Botnen v. Lukens

NEUMANN, Justice.

[¶ 1] Kathryn Lukens, Fred Lukens, and Jane Lukens appealed an amended judgment in Nathan Botnen’s action to determine custody of Hunter James Botnen Lukens. We affirm the trial court’s denial of Fred Luk-ens’s and Jane Lukens’s motion for custody. We reverse the trial court’s custody award and remand for redetermination.

[¶2] Nathan Botnen and Kathryn Lukens are the unmarried biological parents of Hunter James Botnen Lukens, who was born on August 20, 1997. When Kathryn Lukens left North Dakota in September 1997 to begin her studies at the University of Georgia on a track…