How easy can a divorce be dismissed for lack of jurisdiction? Two people are married for 20 years. They used to live in Pennsylvania but moved to New Jersey across the river and lived there for two years. Wife gets kicked out around January 1 by husband so she takes her minor daughter and moves to Pennsylvania. Husband continues to live in their house in NJ. Wife hires an attorney and files for divorce in May in New Jersey Superior Court. Husband shows up Pro Se to answer in June. Wife is awarded child support and several other things. Husband DOES NOT contest jurisdiction then nor does he dispute that he lives in NJ at that time. But in July Husband hires an attorney and files to have the entire divorce dismissed for lack of jurisdiction. His reasons are that he never changed his drivers license from PA to NJ. That he still has his business in PA. He claims he moved out of the NJ house in January. Every time the daughter went to visit Husband for visitation, she went to the NJ house. Even as recently as June. Husband was seen coming home to the NJ house several times in March and was photographed doing so at that house. He claims the house is still owned by him but is empty and he is not renting it out. How likely is it that he will be able to convince the NJ court that they don't have jurisdiction? What should a good attorney be doing to keep the suit from being dismissed? If it's dismissed would the entire case be dumped as if it never happened? What if the divorce is then filed in PA and Husband tries to get it dismissed there for lack of jurisdiction? And is a PA divorce usually that much better for a man than a NJ divorce?
New Jersey has jurisdiction under N.J.S.A. 2A:34-10 provided that at the time the cause of action arose, either party was a bona fide resident of this State, and has continued so to be down to the time of the commencement of the action; except that no action for absolute divorce or dissolution of a civil union shall be commenced for any cause other than adultery, unless one of the parties has been for the 1 year next preceding the commencement of the action a bona fide resident of this State; (which if you undo the contorted writing, mean one of you must be a resident for a year, except if the cause is adultery). Under this scenario, the wife did not continue to be a resident of NJ, so it is crucial that the husband be a bona fide resident. The problem is that there is no general law defining residency for all legal purposes, instead, residency is defined on a law-by-law basis (or, not defined). 52:14-7 which imposes a residency requirement on state employees says that a person may have at most one principal residence, and the state of a person's principal residence means the state (1) where the person spends the majority of the person's nonworking time, and (2) which is most clearly the center of the person's domestic life, and (3) which is designated as the person's legal address and legal residence for voting. The husband is apparently an NJ resident under (1) and probably (2), and possibly (3). It would not matter whether he was living in that particular house, the question was whether he was living in the state (presumably yes since otherwise you would have said "he moved out of the state"). Voter registration, another measure of residency, requires 30 days living in NJ (and is itself proof of residency). Another way of determining residency is via state income tax. You are a full time resident if New Jersey was not your domicile, but you maintained a permanent home in New Jersey for the entire year and you spent more than 183 days in New Jersey or New Jersey was your domicile for the entire year, as long as it's not the case that You did not spend more than 30 days in New Jersey You did maintain a permanent home outside New Jersey You did not maintain a permanent home in New Jersey Under tax law, the husband is a resident. Failure to get an NJ license is itself against the law, so that would not be a valid argument that the husband is not a resident. Owning a business in another state also does not negate residency.
While you have correctly stated the usual order of events in a trial, the judge has wide discretion to modify the order if it seems that justice will be served. Even in a serious criminal case, the judge can reopen testimony after closing arguments have started if the judge finds that there is good reason to do so. Traffic cases are generally less formal, and the judge will more freely modify procedure to bring out the facts of the case. I have often seen judges at traffic court ask significant relevant questions, and if they are in fact relevant, i don't think you will get far objecting to their begin asked. I am not a lawyewr, but I also have observed several traffic cases in Maryland and in NJ.
