Court Opinion

ID: 9513719
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-06 22:39:32.095973+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:05:59.385153
License: Public Domain

MARING, Justice,
dissenting.
[¶ 17] I, respectfully, dissent because Daniel has not established in his affidavit sufficient facts to support a change of custody entitling him to an evidentiary hearing.
[¶ 18] Even if taken as true, Daniel’s affidavit establishes only that the mother left the child with her sister for three days and that the sister has a son who has been convicted of child pornography, drugs, and theft. There are no allegations that the sister’s son was ever at the home during the three days the child was there or that the child was ever in contact with the son at any time. The trial court must fill in this fact to establish a prima facie case.
[¶ 19] It is pure speculation whether the son ever presented potential harm to the child. In addition, Daniel admits that all the information he has is “second hand from [Barb’s] family members.” These second hand allegations are insufficient to support his claim that the child is in serious danger. None of Daniel’s allegations are supported by firsthand knowledge. Further, the mother has since moved from South Dakota to Minot, North Dakota.
[¶ 20] I am of the opinion that affidavits which support a motion for a change of custody must be based on personal knowledge, must be based on facts which would be admissible in evidence, and must show the affiant’s competency to testify.
[¶ 21] When bringing a motion for summary judgment under Rule 56, N.D.R.Civ.P., supporting affidavits must be made on personal knowledge:
(e) Form of Affidavits-Further Testimony-Defense Required. Supporting and opposing affidavits must be made on personal knowledge, set forth such facts as would be admissible in evidence, and show affirmatively that the affiant is competent to testify to the matters stated therein.
N.D.R.Civ.P. 56(e) (emphasis added). In the context of summary judgment in other civil cases, our Court has not allowed an affiant to vary from these provisions. See, e.g., In re Estate of Stanton, 472 N.W.2d 741 (N.D.1991) (stating, in a will contest, affidavits opposing summary judgment must be based on personal knowledge and hearsay statements are excluded except where admissible under an exception); Stout v. Fisher Indus., Inc., 1999 ND 218, 603 N.W.2d 52 (stating, in a breach of employment contract case, a party resisting summary judgment must present competent admissible evidence); Wishnatsky v. Bergquist, 550 N.W.2d 394 (N.D.1996) (stating, in a 42 U.S.C. § 1983 action, this Court may agree with appellant that an affidavit by the chief of police with no personal knowledge may not be proper, but interrogatories did support summary judgment); Swenson v. N. Crop Ins., Inc., 498 N.W.2d 174 (N.D.1993) (stating, in an employment dispute, affidavits may be supplemented with other documents, but must be based on personal knowledge, *641facts admissible, and show the affiant is competent to testify).
[¶ 22] The majority also relies on affidavit allegations concerning the child being frequently sick and making frequent doctor visits over a eighteen-month period of time. The trial judge considered these allegations minor concerns, and I would agree. The mother is a registered nurse. This is a six-year-old child, who is at an age, i.e., kindergarten or first grade, when he is exposed to a lot of other children and susceptible to ear infections, colds, etc. Such allegations are not sufficient to establish a material change in circumstances necessitating a change of custody in the best interests of the child. The change of circumstances must be material and significant, not trivial or minor.
[¶ 23] Finally, with regard to facts that occurred before the judgment was entered, the mere fact that the parties entered into a stipulation does not mean that the facts were unknown to the court. The statute requires that the facts which form the basis for a material change in circumstances of the child be unknown to the trial court at the time of the prior order. N.D.C.C. § l<U09-06.6(6)(a). Daniel never alleged in his affidavit that the facts were unknown to the court at the time of the prior order. The burden is on him to establish the prima facie case, and he failed to do so.
[¶ 24] Daniel relied on Barb’s enlistment in the Air Forcé to support a change of circumstances for modification of custody. He clearly had a concern that their child would be moved far away from him. However, at the time of the submission of this matter to the trial court, it was undisputed that Barb would be living in Minot and stationed at the Minot Air Force Base. Daniel never alleged any other material change in circumstances.
