Let’s decode a legal concept, in personam jurisdiction. Jurisdiction is cobbled together from a Latin phrase meaning “law saying,” and in personam means “against a person” as opposed to a place or thing. Take it together and you get the law saying what a person can or cannot do, as in a divorce.

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The 14th Amendment

If, from your digs on Venice Beach in California, you want to divorce your Virginia spouse, you should learn Section 1 of the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution:

  • All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.

This is the famous “equal protection” clause, which among other things grants everyone two rights:

  1. It prevents one state from reaching into a second state to take a resident of that second state without going before the second state’s courts
  2. It gives you equal protection of due process in every state’s jurisdiction

In law, we generally see three kinds of jurisdictional claims. For territorial jurisdiction and subject matter jurisdiction, state statutes grant territorial and subject matter jurisdiction.

But what of personal jurisdiction?

The United States Congress says, “Personal jurisdiction or in personam jurisdiction refers to a court’s power over a person (or entity) who is a party to, or involved in, a case or controversy before the court, including its power to render judgments affecting that person’s rights.”

Forum State

Territorial and subject matter claims are generally cut and dried. For personal jurisdiction, things can be much more dynamic.

Two states can be in legal conflict over personal jurisdiction, but the dispute usually boils down to real estate. In a civil matter, your domicile is key. Your domicile is your residence of long standing. Your California beachfront house is your domicile; your weekend room at Country Inn and Suites in Fredericksburg is not.

If you only have a domicile in California and sue a Virginia resident for divorce, Virginia has personal jurisdiction over the Commonwealth’s resident, but not over you.

A Virginia family law attorney, though, can have divorce papers served on you in California by a process server. Those papers can compel you to present yourself in Virginia for the divorce. Virginia is considered the “forum state,” the state in which the divorce suit is heard, with the Virginia courtroom the “venue.”

When Can a Court Claim Personal Jurisdiction?

Ah, but what if, with one home in sunny California, you also still own a home in Virginia? Or what if you signed a marriage contract (a wedding license) in Virginia? You, you California Dreamer, will run smack into Virginia Code § 8.01-328.1, which says in part:

1. A court may exercise personal jurisdiction over a person, who acts directly or by an agent, as to a cause of action arising from the person’s:

… 6. Having an interest in, using, or possessing real property in this Commonwealth;

… 9. Having maintained within this Commonwealth a matrimonial domicile at the time of separation of the parties upon which grounds for divorce or separate maintenance is based, or at the time a cause of action arose for divorce or separate maintenance or at the time of commencement of such suit, if the other party to the matrimonial relationship resides herein (our emphasis added)

Virginia very much can reach out to California and claim personal jurisdiction over you in those cases. But wait, there’s more! See if any of these situations are yours:

  • During property settlement (at separation) you signed an agreement in Virginia for spousal support or child support
  • You are already knee-deep in a Virginia annulment or divorce when you high-tail it to California
  • You have been ordered by a Virginia court to pay spousal support or child support to a Virginia resident
  • You conceived or fathered a child born in Virginia

If those life events align with you, there’s a clause for that:

  1. Having (i) executed an agreement in this Commonwealth which obligates the person to pay spousal support or child support to a domiciliary of this Commonwealth, or to a person who has satisfied the residency requirements in suits for annulments or divorce for members of the armed forces or civilian employees of the United States, including foreign service officers, pursuant to § 20-97, provided that proof of service of process on a nonresident party is made by a law-enforcement officer or other person authorized to serve process in the jurisdiction where the nonresident party is located; (ii) been ordered to pay spousal support or child support pursuant to an order entered by any court of competent jurisdiction in this Commonwealth having in personam jurisdiction over such person; or (iii) shown by personal conduct in this Commonwealth, as alleged by affidavit, that the person conceived or fathered a child in this Commonwealth;

The Net Effect of Personal Jurisdiction

The net effect of personal jurisdiction is that you cannot conduct civil suits (family law matters such as separation and divorce) from a distance if you have skin in the game in Virginia.

Virginia can legally claim personal jurisdiction over you, no matter where you are. Own a home in Richmond but you asked your attorney to file for divorce while you sit on a Venice, California beach? Expect to be hauled into court in Richmond. And do not sit on that Venice beach and ignore a summons to return to Virginia.

Get yourself a competent Virginia lawyer to handle everything over which Virginia has personal jurisdiction. You could also get a lawyer in the state in which you reside, to help you understand everything in person, but the Virginia family law attorney is absolutely vital to your case.

For more on personal jurisdiction, contact The Firm For Men today or telephone our offices at (757) 383-9184. We help Virginia’s men in all aspects of family law, even if some of them are on a beach in Venice, California.