[¶ 1] Orvell Lund appealed from an order denying his motion for a continuance, an order denying his motion to disqualify the district court judge, and a memorandum opinion and order for judgment granting a divorce to Betty Lund and distributing marital property.
I
[¶ 2] Orvell and Betty Lund were married in 1956. Betty commenced this divorce action in November 2009. Orvell responded on November 30, 2009, by sending a letter to the district court stating, “[a]t this time, I do not intend to secure the services of an attorney providing the settlement of assets is fair and equitable.” On January 11, 2010, the district court issued a notice of trial scheduling the trial for April 26, 2010.
[¶ 3] On March 19, 2010, Orvell filed a motion for a continuance, alleging he had recently hired attorney Theresa Cole and shе had another trial scheduled on April 26, 2010. The district court denied the motion on March 22, 2010, noting that it had been ten weeks since the court had issued the notice of trial and Orvell had “unreasonably delayed the search for counsel.” On April 7, 2010, Orvell filed a second motion for continuance and a motiоn to disqualify the assigned district court judge, alleging the judge was biased. The district court denied the motions on April 14, 2010. Cole then moved for permission to withdraw as Orvell’s attorney, and the court granted the motion to withdraw on April 19, 2010.
[¶ 4] Orvell represented himself at the April 26, 2010, trial. The district court granted the divorce and divided the marital property. In doing so, the court determined that a deed purportedly transferring Orvell and Betty’s real estate to Orvell and Wendell Lund, the parties’ son, was not a legitimate transfer and had been an attempt to deprive Betty of her property and homestead rights. The court also dеtermined that a mechanic’s lien filed against the parties’ real estate and motor home by Wendell less than a week before the scheduled trial was not legitimate. The court therefore included the full value of the real estate and motor home in the distribution of the marital property, and awarded each party approximately one-half of the marital estate. Orvell appealed and filed a motion in the district court for a stay of the judgment pending appeal. The district court denied the motion.
II
[¶ 5] Orvell has attempted to appeal from the order denying his first motion for a continuance, the order denying his motion to disqualify the judge, and the memorandum opinion and order for judgment. Interlocutory orders and memorandum opinions are generally not ap-pealable, but nonappealable interlocutory orders are reviewable in an аppeal from a final judgment. Woodward v. Woodward,
[¶ 6] Orvell contends the district court abused its discretion when it denied his motion for a continuance.
[¶ 7] The district court has broad discretion over the progress and conduct of a trial, and the determination whether to grant a continuance lies within the sound discretion of the district court. Harbleib v. Simes,
[¶ 8] A motion for a continuance made after a notice of trial has been issued is governed by N.D.R.Civ.P. 40(d):
No continuance on trial dates will be given unless formally approved by the trial judgе scheduled to hear the case. A request to continue a trial must be made within ten days after receipt of notice of trial given by the court. If unavoidable circumstances should arise, the trial judge may consider waiving the ten-day requirement.
In addition, N.D.R.Ct. 6.1(a) provides:
A party is entitled to a continuance on the ground that his attorney is actually engaged in another trial or hearing, but only for the duration of the particular trial or hearing in which the attorney is then engaged.
[¶ 9] In the ordinary case, a party will already be represented by an attorney when the notice of trial is issued and will immediately know if the attorney hаs a previously scheduled trial on the date in question. When, however, a party waits until after the notice of trial is issued to secure counsel, as in this case, a potential conflict arises between the two rules: Rule 6.1(a) provides that a party is entitled to a continuance if his attorney has a previously scheduled trial on that date, but Rule 40(d) requires that the motion be made within ten days of issuance of the notice of trial. The rules can, however, be read together and harmonized. See In re J.D.F.,
[¶ 11] The district court determined that, despite ample opportunity to secure counsel, Orvell unreasonably delаyed obtaining counsel to represent him and that Betty should not be forced “to wait for additional months because of [Orvell’s] lack of diligence.” Under the circumstances presented in this case, we conclude that the district court did not abuse its discretion in denying Orvell’s motion for a continuancе.
IV
[¶ 12] Orvell contends that the district court erred in denying his motion to disqualify the judge. Orvell contends that the judge’s previous ruling against Orvell in a related proceeding and the denial of his initial motion for a continuance demonstrated that the judge was biased.
[¶ 18] Orvell relies upon the court’s issuance of a restrаining order against him as evidence of the judge’s bias and prejudice. While the divorce was pending, Betty lived for a time at the home of the parties’ daughter and son-in-law. When Orvell allegedly began harassing the son-in-law, including making unfounded complaints to the son-in-law’s employer, the son-in-law petitioned for a restraining order against Orvell. Orvell did not respond to the petition or appear at the hearing on the petition, and the court issued the restraining order.
