Divorce Jurisdiction
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Terms:In rem jurisdiction: In personam jurisdiction: Quasi in rem: Bilateral divorce: Ex parte divorce: Collateral attack: Estoppel: Res Judicata: Comity: |
A divorce action seeks to terminate the marital status of the parties. The marital status is the “res” or thing which “exists,” and serves as a basis of jurisdiction in the state of the domicile of either party. As such, a state in which either spouse is domiciled has jurisdiction through its courts to terminate the marriage by granting a divorce decree.
Residency
All petitions for divorce are handled by state courts. A state has jurisdiction to grant a divorce where at least one spouse is domiciled in that state, and a minimum residency requirement is met. Statutes in nearly all states impose, as a condition upon the right to sue for divorce, requirements that either plaintiff or one of the parties has been a resident (domicile) of the state for a specified period, ranging from six weeks to two years.
Such requirements have been upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court as being constitutional. Specifically, this issue was discussed in
In New York, pursuant to its Domestic Relations Law, the residency requirement is written in terms of “continuous residency”, because the state wants to ensure that a person filing is not a part-time resident. See
A period of residence is jurisdictional—it is a necessary element needed for subject matter jurisdiction in a divorce action. Lack of subject matter jurisdiction may not be waived. Yet, it may be asserted at any stage of the proceeding and it may be the basis for collateral attack of the decree. See, e.g.,
In circumstances involving more than one state, the law of the state in which the plaintiff is domiciled at the time the divorce action is commenced determines the grounds available for the divorce. As long as a plaintiff is a resident of a state, the court can grant her a divorce regardless of whether there is personal jurisdiction over the defendant. Once a valid decree is obtained in one state’s court, that decree is valid in all other states, pursuant to the Full Faith and Credit Clause of the United States Constitution, which states:
Full Faith and Credit shall be given in each State to the public Acts, Records, and judicial Proceedings of every other State. And the Congress may by general Laws prescribe the Manner in which such Acts, Records and Proceedings shall be proved, and the Effect thereof.
EXAMPLE: Susan and Robert are domiciled in a state (State A) where mental cruelty is not a ground for divorce. Susan moves to another state (State B) where she establishes residence and sues for divorce from Robert on the ground of mental cruelty. Mental cruelty is a ground for divorce in State B. Susan may be granted the divorce since she is a bona fide resident of State B and has grounds for divorce. It is immaterial where the cause of action arose. See Rest. 2d, Conflict of Laws, § 285 .
Res Judicata
A spouse who has had an opportunity to contest the jurisdiction of the court when suit for divorce is filed and does not do so, may not later collaterally attack the jurisdiction of the first court.
In
The Court held that Full Faith and Credit Clause of the United States Constitution bars one who personally appeared at a divorce proceeding and was accorded the full opportunity to contest the jurisdictional issues in the original action from collaterally attacking the decree on jurisdictional grounds in the courts of a sister state. The defendant had consented to personal jurisdiction by his appearance in a Florida court. Furthermore, he had an opportunity to contest the issue of the Florida court’s jurisdiction to hear the case at that time; however, he neglected to do so.
EXAMPLE: Edward and Francine are domiciled in Oregon. Francine goes to Washington, and after the requisite period needed to establish residence, files for divorce. Edward enters a general appearance and contests the divorce. Edward has an opportunity to raise the question of Francine’s domicile, but does not do so. A divorce is entered in Francine’s favor. Later in Oregon, Edward serves Francine and attacks the decree on the ground that Francine was not domiciled in Washington at the time of the divorce. The Oregon court dismisses Edward’s petition. When he entered a general appearance in Washington, he should have contested Francine’s domicile at that time. As such, that issue became res judicata when the decree was issued. Under the Full Faith and Credit Clause, a state must recognize the decree of another state where all the issues of the case are contested and decided or where there was full opportunity to do so. See, e.g., Coe v. Coe, 334 U.S. 378 (1948) .
In Sherrer, full faith and credit turned on the doctrine of res judicata prevailing in the divorcing state (i.e. Florida). Specifically, if a divorce decree is immune to attack in that state on the ground that both spouses were personally before the court, then under Sherrer, it will be immune to attack in other states. In other words, one is only entitled to “one bite at the apple;” therefore, all issues should be raised during the original proceeding.
EXAMPLE: Tony and Carmella have been having marital problems for a while. One day Carmella decides to leave Tony and packs up her belongings and moves to Texas. Once she establishes residence, Carmella files for divorce. Although Tony received notice of the impending divorce, he does not appear in the proceeding. Instead, he files for divorce in New Jersey, where they lived together as a couple. Here, since Tony never appeared in the Texas proceeding, he might be able to succeed in his lawsuit against his wife.