united-states Procedures differ on such things. The closest I know of to an outcome of "not enough evidence" is the classic "scotch verdict" of "Not Proven. In the US, the prosecutor can wait to proceed with a criminal case while s/he does (or has done) as much investigation as s/he thinks is advisable. But once the trial starts, it normally proceeds to a conclusion. If there is not enough evidence to convict, the result should be "not guilty" and that will bar any future trial of the same person for the same offense under the doctrine of Double Jeopardy. Circumstantial evidence, as described in the question, can be enough to convict, if the jury (or judge in a bench trial) is convinced beyond a reasonable doubt that the accused is guilty. Exactly how much evidence it takes to convince a Jury varies, and there is not a clear standard other than the phrase " beyond a reasonable doubt". The judge, or a later appeals court, can set aside a jury verdict for insufficient evidence, but only by finding that no reasonable jury could have convicted on the evidence pre3sented, taking it in the light most favorable to conviction. Judges are reluctant to set aside jury verdicts unless they appear badly wrong. If further evidence is found during the trial, which tends to show the accused is not guilty, the prosecutor can request that the trial be halted. This may or may not bar a future re-trial of the same defendant, depending on whether the dismissal is 'without prejudice", a decision the Judge makes. But once evidence has been started to be presented, dismissals are usually "with prejudice" meaning that double jeopardy applies. The defense can also request a dismissal, most often at the end of the prosecution case. In rare circumstances the Judge may dismiss without a request from either prosecution or defense. These will most often be "with prejudice" It is possible for the trial to be recessed while new evidence is evaluated or sought, but this is rare and usually only for a short time -- a day or two, perhaps. In general a prosecutor is not supposed to schedule a trial if there is any reasonable chance of additional evidence coming to light. It can and does happen, but the system tries to avoid it, and does not easily accept that it has happened. This answer is US-Specific, and different answers may apply in other places.
The divorce under Florida, USA, law, will be recognised in the UK and have legal effect. Under the Family Law Act 1986 an overseas divorce obtained by means of judicial or other proceedings is recognised in the UK only if: it is effective under the law of the country in which it was obtained; and at the relevant date (that is, the date on which proceedings were begun), either party was either habitually resident or domiciled in that country or was a national of that country. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/overseas-divorces-set13/overseas-divorces-set13 You may need to take additional steps in the UK as a Florida divorce certificate may not be familiar to organisations who need to be told of your divorce. Obtaining recognition of your foreign divorce in the UK can be extremely complex and we strongly advise anyone who is unsure to contact a legal professional in the UK to ensure their overseas divorce is valid and there could be no repercussions down the line. https://www.nelsonslaw.co.uk/foreign-divorce-valid-england/
I know of no laws at the federal or state level that explicitly extend their protection to poly relationships. However, any law that purports to outlaw a polyamorous relationship among consenting adults should be looked at very skeptically, as it would likely be found unconstitutional under Lawrence v. Texas, 539 U.S. 558 (2003): The case does involve two adults who, with full and mutual consent from each other, engaged in sexual practices common to a homosexual lifestyle. The petitioners are entitled to respect for their private lives. The State cannot demean their existence or control their destiny by making their private sexual conduct a crime. Their right to liberty under the Due Process Clause gives them the full right to engage in their conduct without intervention of the government. While that case dealt with homosexual relationships, it seems unlikely that the courts would conclude that heterosexual couples, throuples, etc., are entitled to less protection. Adultery laws exist in many jurisdictions, and many of them have survived constitutional challenges. But as far as I know, all those challenges relied on legal principles and precedents -- in particular, Bowers v. Hardwick, 478 U.S. 186 (1986) -- that Lawrence explicitly overruled. In this regard, I would not expect anyone in a polyamorous relationship to encourter meaningful legal jeopardy as a result of that relationship, assuming that the relationship(s) were otherwise legal and out in the open. If A is unaware of her spouse's relationship with C, for instance, that could cause problems in a divorce proceeding. I don't know of any legal options specifically designed for this sort of arrangement, but the more interconnected and interdependent these groups are, the more likely it becomes that some sort of written agreement would become worthwhile -- not as a response to legal danger arising from the polyamorous nature of the relationship, just to address the fact that someone is eventually going to fall short, potentially causing problems for the whole group. There are many lawyers who specialize in LGBT issues, and I'd imagine that some of them would be able to provide more detailed advice about how to deal with this type of situation.
You can jointly hire a lawyer Yes, they can jointly hire a lawyer, coming at the lawyer essentially as one single entity: a partnership. The lawyer will research both sides of the question, and give the partnership a fair report. The fee you pay may not deliver to one definitive answer, but it'll discuss all the likely angles. However, if one of them needs a lawyer in an action against the other, that jointly hired lawyer will be "conflicted out". So Bob should identify the best lawyer in town in that particular area of practice, and retain that lawyer privately without telling Rob. Then, identify the second best lawyer in town, and recommend to Rob to use that lawyer for the "joint" lawyer. Now, when we come down to Bob vs Rob, Bob has the best lawyer, and Rob's is third best. Facts and circumstances will decide the matter The biggest problem with floating a hypothetical question is that the actual facts and circumstances in your genuine flesh-and-blood case are likely to be different. Understand that litigants are especially stupid about this. There's a huge bias to believe matter X is relevant/on-point to their own case, when a neutral judge may not see it that way at all. Likewise, there's a huge bias toward presenting your hypothetical in flattering terms, on the hopes of getting a more favorable ruling. Then, when the real case comes up, the facts and circumstances differ too much, and the judge says "these facts don't fit your declaratory judgment". And now it's a new ballgame. Your best bet, in areas of doubt, is to obtain legal advice and pay heed to it.
