Title 8, Family Law & Probate

Notice and Opportunity to be Heard. Before making a decree under this chapter, reasonable notice and opportunity to be heard shall be given to the contestants, any parent whose parental rights have not been previously terminated, and any person who has physical custody of the chi…

Notice to Persons Outside the Commonwealth; Submission to Jurisdiction. (a) Notice required for the exercise of jurisdiction over a person outside the Commonwealth shall be given in a manner reasonably calculated to give actual notice, and may be: (1) By personal delivery outside…

Simultaneous Proceedings in Other States. (a) The Commonwealth Trial Court may not exercise its jurisdiction under this chapter if at the time of filing the petition a proceeding concerning the custody of the child was pending in a court of another state exercising jurisdiction s…

Inconvenient Forum. (a) The Commonwealth Trial Court may decline to exercise its jurisdiction any time before making a decree if it finds that it is an inconvenient forum to make a custody determination under the circumstances of the case and that a court of another state is a mo…

Jurisdiction Declined by Reason of Conduct. (a) If the petitioner for an initial decree has wrongfully taken the child from another state or has engaged in similar reprehensible conduct the court may decline to exercise jurisdiction if this is just and proper under the circumstan…

Information under Oath to be Submitted to the Court. (a) Every party in a custody proceeding in his or her first pleading or in an affidavit attached to that pleading shall give information under oath as to the child’s present address, the place where the child has lived within t…

Additional Parties. If the court learns from information furnished by the parties pursuant to 8 CMC § 1610 or from other sources that a person not a party to the custody proceeding has physical custody of the child or claims to have custody or visitation rights with respect to th…

Appearance of Parties and the Child. (a) The court may order any party to the proceeding who is in the Commonwealth to appear personally before the court. If that party has physical custody of the child the court may order that he or she appear personally with the child. (b) If a…

Binding Force and Res Judicata Effect of Custody Decree. A custody decree rendered by the Commonwealth Trial Court binds all parties who have been served in the Commonwealth or notified in accordance with 8 CMC § 1606 or who have submitted to the jurisdiction of the court, and wh…

Recognition of Out-of-State Custody Decrees. The Commonwealth Trial Court shall recognize and enforce an initial or modification decree of a court of another state which has assumed jurisdiction under statutory provisions substantially in accordance with this chapter or which was…

Modification of Custody Decree of Another State. (a) If a court of another state has made a custody decree, the Commonwealth Trial Court shall not modify that decree unless: (1) It appears to the Commonwealth Trial Court that the court which rendered the decree does not now have …

Filing and Enforcement of Custody Decree of Another State. (a) A certified copy of a custody decree of another state may be filed with the clerk of the Commonwealth Trial Court. The clerk shall treat the decree in the same manner as a custody decree of the Commonwealth Trial Cour…

Registry of Out-of-State Custody Decrees and Proceedings. The clerk of the Commonwealth Trial Court shall maintain a registry in which the following shall be entered: (a) Certified copies of custody decrees of the states received for filing; (b) Communications as to the pendency …

Certified Copies of Custody Decree. The clerk of the Commonwealth Trial Court, at the request of the court of another state or at the request of any person who is affected by or has a legitimate interest in a custody decree, shall certify and forward a copy of the decree to that …

Taking Testimony in Another State. A guardian ad litem or other representative of the child may adduce testimony of witnesses, including parties and the child, by deposition or otherwise, in another state. The court on its own motion may direct that the testimony of a person be t…

Hearings and Studies in Another State; Orders to Appear. (a) The Commonwealth Trial Court may request the appropriate court of another state to hold a hearing to adduce evidence, to order a party to produce or give evidence under other procedures of that state, or to have social …

Assistance to Courts of Other States. (a) Upon request of a court of another state the Commonwealth Trial Court may order a person in the Commonwealth to appear at a hearing to adduce evidence to produce or give evidence under other procedures available in the Commonwealth or may…

Preservation of Documents for Use in Other States. In any custody proceeding in the Commonwealth, the Commonwealth Trial Court shall preserve the pleadings, orders and decrees, any record that has been made of its hearings, social studies, and other pertinent documents until the …

Request for Court Records of Another State. If a custody decree has been rendered in another state concerning a child involved in a custody proceeding pending in the Commonwealth Trial Court, the Commonwealth Trial Court upon taking jurisdiction of the case shall request of the c…

International Application. The general policies of this chapter extend to the international area. The provisions of this chapter relating to the recognition and enforcement of custody decrees of other states apply to custody decrees and decrees involving legal institutions simila…

Exempt Property. The surviving spouse of the decedent who was domiciled in the Northern Mariana Islands is entitled to the primary family home and lot, household furniture, one automobile, furnishings, appliances, and personal effects. If there is no surviving spouse, children of…

Homestead Allowance. A surviving spouse of a decedent who was domiciled in the Northern Mariana Islands is entitled to a homestead allowance of $5,000. If there is no surviving spouse, each minor child of and each dependent child of the decedent is entitled to a homestead allowan…

Family Allowance. In addition to the right to homestead allowance and exempt property, if the decedent was domiciled in the Northern Mariana Islands, the surviving spouse and minor children whom the decedent was obligated to support and children who were in fact being supported b…

Determination and Documentation. If the estate is otherwise sufficient, property specifically devised is not used to satisfy rights to homestead allowances and exempt property. Subject to this restriction, the surviving spouse, the guardian of the minor children, or children who …