This is the 14th installment in a series by a Franklin County Ohio Family Law Attorney about the process and options for ending your marriage in Ohio, and about Ohio divorce laws.

OHIO INTERSTATE DIVORCE

This article discusses Interstate Divorce between two parties who do NOT have children.  Interstate child custody jurisdiction and interstate child support jurisdiction will be talked about in other installments in the series.

Suppose two parties live in different states, and one or both of them, has decided that the marriage should end.  So where do they file?  Part 11 of this series, Part 11: Columbus Ohio Divorce Jurisdiction, talked about Ohio’s jurisdiction to end the marriage ONLY.  What about when when a husband or wife wants Ohio to enter orders about the other spouse’s money or property?  For a court to order someone to pay money, or make orders about dividing his or her property with their spouse, the court must have personal jurisdiction.  Here’s the catch: a state that has in rem jurisdiction over the marriage because one of the parties lives in the state can end the marriage, but a court cannot order somebody to pay money unless the court has personal jurisdiction over the person who will be paying money.

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Personal jurisdiction for divorce purposes is about how much contact a person has with a state, in this case, Ohio.

To make things less confusing, I’ll use “spouse 1” and “spouse 2″These things are NOT enough to give Ohio personal jurisdiction over  spouse 2 in a divorce case with no children:

• Spouse 2 owns property in Ohio, but has no other contact with Ohio.
• Spouse 1 lives in Ohio.  Spouse 2 has visited Ohio, but has never established a residence or business here and was not served with court papers while here.
• Spouse 1 has put some bills into Spouse 2’s name and had them mailed to Ohio, but Spouse 2 does not live in Ohio.
• Spouse 1 and Spouse 2 got married in Ohio, but Spouse 2 has not lived in Ohio during the last six months.
• Spouse 1 and Spouse 2 had a long distance relationship and a long distance marriage.  They got married in Ohio but Spouse 2 has never lived in Ohio, only visited.

• Spouse 2 has lived in Ohio for the last six months
• Spouse 1 and Spouse 2 had a long distance relationship and a long distance marriage.  Spouse 2 lived in Ohio during the last six months.  The parties got married in Maryland.
• Spouse 1 lives in Ohio and Spouse 2 lives in West Virginia.  Spouse 2 went to Ohio to deliver some belongings to Spouse 1, and while Spouse 2 was in Ohio, Spouse 2 was served with a summons and complaint by a process server or sheriff.
• Spouse 1 files a divorce in Ohio.  Spouse 2 lives in North Carolina, has never lived in Ohio, but is properly served in North Carolina with Spouse 1’s Summons and Complaint for Divorce.  Spouse 2 ignores the documents because Ohio does not have personal jurisdiction.  Therefore, the legal defense of lack of personal jurisdiction is not raised, and is forever waived.
• Spouse 1 files a divorce in Ohio.  Spouse 2 lives in Florida, has never lived in Ohio, but is properly served in Florida with Spouse 1’s Summons and Complaint for Divorce.  Spouse 2 hires an Ohio attorney to raise the defense of lack of personal jurisdiction.  Unfortunately, that attorney files a general Notice of Appearance, which does not raise the personal jurisdiction challenge.  Personal Jurisdiction is waived and the divorce proceeds in Ohio.

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In summary, if you are going to want the court to order Spouse 2 to pay money, you must file in the state that has personal jurisdiction over Spouse 2.  Even if Spouse 2 makes a mistake and files the wrong paper, plan to spend some time and money in court arguing over whether they had their shot and they blew it.  Rather than go that route, it’s best to file in the state that has the proper jurisdiction in the first place.

You may also find some of these articles in our divorce series to be of interest:

Part 1: Conciliation or Legal Separation Part 2: Dissolution or Uncontested Divorce Part 3: Reasons to Choose Divorce Part 4: Restraining Orders Part 5: Where will you live? Part 6:Paper Work Part 7: Health Insurance Part 8: Attorney Fees Part 9: 5 Dirty Divorce Tricks Part 10: 5 More Dirty Divorce Tricks Part 11: Columbus Ohio Divorce Jurisdiction Part 12: Columbus Ohio Professional Practice Divorce

Part 13: Military Divorce Jurisdiction – What State to File In Series on Divorce Part 14: Interstate Divorce Series on Divorce Part 15: Interstate Divorce and Child Custody Series on Divorce Part 16: Psychological Evaluations in Ohio Divorce and Custody Cases Series on Divorce Part 17: Divorce and Medical Practice Owners Series on Divorce Part 18: Can you get a divorce or dissolution in Ohio while pregnant? Series on Divorce Part 19: Separate Property Series on Divorce Part 20: Average Cost of a divorce in Ohio

In addition to the other installments in the Divorce in Ohio Series (see links at top of the page), you may also find the following topics, which relate to divorce, to be helpful.

Adultery Annulment Alimony (Spousal Support) Best Interest of the Child Best Interest of the Child (Shared Parenting) Child Custody (5 part series) Child Custody Jurisdiction Child Support (deviation) Child Support (how much) Child Support (how to pay) Child Support (lower) Child Support (myths) Child Support (resources) Child Support (sign up) Contempt (4 part series) Dissolution Divorce Basics, Divorce Myths Father’s Rights Foreclosure Mediation,

Grandparents (9 part series) Guardian ad Litem House- Who Gets the House in Ohio Divorce? How Long Your Divorce May Last International Abduction Legal Separation Mediation Military Divorce in Ohio Moving (5 part series) Packet of Forms vs. Getting a Lawyer Parental Alienation Prenuptial Agreements (Antenuptial Agreements) Residential Parent Restraining Orders Shared Parenting Temporary Orders Temporary Orders Affidavits Where to File for Divorce Where will you live during the divorce?

DISCLAIMER – Read it, it’s stuff you need to know!