united-states Overview The big picture to keep in mind is that in the United States the applicable deadline for filing a lawsuit is very specific to the legal theory upon which relief is sought from a court, and that there are numerous special rules (which can vary from claim to claim and based upon the individual facts of the case) that can modify these general rules. Exceptions to the general rules are common enough that it is not safe to rely upon them. There is a lot of case law on these issues because dismissals of cases because a statute of limitations has run are usually all or nothing issues in a lawsuit, don't depend on too much evidence, and are often relatively straightforward and inexpensive to appeal relative to other kinds of legal issues. Also, lawyers whose cases are dismissed for failing to meet a statute of limitations often have a strong incentive to encourage their clients to appeal, because they may face malpractice liability if the dismissal of their client's claims is upheld. While the question is specifically directed at how statutes of limitations apply to continuing violations, it isn't possible to really clearly answer that question outside of the larger context of how statutes of limitations in the United States work in general, and without considering other legal doctrines that can have similar effects to rules based upon continuing violations under different legal theories. Also, keep in mind that when you hire a lawyer to bring a lawsuit, the lawyer needs lead time to prepare the documents starting the lawsuit. The best practice is to contact a lawyer as soon as possible because this may allow claims with shorter statutes of limitations that you had not even considered to be brought. It is usually very imposing on the lawyer to bring a new lawsuit to them less than a month before the deadline for bringing suit. Sometimes it is possible to get the job done a week or even a few days before the deadline, but this invites mistakes that could impair later phases of the lawsuit, limits the time available for factual investigation and legal research before bringing the lawsuit, drives up the cost of preparing the documents because work that would otherwise be done by staff or junior lawyers may have to be done by senior lawyers, and exposes you to the risk that you won't be able to find a lawyer who is actually willing to take on your case on acceptable financial terms right away. Statutes of Limitations In Ohio In Ohio, for non-criminal cases, some of the most common statutes of limitations are as follows (citations to the relevant statutes are found in the linked material): 21 years to recover real estate; 8 years to sue on written contracts; six years to sue on oral contracts; two years for actions for personal injuries or property damage; and one year for libel, slander, malicious prosecution, false imprisonment, and professional malpractice. Most other types of lawsuits are subject to a four-year limitation. See also here (providing more specific examples including four year statutes of limitations for claims for trespass and fraud). Different and usually must shorter statutes of limitations apply to reopening court judgments in cases due to irregularities in the proceedings, and to appeal court judgments. If a statute of limitations runs without a lawsuit being filed, the right to seek legal redress for the wrong committed expires. With very narrow exceptions, usually invited or assented to by the party sued in some way, once a statute of limitations has expired the claim that is barred can never be revived. A nice medium length summary of the various doctrines applicable to statutes of limitations (mostly discussed below) in the state of Minnesota, which is fairly typical of U.S. states) can be found here. Statutes Of Limitations For Federal Law Claims These limitations apply to claims under state law. Claims under federal law sometimes have their own statutes of limitations (e.g. federal copyright and patent infringement lawsuits), and sometimes are governed by the analogous statute of limitations under state law. For example, the statute of limitations for lawsuits under the federal Lanham Act is based upon the most analogous state law statute of limitations. In those circumstances it is usually necessary to look a case law in the state and federal courts in that state to determine the correct statute of limitations for that kind of claim. When Does A Claim Accrue? The date that one starts to calculate from for a statute of limitations is sometimes the date when the wrong is done (also known as a statute of repose), and sometimes when it is known or should have been known by the person bringing the lawsuit. The date when you start counting to determine the statute of limitations deadline is the called the date that 'the claim accrues&quot; or that the &quot;claim arises.&quot; Usually a claim accrues when the person bringing the lawsuit knew that a particular person breached a legal duty to them and that this breach of a legal duty to them caused them injuries, even if the amount of the injuries caused is uncertain. But for some kinds of lawsuits, knowledge that a person breached a legal duty to them alone is enough even if it wasn't clear at the time that the person to whom the duty was owed would suffer legal injuries. What Must One Do Before The Statute Of Limitations Runs? In most U.S. states (including Ohio pursuant to Ohio Rule of Civl Procedure 3) and in the federal system pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 3, a statute of limitations is met by filing a lawsuit with a court by the deadline, so long as a defendant has a summons and complaint delivered to the defendant within the time allowed by court rules after the lawsuit is commenced. But, in other U.S. states, such as Minnesota, the statute of limitations applicable to a defendant can only be met by delivering the summons and complaint in a lawsuit to a defendant, whether or not the lawsuit has been filed with the clerk of the