Court Rulings

Courts must construe statutes to give meaning to them in their entirety if possible. A functional capacity evaluation is "valid" for purposes of N.D.C.C. § 65-05.1-01(6) if the employee gives a maximum consistent effort during the examination.

Enforceable contract summary judgment. An enforceable contract exists based on the disputed fact that the parties operated under the terms of an unsigned agreement for nearly a decade, and the trial court did not err in granting summary judgment.

Commission did not abuse its discretion in denying relator's TTD application because the record supported the commission's ruling that relator voluntarily abandoned his employment when he violated the employer's written work rules resulting in discharge. Writ denied.

This post-divorce appeal involves the trial court's denial of a petition for modification of the parenting plan. Having carefully reviewed the record before us, we hold that the evidence supports the parenting plan determination and other rulings made by the court.

This appeal arises from a divorce. All the issues pertain to the classification, valuation, and equitable division of three large tracts of land. Husband acquired two of the tracts before the marriage: a 197-acre tract and a 103-acre tract. Both of these tracts were used in Husband's farming operation before and during the marriage. During the marriage, Husband and Wife built their marital residence on a portion of the 197-acre tract. Husband acquired the third tract during the marriage but after the parties separated. Wife's name is not on any of the deeds. Wife contends that the tracts Husband owned prior to the marriage transmuted into marital property. Alternatively, she contends their appreciation in value during the marriage was marital property. Wife also contends the third tract was marital property because Husband purchased it with marital funds from their joint bank account during the marriage. The trial court classified the 197-acre tract and the 103-acre tract as Husband's separate property and held that none of the land transmuted into marital property. The trial court also concluded that Wife was not entitled to an interest in the appreciation of the properties because she did not substantially contribute to their maintenance or increase in value. The trial court classified the marital residence—that being the improvement but not any of the land associated with the marital residence—as marital property. As for the tract Husband acquired during the marriage, the court ruled that it was Husband's separate property because Husband purchased it with his separate funds. This appeal followed. Based on the parties' treatment and use of some of the 197-acre tract on Highland Road as their marital residence, it is evident that the parties intended for some portion of the land to transmute into marital property. Therefore, we reverse the trial court's determination that the entire 197-acre tract remained Husband's separate property and remand for the trial court