[¶ 14] The mere fact that a judge has previously ruled against a party does not demonstrate bias requiring disqualification. As we noted in Woodward v. Woodward,
“ ‘The law presumes a judge is unbiased and not prejudiced.’ ” [Farm Credit Bank v. Brakke,512 N.W.2d 718 , 720 (N.D.1994) ] (citation omitted). We have said “[a] ruling adverse to a party in the same or prior proceeding does not render a judge biased so as to require disqualification.” Id. The test for the appearance of impartiality is one of reаsonableness and recusal is not required in response to spurious or vague charges of impartiality.
[¶ 15] Orvell has raised nothing more than “spurious or vague charges of impartiality.” Woodward,
[¶ 16] Orvell contends the district court erred in its distribution of the maritаl property.
[¶ 17] We outlined our standard of review of a district court’s valuation and distribution of marital property in Eberle v. Eberle,
A district court’s valuation and distribution of marital property are findings of fact, subject to the clearly erroneous standard of review. “A finding of fact is clearly erroneous if it is induced by an еrroneous view of the law, if there is no evidence to support it, or if, after reviewing the entirety of the evidence, this Court is left with a definite and firm conviction a mistake has been made.” Lynnes v. Lynnes,2008 ND 71 , ¶ 12,747 N.W.2d 93 . A district court’s findings of fact are presumed correct, and we view the evidence in the light most favorable to its findings. Under the clearly erroneous standard of review, we do not reweigh the evidence or reassess the credibility of the witnesses when there is evidence to support a district court’s findings, and we will not reverse a district court’s decision merely because we might have reached a different result. A choice between two permissible views of the weight of the evidence is not clearly erroneous.
[¶ 18] Orvell’s primary arguments regarding the property distribution center upon the purported deeding of the real property from Orvell and Betty to Orvell and Wendell, and the mechanic’s lien filed against the real property and the motor home by Wendell a few days before trial. The parties presented conflicting evidence regarding these transactions. The district court found that the deed was not a legitimate transaction, but “rather was intended solely for the purpose of disеnfranchising Betty of her property/homestead interests.” The court further determined that the lien filed by Wendell was not a legitimate claim against the marital property, and the court therefore did not include it as a marital debt in the property distribution. There is evidence in the record to support the district court’s determination that these were invalid transactions intended to deprive Betty of her legitimate interests in the property, and Orvell on appeal has failed to draw attention to evidence in the record demonstrating that these findings are clearly erroneous.
[¶ 19] We conclude the findings of fact on the valuation and distribution of the marital property are not clearly erroneous.
VI
[¶ 20] Finally, Orvell argues the district court “acted unreasonably” and “made a reversible error” in denying his motion to stay the execution. Orvell cites to N.D.R.Civ.P. 62(b) authorizing the district court to enter a stay of proceedings to enforce a judgment. However, Rule 62 must be read with N.D.R.App.P. 8 as the cross-reference to Rule 62 indicates. Rule 8, N.D.R.App.P., to which Orvell makes no reference or citation, authorizes the Supreme Court to order a stay pending appeal but provides that the party requesting the stay “must ordinarily move first in the district court.” N.D.R.App.P. 8(a)(1).
[¶ 21] Orvell sought a stay in the district court but, after it was denied, he did not seek a stay in this Court under N.D.R.App.P. 8. The correlation between N.D.R.CivJP. 62 and N.D.R.App.P. 8 does not suggest that the district court’s denial of a stay can be appealed to this Court. Rather, when considering the rules together, the clear implication is that a party desiring a stay should first apply to the district court for a stay and, if it is denied,
[¶ 22] Our conclusion is also required by the lack of a remedy if we were to determine a stay should have been granted. Orvell argues the denial of a stay is a reversible error but he has failed to identify any relief this Court could provide if we concluded at the disposition of the appeal that the district court erred by failing to grant a stay of execution of judgment at the initiation of the appeal. Nor can we conceive of any available relief. Rather, where no stay is in place, a judgment debtor who prevails on appeal is entitled to restitution of amounts collected under the judgment. See Gustafson v. Gustafson,
[¶ 23] Similarly, here the trial court in denying the motion for stay specified that, during the pendency of the appeal, Betty could not sell any of the assets for less than fair market value and should “be prepared to fully account for the proceeds of any sale.” Therefore, even if we were to hold that a stay of execution should have been entered by the district court, we could grant the appellant no relief other than a conclusion that the stay was erroneously denied. We do not give opinions which are merely advisory in nature. See Kjolsrud v. MKB Mgmt. Corp.,
[¶ 24] The proсedure we have outlined allows a party who is denied a stay in the district court to apply to this Court for a stay at a time when a stay can be effective rather than attempt to raise on appeal the denial of a stay when, sometime later, this Court can provide no effective relief.
VII
[¶ 25] We have considered the remaining issues and arguments raised by the parties and find them to be either unnecessary to our decision or without merit. The judgment is affirmed.
Notes
. A judgment incorporating the memorandum opinion was entered by the district court.