Von Schack v. Von Schack
Maine Supreme Judicial Court
893 A.2d 1004 (2006)
- Written by Liz Nakamura, JD
Facts
Mary Mulhearn Von Schack (plaintiff) and Wesley W. Von Schack were married in New York and had one child. The marital residence was always in New York or Pennsylvania. In 2004, Wesley moved to Maine and Mary and the child remained in New York. Wesley filed for divorce in Maine and had Mary personally served in New York. Mary moved to dismiss the complaint, arguing that Maine lacked personal jurisdiction over her and over the marital property, and that it was an inconvenient forum. The district court denied Mary’s motion to dismiss the divorce action, ruling it had original jurisdiction over the dissolution of the marriage, and granted the divorce. However, the court also held that it could not rule on the issues of property division, child custody, or support because it lacked personal jurisdiction over Mary and the child. Mary appealed, arguing that Maine granting the divorce without personal jurisdiction violated her rights under the Due Process Clause.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Saufley, C.J.)
What to do next…
Here's why 832,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:
- Written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students. 46,500 briefs, keyed to 994 casebooks. Top-notch customer support.
- The right amount of information, includes the facts, issues, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents.
- Access in your classes, works on your mobile and tablet. Massive library of related video lessons and high quality multiple-choice questions.
- Easy to use, uniform format for every case brief. Written in plain English, not in legalese. Our briefs summarize and simplify; they don’t just repeat the court’s language.
