Santora v. Santora

IN THE SUPREME COURT

STATE OF NORTH DAKOTA 2024 ND 193

Inara Santora, n/k/a Inara Xie, Plaintiff and Appellee v.

Francisco Santora, Defendant and Appellant and

State of North Dakota, Statutory Real Party in Interest

No. 20240014

Appeal from the District Court of Grand Forks County, Northeast Central Judicial District, the Honorable John A. Thelen, Judge.

AFFIRMED.

Per Curiam.

Inara Santora, n/k/a Inara Xie, self-represented, Honolulu, HI, plaintiff and appellee; submitted on brief.

Francisco Santora, self-represented, Davao, Philippines, defendant and appellant; submitted on brief.

Santora v. Santora

No. 20240014

Per Curiam. [¶1] Francisco Santora appeals from an order denying his motion to vacate the amended judgment. He argues the district court lacked jurisdiction and erred in denying his motion to vacate judgment. Francisco Santora did not contest personal jurisdiction in his answer or a timely filed motion under N.D.R.Civ.P. 12(b), and voluntarily appeared in this action. The issue is therefore waived. Intercept Corp. v. Calima Fin., LLC, 2007 ND 180, ¶ 10, 741 N.W.2d 209 (“A lack- of-personal-jurisdiction defense is waived if it is neither made by motion nor included in a responsive pleading.”). Further, the court found the residency requirements of N.D.C.C. § 14-05-17 were met, and therefore the court had subject matter jurisdiction. The court’s finding that Plaintiff satisfied the six- month residency requirement is not clearly erroneous. See McComb v. Aboelessad, 535 N.W.2d 744, 748 (N.D. 1995) (“Legal residence is a question of fact that we review under the clearly erroneous standard.”). We conclude the court did not abuse its discretion in denying Francisco Santora’s motion to vacate judgment. To the extent Francisco Santora raised additional issues on appeal, these issues were inadequately briefed under N.D.R.App.P. 28(b)(7). We summarily affirm under N.D.R.App.P. 35.1(a)(2), (4), (7), and (8). [¶2] Jon J. Jensen, C.J.

Daniel J. Crothers

Lisa Fair McEvers

Jerod E. Tufte

Douglas A. Bahr