[¶ 25] After a review of other jurisdictions’ statutes on modification of custody, I have concluded North Dakota’s statute, which places a burden on the movant to establish a prima facie case, is unique. See 4-25 MB Child Custody and Visitation § 25.03 (2003). North Dakota follows the motion practice-affidavit practice procedure. This is the most severe restriction placed on modification of child custody in the United States. Id. § 25.02. The purpose of affidavit practice is to “discourage contests over- temporary custody and prevent repeated and insubstantial motions for modifications.” Id. (citation omitted).
[¶ 26] The National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws first promulgated the Uniform Marriage and Divorce Act on August 6, 1970. Uniform Marriage and Divorce Act § 410, 9A U.L.A. 2 (Supp.2003). Minnesota adopted substantially Parts III and IV of the Act, effective March 15,1974. Id. at 1,10. See also Minn.Stat. §§ 518.002 to 518.66 (2002).
[¶ 27] ■ The Uniform Marriage and Divorce Act establishes a procedure for seeking modification of a custody decree by a motion supported with affidavits.
A party seeking a temporary custody order or modification of a custody decree shall submit together with his moving papers an affidavit setting forth facts supporting the requested order or modification and shall give notice, together with a copy of his affidavit, to other parties to the proceeding, who may file opposing affidavits. The court shall deny the motion unless it finds that adequate cause for hearing the motion is established by the affidavits, in which case it shall set a date for hearing on an order to show cause why the requested order or modification should not be granted.
*642Uniform Marriage and Divorce Act § 410, 9A U.L.A. 538 (Supp.2003). The Comment to Section 410 of the Uniform Marriage and Divorce Act sets forth the purpose for affidavit practice:
This section establishes a procedure for seeking temporary custody or a modification of a custody decree by motion supported with affidavits. The procedure is designed to result in denial of the motion without a hearing unless the court finds that the affidavits establish adequate cause for holding a hearing. The procedure will thus tend to discourage contests over temporary custody and prevent repeated or insubstantial motions for modification.
Id. at 539.
[¶ 28] The Minnesota statute on affidavit procedure for modification states:
A party seeking a temporary custody order or modification of custody order shall submit together with moving papers an affidavit setting forth facts supporting the requested order or modification and shall give notice, together with a copy of the affidavit, to other parties to the proceeding, who may file opposing affidavits.
Minn.Stat. § 518.185 (2002). Therefore, in Minnesota, a party seeking modification of child custody must submit an affidavit asserting facts to support the requested modification. Id. Minnesota case law requires that the affidavits establish a prima facie case to obtain an evidentiary hearing. A party moving for custody modification must establish four elements:
(1) a change in the circumstances of the child or custodian;
(2) that a modification would serve the best interests of the child;
(3) that the child’s present environment endangers her physical or emotional health or emotional development; and
(4)that the harm to the child likely to be caused by the change of environment is outweighed by the advantage of change.
Griese v. Kamp, 666 N.W.2d 404, 407 (Minn.Ct.App.2003) (quoting Geibe v. Geibe, 571 N.W.2d 774, 778 (Minn.Ct.App.1997)). To determine whether the moving party has established a prima facie case for custody modification, the district court must accept the facts in the moving party’s affidavit as true. Griese, at 407. But if the moving party’s affidavit “does not allege facts that, if true, would provide sufficient grounds for modification, the court need not grant an evidentiary hearing.” In re Weber, 653 N.W.2d 804, 809 (Minn.Ct.App.2002).
[¶ 29] The trial court must also disregard any directly contrary statement in the nonmoving party’s submissions and may only use those statements to “explain the circumstances surrounding the accusations.” Geibe v. Geibe, 571 N.W.2d 774, 779 (Minn.Ct.App.1997). “[A] prima facie case simply means one that prevails in the absence of evidence invalidating it.” Tousignant v. St. Louis County, 615 N.W.2d 53, 59 (Minn.2000). The question of whether to grant an evidentiary hearing rests in the discretion of the trial court. Geibe, at 777-78.
[¶ 30] It must be noted that the Uniform Marriage and Divorce Act and the Minnesota statute establishing affidavit procedure do not require that the affidavits establish a prima facie case. Uniform Marriage and Divorce Act § 410, 9A U.L.A. 538 (Supp.2003); Minn.Stat. § 518.185 (2002). In Minnesota, this requirement has been developed through case law. Nice Petersen v. Nice Petersen, 310 N.W.2d 471 (Minn.1981); see Robert E. Oliphant, Children in the Law Issue: Contributors Redefining a Statute Out of *643Existence: Minnesota’s View of When A Custody Modification Hearing Can Be Held, 26 Wm. Mitchell L.Rev. 711, 728 (2000).
