Can a foreign divorce decree be challenged in Virginia?
Yes, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled in the case of Williams v. North Carolina, 325 U.S. 226, 65 S.Ct. 1092, 89 L.Ed. 1577 (1945). While the Williams case does not directly concern Virginia law or bankruptcy law, the case has had far reaching implications on the extent to which each state must respect the judgments of her sister states, including divorce decrees affecting spousal support or alimony, property division, equitable distribution, or the allocation of marital debts, when one spouse leaves Virginia and obtains a divorce in a different state. The validity of a foreign divorce can impact bankruptcy by its effects on property transfers and financial obligations.
In Williams, a man and a woman, domiciled in North Carolina, left their spouses in North Carolina in order to obtain decrees of divorce in Nevada. The Nevada court granted the petitioners divorce decrees since it found that they had been residents in Nevada for more than six weeks immediately preceding the commencement of their divorce action, as required by Nevada law.
After obtaining their divorce decrees, petitioners were married in Nevada then returned to North Carolina to live. Subsequently, the petitioners were prosecuted in North Carolina for bigamous cohabitation. Petitioners pleaded not guilty and offered copies of the Nevada proceedings, contending that the divorce decrees and the Nevada marriage were valid in North Carolina as well as in Nevada. The state contended that since neither of the defendants in the Nevada actions were served in Nevada nor entered an appearance there, the Nevada decrees would not be recognized as valid in North Carolina. North Carolina further contended that petitioners went to Nevada not to establish a bona fide residence but solely for the purpose of taking advantage of the laws of that state to obtain a divorce thru fraud upon that court.
The United States Supreme Court held that, upon the record, the judgments of conviction were not invalid as denying the Nevada divorce decrees the full faith and credit required by Art. IV, § 1 of the Constitution. Under our system of law, judicial power or jurisdiction to grant a divorce must be founded upon domicile. Domicile is defined as a person’s legal home or permanent residence. Domicile implies a connection between a person and a place beyond mere physical presence, but also an intention to return there or an intention to stay for the indefinite future. Here, the petitioners were domiciled in North Carolina and the Nevada court lacked personal jurisdiction. See Haddock v. Haddock, 201 U.S. 562 (1906). Hence, A decree of divorce rendered in one State may be collaterally impeached in another by proof that the court which rendered the decree had no jurisdiction, even though the record of the proceedings in that court purports to show jurisdiction.
You should consult with your Virginia divorce lawyer concerning the validity of your foreign divorce.