Kelly v. Kelly, 806 N.W.2d 133

Richard Kelly and Karol Kelly are non-Indian and enrolled Standing Rock Sioux; their minor child was born in 2003 and the family lived on Standing Rock Reservation until 2005; Karol owned land on the reservation and operated Great Plains Tribal Insurance, while Richard operated Kelly Insurance for tribal accounts; the couple separated with Richard moving to Bismarck and later relocating Kelly Insurance there; divorce proceedings began in December 2006 in state court, with Karol answering and counterclaiming; tribal court involvement followed, including dismissal with prejudice in 2009, and the state court ultimately adjudicated custody, property, and related restraints.”],
Issues:
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Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Court jurisdiction over initial custody (UCCJEA/PKPA)	Kelly contends tribal court or other state proceedings control custody.	Kelly asserts North Dakota has jurisdiction or the tribal court declined jurisdiction.	The state court had subject matter jurisdiction to decide child custody under the UCCJEA.
Home state and tribal-declination analysis	Home state is Standing Rock Reservation; tribal court pending custody action; tribal court did not decline jurisdiction.	Tribal court declined jurisdiction; home state status supports state-court jurisdiction.	State court properly determined initial custody and exclusive continuing jurisdiction under UCCJEA/N.D.C.C. §14-14.1-12(1)-(3).
Restraining order extending to business interference	Restraining Karol from interfering with Kelly Insurance is valid to protect goodwill.	Restraining a party’s livelihood is improper in a divorce proceeding.	The court had authority to restrain interference to protect goodwill, remanding to apply geographic limits under N.D.C.C. §9-08-06(1).
Sanction for tribal court conduct (cash payment)	Award of $40,000 sanctions Karol for tribal court misconduct.	No abuse of discretion; fees justified by increased litigation costs.	The $40,000 cash payment sanction was not an abuse of discretion and was supported by findings.

Schirado v. Foote, 2010 ND 136 (2010) (describes standard of review for jurisdiction in UCCJEA cases with mixed questions of law and fact)
Benson v. Benson, 2003 ND 131 (2003) (multi-step process for determining UCCJEA/PKPA jurisdiction and forum)
Dronen v. Dronen, 2009 ND 70 (2009) (sanctions and attorney-fee award standards in divorce actions)
Entzie v. Entzie, 2010 ND 194 (2010) (sanctions standards; proportionate misconduct sanctioning in divorce)