[II31] The North Dakota Legislature, however, enacted N.D.C.C. § 14-09-06.6 with the requirement that the affidavits establish a prima facie case before an evi-dentiary hearing is to be granted. 1997 N.D. Sess. Laws ch. 149, § 1. The legislative history for N.D.C.C. § 14-09-06.6 is sparse, and it is indiscernible if the language of our statute came in part from the Uniform Marriage and Divorce Act and in part from Minnesota case law. Knowing, however, that we have looked often to Minnesota case law for guidance in the family law area, and finding no other state that uses a prima facie case for entitlement to an evidentiary hearing,3 it seems logical that our current statute was in part based on Minnesota case law.
[¶ 32] One thing clear from the legislative history of N.D.C.C. § 14-09-06.6 is that our Legislature recognized custodial changes are highly disruptive to children and that there must be a high bar for a noncustodial parent to modify custody. See Kelly v. Kelly, 2002 ND 37, ¶¶ 45, 48, 640 N.W.2d 38 (Maring, J., concurring in result) (setting forth that the legislative intent of N.D.C.C. § 14-09-06.6 is to make custody determinations as permanent as possible and to curtail repeat “painful, disruptive and destabilizing” custody battles). In this regard, our law embodies the purpose of §§ 409 and 410 of the Uniform Marriage and Divorce Act because it requires an affidavit procedure before a party is entitled to an evidentiary hearing on custody modification.
[¶ 33] Blacks Law Dictionary defines a prima facie case as: “1. The establishment of a legally required rebuttable presumption. 2. A party’s production of enough evidence to allow the fact-trier to infer the fact at issue and rule in the party’s favor,” Black’s Laiv Dictionary 1209 (7th ed.1999). Our Court has stated that to support a prima facie case, a party must present evidence, strong enough, if uncontradicted, to support a finding in the party’s favor. Helbling v. Helbling, 541 N.W.2d 443, 445 (N.D.1995) (emphasis added); Lawrence v. Delkamp, 2003 ND 53, ¶ 8, 658 N.W.2d 758 (emphasis added).
[¶ 34] In light of how easily a good lawyer can draft an affidavit to meet this standard, I believe we must require that the affidavit contain first hand knowledge; specificity and detail; facts that support a finding of a material and continuing change in the child’s circumstances; and when endangerment is alleged, facts showing a “significant degree of danger” for endangerment. Geibe, 571 N.W.2d at 778. See also Robert E. Oliphant, Children in the Law Issue: Contributors Redefining a Statute Out of Existence: Minnesota’s Vieiv of When A Custody Modification Hearing Can Be Held, 26 Wm. Mitchell L.Rev. 711 (2000) (pointing out that the prima facie burden is so low that a lawyer with minimal drafting ability will be able to persuade a court to grant a hearing, and concluding the prima facie burden is inconsistent with the purpose of the Minnesota statute and the Uniform Marriage and Divorce Act). For us to require less is to fail to adhere to the legislative purpose of N.D.C.C. § 14-09-06.6. See Kelly, 2002 *644ND 37, 640 N.W.2d 38 (Maring, J., concurring in result). I would encourage the Legislature to revisit our statute and the prima facie burden established therein.
[¶ 35] Daniel must show that a material change in circumstances endangers his child’s physical or emotional health or development to be entitled to an evidentiary hearing on his motion. The trial court made detailed written findings indicating the reasons Daniel has not established sufficient facts for a prima facie case. The trial court did not abuse its discretion when it denied Daniel an evidentiary hearing, and I would affirm the trial court’s decision.
[¶ 36] Mary Muehlen Maring.

. The courts in Washington require that the affidavits establish a prima facie showing of "adequate cause” before a party is entitled to an evidentiary hearing. See In re the Marriage of Flynn, 94 Wash.App. 185, 972 P.2d 500, 505 (1999). Adequate cause, however, "requires something more than prima facie allegations which, if proven, might permit inferences sufficient to establish grounds for a custody change.” In re the Marriage of Roorda, 25 Wash.App. 849, 611 P.2d 794, 796 (1980).