Peters-Riemers v. Riemers case brief

Peters-Riemers v. Riemers case brief summary
644 N.W.2d 197 (2002)

CASE SYNOPSIS

Appellant husband appealed from a judgment of the District Court of Traill County, East Central Judicial District (North Dakota), dissolving the husband's marriage to appellee wife, awarding custody of the parties' son to the wife with supervised visitation for the husband, awarding child support and spousal support to the wife, and dividing the marital property, after the husband's request for a jury trial was denied.

DISCUSSION

• The appellate court held, inter alia, that the husband had no right to a jury trial in a divorce action, either under N.D. Constitutional art. I, § 13, or state law. 
• There was no abuse of discretion in refusing to allow the couple's three-year-old son to testify and in continuing the trial without a guardian ad litem for the child. 
• There was no abuse of discretion in the trial court's conduct of the trial. 
• The findings as to the husband's acts of domestic violence and attributing the wife's violent actions to self-defense were not clearly erroneous. 
• There was substantial evidence to support the trial court's conclusion that extreme cruelty was inflicted by the husband upon the wife during their marriage. 
• The husband's argument that his alleged rights under N.D. Constitutional art. XI, § 23 were violated in the marital property division, in light of the premarital agreement, was rejected. 
• The trial court's findings as to the need for spousal support were not clearly erroneous. 
• There was no error in requiring the husband to maintain life insurance as security for his child support obligation and in requiring the husband to pay for his son's health insurance.

CONCLUSION
The judgment of the district court was affirmed in its entirety.


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