Many parties can easily go to another state to obtain a no-fault divorce if the state has a short-term residency requirement. For example, Nevada only requires a six-week period to meet its residency requirement. Connecticut and New Jersey require a one-year period to establish residency.
EXAMPLE: A husband wanted to avoid the drawn out process of getting a divorce in New York, where the couple lived. As an alternative, the husband went to Las Vegas (making sure to bring along his golf clubs) and stayed for six weeks—the period needed to establish residency. While there, the husband got an ex parte divorce. His wife decided to collaterally attack the divorce in New York and served him in Las Vegas. The court found that the husband’s six week residency was a sham. Of course, it did not help that he had brought along his golf clubs.
Ex Parte Divorce
In an ex parte divorce, a court has jurisdiction over only one party. The doctrine of divisible divorce allows a party to obtain an in rem ex parte divorce to terminate the marital relationship, while retaining the right to later make orders of for support, custody and property. These aspects of divorce may be litigated at a later date because adjudicating these issues require personal jurisdiction over the person.
In
The U.S. Supreme Court’s current view regarding in rem jurisdiction is: “in order to justify an exercise of jurisdiction in rem, the basis for jurisdiction must be sufficient to justify exercising jurisdiction over the interests of persons in a thing.” See
In
EXAMPLE: Mac and Jenna were divorced and had an agreement giving custody and support to Jenna. Later they modified the agreement to transfer custody, but not support, to Mac. Their child Timmy went to New York to live with his father. The defendant advanced a defense of lack of minimum contacts with the state. The court disagreed because, by modifying the agreement, (which put the child in New York); the defendant subjected himself to the court’s jurisdiction when he agreed to modify the agreement in a New York court.
Foreign Divorce
States recognize ex parte decrees from another state under the Full Faith and Credit Clause; however, no state recognizes ex parte decrees from a foreign country. Recognition of bilateral divorces that were granted in a foreign country is governed by notions of “comity” rather than the Full Faith and Credit Clause. See, e.g.,
In Perrin, the wife attacked the validity of a Mexican divorce, contending that neither she nor her husband was domiciled in Mexico at the time of the divorce. During the preceding the wife appeared personally (representing to the Mexican court that she resided in Mexico) and the husband appeared by an attorney. Since the wife had procured the decree she could not now collaterally attack the validity of the Mexican divorce.
Foreign migratory divorces fall into three classes:
- Mexican mail-order divorces: These are not recognized in the United States as ending the marital relationship since they exhibit a complete absence of any of the usual bases for divorce jurisdiction. See, e.g.,
Cammarota v. Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare, 329 F.Supp. 1087 (N.D. N.Y. 1971) . - Ex parte divorces: These are divorces based solely on the plaintiff spouse’s physical presence in the divorcing nation, without his ever having become domiciled in that nation. The defendant spouse neither participated in the divorce proceeding, did not make an appearance in the proceeding, nor was personally subject to the jurisdiction of the divorcing court. Divorces of this kind are also generally not recognized by United States courts but may be immune from attack by virtue of the estoppel doctrine. See, e.g.,
Montemurro v. Immigration and Naturalization Service, 409 F.2d 832 (9th Cir. 1969) . - Domicile in Mexico: One or both spouses actually live in Mexico for a short period of time. If the time period is long enough to obtain a Mexican domicile, the divorce will be held valid in the United States.
Where the foreign nation divorce was not obtained out of a desire to evade the law of the parties’ home state, and is valid by the law of the country in which it was obtained, it certainly should be recognized in the United States.
Estoppel
Generally, a court’s judgment given without jurisdiction over the subject matter of the action is void and open to collateral attack, either by the parties to the original suit or by others whose interests may have been adversely affected. This rule goes beyond divorce decrees to apply to other kinds of decrees and judgments. The policy underlying this rule is that which demands finality in litigation after a person has had a chance to present his case.
The application of res judicata depends upon the conditions under which the divorce was granted and is really a function of the divorce decree itself. Estoppel is an equity principle dependent upon events which may have occurred after the divorce was granted or apart from the divorce action. It is not a function of the decree but a personal disability of the party attacking the decree. It is not a rule of jurisdiction. Therefore its application is not governed by the Full Faith and Credit Clause of the United States Constitution.
One who procures a void divorce or who uses a void divorce decree to his or her advantage by remarrying, is estopped from attacking that decree at a later time. A party will also be estopped from later attacking a divorce decree if the attack is inconsistent with the position taken at the time of the divorce, or the party upholding the divorce has relied upon the decree.