## Facts

- Roland W. Dalin and Patricia Jo Dalin married in 1989 and had one child in 1989; they divorced in 1992.
- The initial judgment set a near-equal physical custody rotation with frequent transitions between households, and ordered Roland to pay limited support only during months Patricia had primary custody.
- After a later stipulated adjustment, Roland moved to modify custody to sole custody in himself.
- At the modification hearing, the parties stipulated there was a significant change of circumstances necessitating a custody change.
- Evidence showed Roland relied heavily on his mother for child-rearing help and strongly disapproved of Patricia’s parenting approach.
- The trial judge asked Roland’s mother whether she expected to teach the child “things best taught by a woman” if Roland were awarded primary custody.
- The trial court found both parents fit and caring, but modified custody to give Patricia primary custody during the school year and Roland custody during the summer.
- The amended judgment required each parent to pay child support to the other during periods when that parent did not have custody, calculated under the North Dakota Child Support Guidelines.

## Issues

1. Whether the modified custody allocation was clearly erroneous under N.D.R.Civ.P. 52(a) in light of the child’s best interests.
2. Whether the custody decision was improperly influenced by gender bias.
3. Whether the child support modification, based on the North Dakota Child Support Guidelines, was clearly erroneous.

## Decision

- The Supreme Court of North Dakota affirmed the amended judgment.
- The custody modification was not clearly erroneous because the findings were supported by evidence and reflected a best-interests determination.
- The record did not show the custody decision rested on a gender-based presumption despite the challenged question posed at trial.
- The child support order was affirmed because the guidelines were applied and the custody change supported recalculation.

## Legal Principles

- Custody determinations (including modifications) are findings of fact reviewed for clear error under N.D.R.Civ.P. 52(a).
- A finding is clearly erroneous if induced by an erroneous view of the law, unsupported by evidence, or leaves the reviewing court with a firm conviction a mistake was made.
- Child custody must be decided under the best interests and welfare of the child, and appellate courts defer to trial courts’ credibility assessments.
- Custody decisions must be gender-neutral; appellate review examines whether the result rests on impermissible gender assumptions rather than child-focused reasons supported by the record.
- North Dakota child support is generally determined under the Child Support Guidelines, and a custody change can justify modification of support obligations.

## Conclusion

The court upheld a custody plan that reduced frequent transitions by placing the child primarily with the mother during the school year while preserving extended summer time with the father, found no showing that gender bias drove the result, and affirmed guideline-based child support payable by the noncustodial parent during each custodial period.


Dalin v. Dalin, 512 N.W.2d 685 (N.D. 1994)