The former Governor is married to Josie Fitial (née Padiermos), a Filipino who as a contract worker in 1983 moved to the CNMI, where Filipinos outnumber residents of all Pacific Islander ethnicities combined. Padiermos, like many Filipinos, moved abroad for employment to send financial support to family members still in the Philippines. The couple met while she was working as a waitress on Saipan. They have two children together, Patrick and Christina, in addition to Benigno Fitial's four children from a previous marriage, Jason, Cathy, Junella and Julie.