By: Greg Liebl
When a divorce is granted in North Dakota, the court must make an “equitable distribution” of the parties’ property and debts. N.D.C.C. § 14-05-24(1). “Equitable” means fair — and fair does not always mean equal. To decide what is fair in a particular case, North Dakota courts apply a list of factors known as the Ruff-Fischer guidelines. If you are heading toward a divorce, understanding these guidelines will help you understand how a judge will look at your house, your retirement, your business, and even your debts. Our North Dakota divorce attorneys apply these factors in nearly every divorce case we handle.
Where Do The Ruff-Fischer Guidelines Come From?
The Ruff-Fischer guidelines take their name from two North Dakota Supreme Court decisions: Ruff v. Ruff, 78 N.D. 775, 52 N.W.2d 107 (1952), and Fischer v. Fischer, 139 N.W.2d 845 (N.D. 1966). For more than 70 years, these two cases have supplied the framework North Dakota judges use to divide property — and they still get cited in property division appeals nearly every term of the North Dakota Supreme Court. The same guidelines are also used when a court considers spousal support, which is one reason property division and spousal support are usually analyzed together.
What Property Can A North Dakota Court Divide?
The short answer: all of it. North Dakota is what practitioners (okay, maybe just me) sometimes call a “marital pot” jurisdiction. The court starts with the presumption that all property held by either spouse — whether owned jointly or individually — is marital property subject to division. Berg v. Berg, 2018 ND 79, 908 N.W.2d 705. That includes property you owned before the marriage, gifts you received during the marriage, and inheritances — categories that many other states automatically carve out as “separate property.” North Dakota has no such carve-out.
This surprises a lot of clients. The premarital retirement account, the family farmland you inherited, the cabin your parents gifted you — in North Dakota, everything goes into the marital estate or “pot” first. The origin of the property still matters, but it matters as a factor in deciding how to divide the estate, not as a gate that keeps property out of the estate. The main exception is a valid prenuptial or postnuptial agreement, which can control how property is divided and displace the court’s default analysis.
What Are The Ruff-Fischer Factors?
In dividing the marital estate, the court may consider the following factors, known as the Ruff-Fischer guidelines:
- The respective ages of the parties;
- Their earning abilities;
- The duration of the marriage and the conduct of the parties during the marriage;
- Their station in life;
- The circumstances and necessities of each party;
- Their health and physical condition;
- Their financial circumstances as shown by the property owned at the time, its value, its income-producing capacity, and whether it was accumulated before or after the marriage; and
- Such other matters as may be material.
No single factor controls, and the court is not required to make a specific finding on each one. What the court is required to do is explain its reasoning well enough that the parties — and the North Dakota Supreme Court on appeal — can understand how it arrived at the division it ordered.
Does “Equitable” Mean A 50/50 Split?
Not necessarily, but equal is the starting point. In a long-term marriage, North Dakota courts begin with the view that an equal division of the marital estate is equitable. Hitz v. Hitz, 2008 ND 58, 746 N.W.2d 732. A property division does not need to be equal to be equitable, but any substantial disparity between what each spouse receives must be explained by the court. Dvorak v. Dvorak, 2006 ND 171, 719 N.W.2d 362; Ulsaker v. White, 2006 ND 133, 717 N.W.2d 567.
So when does a court depart from 50/50? The most common scenarios involve short marriages where one spouse brought most of the property into the marriage, and cases involving inherited or gifted family assets. A spouse who inherited farmland from their family, for example, has a recognized basis under the Ruff-Fischer guidelines for arguing that the land should be awarded to them — though the other spouse may receive a larger share of other assets to balance the ledger. The longer the marriage, the weaker the “but it was mine first” argument tends to become. For more on how property division fits into the bigger divorce picture, see our article on the Top 5 North Dakota Divorce Questions.
Does Bad Behavior Affect Property Division?
It can. North Dakota is a no-fault divorce state in the sense that no one has to prove wrongdoing to get divorced, but the “conduct of the parties during the marriage” is an express Ruff-Fischer factor. Courts distinguish between economic fault and non-economic fault. Economic fault — dissipating or wasting marital assets through things like gambling losses, reckless spending, or funding an affair — is the type of conduct most likely to move the needle on the division. If one spouse burned through marital assets, the court can effectively charge that waste against their share of the estate.
What If I Think The Judge Got It Wrong?
A district court’s property division is treated as a finding of fact, which the North Dakota Supreme Court reviews under the “clearly erroneous” standard of N.D.R.Civ.P. 52(a). The Supreme Court will not reweigh the evidence or substitute its judgment for the trial court’s. A division will be reversed only if it was induced by an erroneous view of the law, no evidence supports it, or the reviewing court is left with a definite and firm conviction a mistake was made.
The practical takeaway: your divorce trial is the main event. Getting your property evidence — valuations, tracing, exhibits — right the first time matters enormously, because the odds of fixing it on appeal are slim.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is North Dakota a community property state?
No. North Dakota is an equitable distribution state. The court divides property and debts fairly under N.D.C.C. § 14-05-24(1), which may or may not mean equally.
Is my inheritance protected in a North Dakota divorce?
Not automatically. Inheritances and gifts are part of the marital estate. Their origin is a factor that often supports awarding them to the recipient spouse, but there is no automatic exclusion.
Are debts divided too?
Yes. The statute requires an equitable distribution of both property and debts, using the same analysis.
Can a prenuptial agreement change the outcome?
Yes. A valid prenuptial or postnuptial agreement can control the division and displace the court’s default Ruff-Fischer analysis.
Conclusion
If you are facing a divorce or property division issue in North Dakota, it is essential to consult with an experienced family law attorney who understands the specific laws in your jurisdiction. Legal guidance can help ensure that your rights are protected and that the divorce process proceeds as smoothly as possible. Contact the SW&L family law team at 701-297-2890 or email us at: info@swlattorneys.com.
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