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Princess Lida of Thurn and Taxis v. Thompson

305 U.S. 456 (1939)

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Princess Lida of Thurn and Taxis v. Thompson

United States Supreme Court
305 U.S. 456 (1939)

Facts

When Lida Purcell (plaintiff) and Gerald Fitzgerald divorced in 1899, Gerald created a trust to provide support for Lida and the couple’s children. Lida later married Prince Victor of Thurn and Taxis, a minor German noble. In 1930, one year after the 1929 stock-market crash, the trustees of the trust (defendants) filed their accounts with a Pennsylvania state court, triggering a proceeding for judicial approval of their asset management. The day after the trustees’ filing in state court, Lida and one of her sons (plaintiff) filed suit against the trustees in federal district court. Lida and her son alleged that the trustees mismanaged the trust, and they sought removal of the trustees and an accounting requiring them to produce financial documents. The state court concluded that the trustees’ filing brought the trust and its property, or res, under the state court’s control, giving the state court exclusive jurisdiction over the res. The state court therefore issued an injunction preventing the federal district court from proceeding with the action filed in that court. Pennsylvania’s Supreme Court upheld the injunction, and the United States Supreme Court granted review.

Rule of Law

Issue

Holding and Reasoning (Roberts, J.)

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