relevant court. When a summons and complaint has been delivered to a defendant but the case has not yet been filed with the clerk of the court in which the lawsuit states that it is brought, that court has what is called &quot;hip-pocket&quot; jurisdiction over the lawsuit. Tolling and Estoppel Certain circumstances (such as a victim who is a minor, or the death of the victim before the statute of limitations has expired) can toll the statute of limitations (i.e. stop it from running) while that situation continues or for a certain maximum length of time. Some statutes of limitations can be lengthened with an agreement of the parties in what is called a &quot;tolling agreement&quot;. Another concept similar to tolling is that someone who is sued may be prohibited from asserting a statute of limitations defense under a doctrine called &quot;estoppel&quot; if the failure of the person to bring the lawsuit within the statute of limitations is caused by the misconduct of the person seeking to assert the statute of limitations defense. Both tolling and estoppel are exceptions to the general rule that are frequently interpreted strictly against people bringing a lawsuit, however. One should never assume that these doctrines apply and rely upon them making a lawsuit timely, unless one has no other choice but to do so. Continuing Violations Sometimes in the case of a &quot;continuing violation&quot; the statute runs from the last time that the continuing violation was committed. But, it is not safe to assume based upon logic alone whether a violation is a continuing violation or not. Sometimes the statute of limitations runs from the initial violation, even if it continues. Sometimes a lawsuit can seek remedies from the first time the violation occurred until the present based upon a continuing violation if a lawsuit is commenced within the statute of limitations after the violation ceases. Sometimes a lawsuit can be brought based upon a continuing violation until the requisite number of years after the violation ceases, but the remedy is limited to harms caused by conduct that was within the statute of limitations or to injuries that occurred within the statute of limitations. There is really no way to know which of these rules applies to a particular kind of claim without examining the case law for each particular type of claim. A related concept is that in lawsuits to collect a debt for money owed, the statute of limitations is typically reset every time a payment is made or there is a written affirmation from the debtor that a debt is owed. Other Exceptions To The General Rules Previously Time Barred Claims Sometimes a statute of limitations is amended to make it longer. When this happens, claims that were already barred by the statute of limitations are generally not reinstated. But claims that are not already barred by the statute of limitations on the effective date of the new law usually, but not always, benefit from the new statute of limitations. Borrowed Statutes Of Limitations Sometimes someone can bring a lawsuit in a court where, for example, the defendant resides, even though the wrong occurred in another jurisdiction that has different statutes of limitations. The way that this situation is handled varies. The most common rule is for the state where the lawsuit is filed to apply its own statute of limitations unless the lawsuit would have been barred by the statute of limitations in the place where the wrong occurred. But not all states follow this rule in all cases. Special Rules For Counterclaims Some states allow counterclaims that would otherwise be barred by a statute of limitations to be brought when they relate to what someone is being sued over, even when otherwise, the statute of limitations for the counterclaims would have expired. For example, suppose that someone sues Joe for breaching a promissory note in Colorado (which has a counterclaim exception), five years after the contract was allegedly breached (in a state where the statute of limitations is six year); Joe may be able to counterclaim against the person suing him for fraud in the same transaction in which the promissory note was created even though the three year statute of limitations for bringing a fraud claim in Colorado would have otherwise expired. Dismissals Without Prejudice For Suing In The Wrong Court Some states allow you to bring a lawsuit that is otherwise barred by the statute of limitations, if a lawsuit is filed within the statute of limitations in a court that then dismisses the claim for a reason unrelated to the merits of that claim (usually lack of subject-matter jurisdiction), and the person bringing the lawsuit promptly refiles it in the proper court. The Relation Back Doctrine Sometimes after a lawsuit is filed against a defendant the complaint in the lawsuit is amended to assert new claims against the existing defendants, or to assert claims against a new defendant, after the statute of limitations for filing the new claims against the existing defendants, or the existing or new claims against a new defendant has expired, even though the original lawsuit was filed within the statute of limitations applicable to those claims. In those cases, the claims in the amended complaint will be treated for statute of limitations purposes as filed when the lawsuit was originally filed, if the &quot;relation back&quot; doctrine is satisfied. This is governed by Ohio Rule of Civil Procedure 15 and Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 15 respectively in state and federal court. In cases where new claims are asserted against an existing defendant, the relation back doctrine applies roughly speaking when the new claim arises from the same transactions and events that the lawsuit was originally based upon, even if it attaches significant to different facts or different legal theories. In cases where a new party is sued, the claims roughly speaking relate back when the new party had notice of the lawsuit within the statute of limitations and the