In the case of Van Shack v. Van Shack our Law Court has ruled that a person can get a divorce without the court having any personal jurisdiction over the defendant. In this case Supreme Court found that the district court had jurisdiction even though it was undisputed that the defendant had “no contacts” whatsoever with the state of Maine and that the court lacked personal jurisdiction under Maine’s Long Arm Statute.
Before you jump to conclusions, the Law Court only found that the district court had jurisdiction to dissolve the marriage — nothing more. In other words, there still must be personal jurisdiction in order to determine what happens with the children, property rights, and finances.
Still, it’s very unusual for a court to find jurisdiction over someone with no contacts to the state.
Hmmmm, I guess my civ pro teacher was WRONG! Haha, I got her this time!
Posted by: aLs | April 21, 2006 at 03:51 PM
Women of Canada:
1. Find a hard-working guy that makes good money that likes you a lot.
2. Get him to propose to you.
3. Tell him that your job is stressing you out so much that you feel like driving your car into a
telephone pool sometimes on your way to work. Get him to agree that it be okay that you take
a break from work for awhile.
4. Marry him
5. Get pregnant by him
6. Do the most minimal amount of child care - try to get him to pay for daycare as much as he'll
allow.
7. Secretly cheat on him with several men.
8. When he finds out that you've been cheating on him, try to provoke him into assaulting you -
into grabing you or push you around -- that's considered assault and all you need. What you
want to accompish is to get him to grab or hit you so that it leaves a visible mark that the
police can see when they arrive.
9. If he assaults you, call 911, have him arrested, get a lawyer if possible (for free, if
possible), and charge him with assault.
10. When he divorces you, get a lawyer, take the children, and have him pay the maximum child
support and alimony that the law allows (it should be substantial). Go to school to get a
degree, and have him support you until you're done (4 years).
11. Find another stupid sucker and repeat the process.
Men of Canada:
1. Don't get married.
Posted by: GOD | May 17, 2006 at 02:45 PM
A controversial blog about child support.
http://newlegislation.blogspot.com/
Posted by: Chase | October 13, 2006 at 10:29 PM
This is entirely consistent with Virginia divorce law. In Virginia, all that's required to dissolve the marriage is "in rem" jurisdiction, not personal jurisdiction.
The marriage status itself is treated as a property. Virginia gains "in rem" jurisdiction over that property when one party has resided and been domiciled in Virginia for 6 months. The OTHER party need never enter Virginia.
Posted by: James D Livesay | December 20, 2006 at 12:02 PM
yikes
Posted by: eben_cole | February 15, 2007 at 01:24 PM
Dear men of Canada: Do not listen to the above Canadian loser named "GOD". In particular the statement "When he finds out that you've been cheating on him, try to provoke him into assaulting you -into grabing you or push you around -- that's considered assault and all you need. What you
want to accompish is to get him to grab or hit you."
1. Grabbing, pushing or hitting someone, even a spouse, IS assault. Yes, it is "considered" assault - because you've assaulted someone. Don't like the definition of assault? Try to get your legislature to make violence legal. Oh, and pray for your mortal soul.
Posted by: C., Esq. | May 07, 2007 at 05:20 PM
Can a Canadian married to a Canadian get divorced in maine?
Posted by: Hank Savoy | June 10, 2008 at 12:48 PM
On my above I got a no reply-does this still apply if we have been living in the State of Maine since 1998? Forgot to add this to my question.
Posted by: Hank Savoy | June 10, 2008 at 02:01 PM