Legal Question in Family Law in North Dakota

Divorce Decree

Both my ex-husband and I signed

our divorce stipulation in March,

2008. The divorce wasn't finalized in

court until August 1st, 2008. When

both of us were sent a copy of the

decree, there were a few errors.

After being amended one time, again,

there were still a few errors. It was

fixed with both lawyers present, in

front of the judge, and finalized.

However, in the mean time, my ex-

husband hired a new lawyer, and

wants to reopen the divorce. Can he

do that? He signed the stipulation

back in March. He was the one who

went to court and stated he was in

agreement with the divorce. He

can't go back on his word now can

he? And, what rights does he have?

Thank you!


Asked on 10/21/08, 10:02 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Carolyn J. Stevens CJ Stevens|Law

Re: Divorce Decree

I am not licensed in North Dakota, so this is not legal advice.

This is a good question to ask your lawyer.

ND law probably spells out the requirements a party must meet to reopen a resolved case. My guess is that "buyer's remorse" isn't enough to ask the court to toss an agreed-upon settlement.

However, if he does regret a provision of the agreement, you and he could re-negotiate that particular provision. For instance, let's say you and he agreed that you would keep the fishing boat. He's now sorry he did, and wants the boat. If you don't care one way or the other about the boat, you could offer to sell the boat to him, thereby avoiding the cost of objecting to his motion to set aside the judgment.

Talk to your lawyer about this.

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Answered on 10/21/08, 1:00 pm


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