new party knew or should have know that the new party was not sued originally only due to a mistake regarding who the proper person to sue in the case was (e.g. because related corporate entities had similar names and the wrong corporation in the group of affiliated companies was sued). Failure To Assert The Defense Statutes of limitations, and most other grounds for dismissing claims as untimely, are affirmative defenses, not something that must be established on the face of the complaint initiating a lawsuit. So, if the defendant fails to raise a statute of limitations defense in a case, even if it is actually available under the true facts of the situation, then the lawsuit will not be dismissed for failure to sue within the statute of limitations. Other Rules That Can Bar A Claim Filed Too Late Contractual modification of the statute of limitations Sometimes a statute of limitations can be shortened by a contractual agreement of the parties, most often for breaches of the contract shorting the deadline for bringing claims arising from its breach. If this shortening of the statute of limitations isn't unreasonable and is obtained with fair disclosure, and no public policy is violated by the modification, it will often be upheld by a court. For example, a contract might require a party to raise a dispute concerning an item contained in a statement or invoice presented to the party asked to pay it within a certain reasonable time period, even if the relationship between the parties is ongoing and the statute of limitations would otherwise run from the last date upon which the parties reached a final settlement between them of their dealing with each other. Probate and Bankruptcy Cases There is also generally speaking a strict time limitation in addition to a statute of limitations on enforcing claims against people who have died (sometimes called a &quot;non-claims statute&quot;) and against people who have filed for bankruptcy. Sometimes, however, a deadline involving a non-claims statute that is triggered by giving notice to the person to be barred by it can be waived in cases where the person with the claim had no actual notice of the deadline. Lawsuits Against The Government There are also often special additional time limits that apply to lawsuits against government entities and governmental employees acting in their official capacities, especially for torts as opposed to breaches of contract. These are often much shorter than the usual statute of limitations. Laches Sometimes claims have no statute of limitations at all, but those are the exception and are quite rare. But even when there isn't a fixed deadline for filing a lawsuit, a legal doctrine called laches bars lawsuits when they are filed an unreasonably long time after they arise in a manner that is prejudicial to the person sued. Sometimes the doctrine of laches can even bar a claim in a lawsuit, or certain kinds of relief in connection with a claim in a lawsuit, even if the claim is brought within the applicable statute of limitations. In these situations, this doctrine is similar to the doctrine of estoppel preventing someone from asserting a statute of limitations. For example, if someone knows that the records necessary to defend against a lawsuit are about to be destroyed even though the statute of limitations will not run for another few years, the lawsuit could be dismissed under the doctrine of laches if the person bringing the lawsuit knew that and deliberately waited until after the documents were destroyed to bring the lawsuit. Mootness A claim can also be barred because it has become &quot;moot&quot; which is to say that due to the circumstances that have occurred since a legal wrong was committed, it is no longer possible for a court to provide relief the relief that the person bringing the lawsuit is seeking. For example, in a lawsuit seeking possession of an apartment and no other relief, the lawsuit becomes moot if the person in the apartment leaves the apartment and surrenders possession to the person seeking it, or if the building burns down.
There are several reasons people wish to get a marriage annulled. I'll try to list them in order of frequency -- though I'm unaware of any statistics that confirm that my ordering is correct. Money. As per Nij's comment, when people are divorced, their property is subdivided 50-50. If one person can get away with an annulment, and keep the property which he earned, then it will be in his interests to do so. Religious reasons. As per SJuan76's comments, several churches, including Catholic, Mormon, and Russian Baptist, do not allow a person to marry if his previous spouse is still alive. An annulment is a way around that. Fraud marriages. This is rare, but under Trump it happens more often then you might think. People (usually women) come to the US illegally, marry someone (generally significantly older), and after the wedding day they are never again seen by their spouse. They use their marriage certificate to ensure permission to stay in the US -- but, they were never interested in marrying that person in the first place. When found, often such people are living with another illegal alien "as a boyfriend", with kids born before the fraud marriage even took place. It is in such cases, that their new spouse often tries to attain an annulment of the marriage -- to make sure that the illegal alien doesn't get rewarded for cheating them. Personal reasons. For some people, having never been married means it's easier to get a spouse who also has never been married -- and being able to check the "Single -- Never married" box on a form is always a plus in such cases. Now, don't ask me why people prefer to marry someone who's never been married, over someone who's been divorced. :) Incest. Under the US law, if you marry someone who's your close relative, then you are guilty of a felony -- even if you didn't know they're your close relative at the time of marriage. However, if you annul the marriage, then you can avoid prosecution.