grounds of improper venue ordinarily is waived if not raised in the defendant’s first motion or responsive pleading. See Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(h). In contrast, a forum non conveniens “objection may be made at any time.” Wilburn v. Wilburn, 192 A.2d 797, 801 (D.C.1963); see Fifth & Walnut, Inc., supra, 76 F.Supp. at 67. Thus, the trial court was incorrect in ruling that, by waiting until the morning of trial to raise his objection, Mr. Creamer had waived any opportunity to request that the court defer to a Minnesota tribunal on the child support claims.
Despite this error, we do not find it necessary, on the facts presented here, to remand this case for the trial court’s consideration of whether dismissal of Mrs. Creamer’s child support claims was warranted on forum non conveniens grounds — a question which Mr. Creamer never squarely put before the trial court. We conclude that, even if the trial court had recognized Mr. Creamer’s mislabeled motion as a forum non conveniens argument, it would have been constrained, as a matter of law, to deny such a motion and thus to exercise jurisdiction as it did. Several aspects of this case support our conclusion.
First, aside from simply asserting that, because Mrs. Creamer and her children are now domiciled in Minnesota, a Minnesota court is the “proper forum” for Mrs. Creamer’s child support claims, Mr. Creamer has presented no reasons — either at trial or on appeal — why the Family Division is an inconvenient or inappropriate forum. He has not suggested that there are any witnesses or records that were unavailable to him at trial. Nor has he argued that the adjudication of the child support claims in the District of Columbia created any unnecessary delay, expense, or administration difficulties.
This court has set forth a number of factors — related to the “private interests of the litigant,” as well as the “public interest” in fair and efficient litigation — that may support dismissal of a claim on forum non conveniens grounds. See Arthur, supra, 452 A.2d at 161. But, it is well settled that “a defendant claiming the benefit of the doctrine of forum non conveniens bears the burden of establishing that the balance of equitable considerations is strongly in his favor.” Dorati, supra, 342 A.2d at 20. Unless the defendant meets this heavy burden, “the plaintiff’s choice of forum will not be disturbed.” Id. By failing to articulate any basis for his forum non conveniens argument, in accordance with the factors set forth by this court, see Arthur, supra, Mr. Creamer has failed to provide any basis for a trial court finding that he has carried his burden of showing that Mrs. Creamer’s choice of forum was inappropriate.
Furthermore, Mr. Creamer did not raise his forum non conveniens argument until the morning of trial, after Mrs. Creamer had traveled to the District and her attorney had prepared for trial. Although the trial court was incorrect in suggesting that such an argument is waived as a matter of law if not asserted before the day of trial, we have recognized that “ ‘a court will not be prompted to exercise its discretion in favor of a defendant who raises the objection for the first time after the defendant has answered, taken depositions, proceeded to pretrial and caused the plaintiff to incur expense in preparing for trial.’ ” Arthur, supra, 452 A.2d at 162 (quoting Wilburn v. Wilburn, 192 A.2d 797, 801 (D.C.1963)).
Finally, we have noted that one of the “private interests” that should be considered in determining whether a motion to dismiss for forum non conveniens should be granted, is “the enforceability of a judgment once obtained.” Carr v. Bio-Medical Applications of Washington, Inc., 366 A.2d 1089, 1092 (D.C.1976). This factor weighs heavily against granting the forum non conveniens motion in this case, given the history of Mr. Creamer’s failure to make court-ordered payments to support his children and the fact that Mr. Cream