Rule 376.Motion for Review
Last verified July 1, 2026
Full Text of Rule 376
Advisory Committee Comments
Plain-English Summary
Rule 376 is the request to take a second look at what the magistrate decided. Any party can bring a motion for review of the magistrate’s decision, order, or judgment, whether that decision came by default, by the parties’ own stipulation, or after a hearing. The one exception is an order for temporary support: Rule 376 does not let a party challenge it through a motion for review.
A party who brings this motion chooses who decides it. It can go back to the same child support magistrate who issued the original decision, or, if the party asks, to a district court judge instead. If that original magistrate is no longer available, the court administrator reassigns the motion to another magistrate in the district. When a district court judge, rather than a child support magistrate, issued the original order, that same judge decides the motion for review.
Rule 377 spells out how and when to bring the motion, and it must be made in good faith rather than to stall the case. Once a party has taken the underlying decision up to the court of appeals under Rule 378, the magistrate cannot rule on a pending motion for review without the appellate court’s own order permitting it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who can bring a motion for review under Rule 376?
Any party to the case can move for review of the child support magistrate’s decision, order, or judgment, no matter whether that decision followed a hearing, a default, or the parties’ own agreement.
Can a temporary support order be challenged through a motion for review?
No. Rule 376.01 excludes orders for temporary support from review under this rule.
Does a district court judge or the child support magistrate decide a motion for review?
Either can. The moving party may ask for the same magistrate who issued the original decision, or request that a district court judge decide the motion instead.
What if the magistrate who issued the original order is no longer available to decide the motion for review?
The court administrator assigns the motion to another child support magistrate serving in the same judicial district.
Can a party bring a motion for review after already appealing to the court of appeals?
Once an appeal under Rule 378 is pending, the child support magistrate cannot decide a motion for review alone — that requires an order from the court of appeals allowing it.
Advisory Committee Comment
A party may make a motion for review regarding an order, regardless of whether it was issued as a result of default, based upon a stipulation or agreement of the parties, or issued following a hearing.