consequences to past matters. Applying a statute prospectively results in the attachment of legal consequences to matters occurring after its effective date. The court must ask whether the new provision attaches new legal consequences to events completed before its enactment.

A debtor is allowed to claim as exempt up to $150,000 of equity in the homestead under N.D.C.C. ch. 47-18. This is accomplished by requiring bids to be more than $150,000 plus the value of liens and encumbrances. See N.D.C.C. §§ 47-18-01 and 47-18-13.

Superior liens are not extinguished by an execution sale. A purchaser of land subject to a mortgage is presumed to have deducted the amount of the senior liens from the amount he bids for the land. A purchaser taking subject to a prior lien is not entitled to an offset for the lien amount.

Kirchmeier v. Monson, et al. 2024 ND 198
Docket No.: 20240075
Filing Date: 10/24/2024
Case Type: Appeal - Civil - Real Property
Author: Crothers, Daniel John

Highlight: Rule 25 of the North Dakota Rules of Civil Procedure governs substitution when a party dies during district court proceedings. Rule 25 provides a number of requirements that must occur before substitution of a party can be ordered and a case continued.

A conservator's authority terminates when the protected person dies.

State v. White Bird 2024 ND 197
Docket No.: 20240132
Filing Date: 10/24/2024
Case Type: Appeal - Criminal - Sexual Offense
Author: Per Curiam

Highlight: A criminal judgment is summarily affirmed under N.D.R.App.P. 35.1(a)(4) and (7).

Edison v. Edison 2024 ND 196
Docket No.: 20240119
Filing Date: 10/24/2024
Case Type: Appeal - Civil - Divorce
Author: Tufte, Jerod E.

Highlight: An amended divorce judgment is affirmed.

Adverse rulings alone are not evidence of judicial bias or partiality.

A district court misapplies N.D. Admin. Code § 75-02-04.1-05 when it fails to make a finding on whether two self-employment activities are related.

The plain language of N.D. Admin. Code § 75-02-04.1-05(6) and (7) does not preclude using a loss to reduce income that is related to the self-employment activity that produced the loss. On the other hand, if two self-employment activities are unrelated, then under N.D. Admin. Code § 75-02-04.1-05(6), a loss resulting from the unrelated self-employment activity could be applied to reduce income from the other self-employment activity only if the monthly gross income, reduced by one-twelfth of the self-employment loss, equals or exceeds the greatest of subsections (a), (b) or (c). If the district court erred in its application of the child support guidelines, then we must examine whether the error was harmless. An error is harmless if it does not affect the outcome of the case or a party's substantial rights. See N.D.R.Civ.P. 61.

Tracy v. Tracy 2024 ND 195
Docket No.: 20240092
Filing Date: 10/24/2024
Case Type: Appeal - Civil - Other
Author: Tufte, Jerod E.

Highlight: A domestic violence protection order is affirmed.

A district court's finding of domestic violence is a finding of fact that will not be overturned unless it is clearly erroneous. This Court gives great deference to a factfinder's opportunity to observe the witnesses and determine credibility. We will not reverse simply because we may have viewed the evidence differently.

Interest of D.K.A. 2024 ND 194
Docket No.: 20240248
Filing Date: 10/24/2024
Case Type: Appeal - Civil - Mental Health
Author: McEvers, Lisa K. Fair

Highlight: An appeal is moot when a determination is sought which, when rendered, cannot have any practical legal effect upon a then-existing controversy. An appeal is not moot if the district court's decision continues to have collateral consequences for the appealing party. If an individual is already subject to firearms restrictions, the court's finding that federal firearms restrictions apply is not a lasting collateral consequence of the order being challenged on appeal.

Santora v. Santora, et al. 2024 ND 193
Docket No.: 20240014
Filing Date: 10/24/2024
Case Type: Appeal - Civil - Child Support
Author: Per Curiam

Highlight: An order denying a motion to vacate judgment is summarily affirmed under N.D.R.App.P. 35.1(a)(2), (4), (7), and (8).

Interest of A.J.E. 2024 ND 192
Docket No.: 20240245
Filing Date: 10/24/2024
Case Type: Appeal - Juvenile - Termination of Parental Rights
Author: Per Curiam

Highlight: A juvenile court judgment terminating parental rights is summarily affirmed under N.D.R.App.P. 35.1(a)(2).

Disciplinary Board v. Daniel 2024 ND 191
Docket No.: 20240182
Filing Date: 10/18/2024
Case Type: Discipline - Attorney - Disbarment
Author: Per Curiam

Highlight: Lawyer disbarment ordered.