Fleck v. Fleck, 2010 ND 24

Summary

The Supreme Court of North Dakota reviewed a post-divorce dispute concerning primary residential responsibility, relocation of the children to Arizona, and child support. The court affirmed the award of primary residential responsibility to Troy Fleck, but held that the district court's calculation of Melissa Regan's child support obligation did not comply with the applicable guidelines. The child support award was reversed and remanded for recalculation.

Holdings

1. The district court did not clearly err in awarding Troy primary residential responsibility and denying Melissa's relocation request. A parent with joint legal and physical custody who seeks to relocate with a child must first obtain a change in primary custody under N.D.C.C. § 14-09-06.2 and then obtain permission to relocate under N.D.C.C. § 14-09-07; the district court properly applied the best-interests factors after finding a significant change in circumstances.
2. The district court's child-support calculation was erroneous as a matter of law because it did not comply with the child-support guidelines. The court lacked evidentiary support for finding Melissa underemployed and improperly extrapolated her income from her husband's different employment position without applying the guideline requirements for imputing income.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the district court clearly erred by awarding Troy Fleck primary residential responsibility and denying Melissa Fleck permission to relocate the children to Arizona.
2. Whether the district court erred as a matter of law in calculating Melissa Fleck's child-support obligation by finding her underemployed and imputing income based on her husband's employment and hourly wage.

Disposition

reversed_and_remanded