Divorce mill
Encyclopedia
Divorce mill is a term used for a jurisdiction that is typically used for divorces by non-residents and/or used to obtain a divorce quickly and/or allow for contested divorces quickly and with little or no compensation to the other spouse. With the seven day stay now required in Guam
Guam
Guam is an organized, unincorporated territory of the United States located in the western Pacific Ocean. It is one of five U.S. territories with an established civilian government. Guam is listed as one of 16 Non-Self-Governing Territories by the Special Committee on Decolonization of the United...

, and the likelihood of the illegitimacy of contested divorces in other jurisdictions that don't observe due process
Due process
Due process is the legal code that the state must venerate all of the legal rights that are owed to a person under the principle. Due process balances the power of the state law of the land and thus protects individual persons from it...

, there really is little justification for the term "divorce mill", except for the quick uncontested divorces provided in the other countries mentioned, but all require at least an overnight stay, and with both spouses consenting to the divorce whether the term is valid is individual opinion.

There are three countries, one US territory, and one US state that could be regarded in this sense. Most of these jurisdictions also allow for "irreconcilable differences" as a cause for divorce, something that is not possible in some of the world including many US States (such as New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

) and thus another reason people would get a divorce from one of these jurisdictions. A divorce based on "irreconcilable differences" is generally the only way to obtain a no-fault divorce without carrying out a one year legal separation agreement to be able to obtain a divorce, and is not available in many states.

Famous divorce mills

These jurisdictions include (but are not limited to):
  • Nevada
    Nevada
    Nevada is a state in the western, mountain west, and southwestern regions of the United States. With an area of and a population of about 2.7 million, it is the 7th-largest and 35th-most populous state. Over two-thirds of Nevada's people live in the Las Vegas metropolitan area, which contains its...

  • Haiti
    Haiti
    Haiti , officially the Republic of Haiti , is a Caribbean country. It occupies the western, smaller portion of the island of Hispaniola, in the Greater Antillean archipelago, which it shares with the Dominican Republic. Ayiti was the indigenous Taíno or Amerindian name for the island...

  • Mexico
    Mexico
    The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...

  • The Dominican Republic
    Dominican Republic
    The Dominican Republic is a nation on the island of La Hispaniola, part of the Greater Antilles archipelago in the Caribbean region. The western third of the island is occupied by the nation of Haiti, making Hispaniola one of two Caribbean islands that are shared by two countries...

  • Guam
    Guam
    Guam is an organized, unincorporated territory of the United States located in the western Pacific Ocean. It is one of five U.S. territories with an established civilian government. Guam is listed as one of 16 Non-Self-Governing Territories by the Special Committee on Decolonization of the United...

  • United States Virgin Islands
    United States Virgin Islands
    The Virgin Islands of the United States are a group of islands in the Caribbean that are an insular area of the United States. The islands are geographically part of the Virgin Islands archipelago and are located in the Leeward Islands of the Lesser Antilles.The U.S...


Nevada

The State of Nevada is commonly used for a few reasons. It only requires a 6 week stay to meet the residency requirements, the lowest in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. Nevada allows for irreconcilable differences
Irreconcilable differences
The concept of irreconcilable differences provides a possible ground for divorce in a number of jurisdictions.In Australian family law with no-fault divorce it is the sole ground, adequate proof being that the estranged couple have been separated more than 12 months.In the United States it can be...

 as a grounds for divorce. One major reason this attracts people is it allows for an easy bypassing of the mandatory 50/50 split in some community property
Community property
Community property is a marital property regime that originated in civil law jurisdictions and is now also found in some common law jurisdictions...

 states, most notably the adjoining State of California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

.

Guam

Guam
Guam
Guam is an organized, unincorporated territory of the United States located in the western Pacific Ocean. It is one of five U.S. territories with an established civilian government. Guam is listed as one of 16 Non-Self-Governing Territories by the Special Committee on Decolonization of the United...

 had (and still has some) very attractive reasons for obtaining an uncontested divorce there - reasons that make (or made) it a likely candidate for the title "divorce mill" - a title branded by many of its own politicians in a successful attempt to change the law.

Because Guam is a territory of the United States, its courts are United States jurisdictional courts and the divorces it issues are valid in all of the states in the U.S. Prior to January 1, 2006, Guam allowed for an uncontested divorce without either spouse visiting the territory at all - one of the few places if not the only that allowed this. After being charged as a "divorce mill", an agreement was made by the politicians of the territory with the lawyers and other lobbyists who did not want to change the law, to require a seven-day stay in Guam (as opposed to the much longer ones proposed by the legislators) to obtain a divorce. Guam allows for "irreconcilable differences
Irreconcilable differences
The concept of irreconcilable differences provides a possible ground for divorce in a number of jurisdictions.In Australian family law with no-fault divorce it is the sole ground, adequate proof being that the estranged couple have been separated more than 12 months.In the United States it can be...

" as a cause for divorce, and Guam is much quicker to award a finalized divorce than many U.S. states, taking a few weeks at most. Before the law was changed, it was a very attractive alternative for many Americans, as it was also quite affordable. However, with the seven-day stay requirement and its location in Southeast Asia, a trip there can be very expensive and may not be a viable alternative for many Americans.

Domicile

In United States law, the basis of subject-matter jurisdiction
Subject-matter jurisdiction
Subject-matter jurisdiction is the authority of a court to hear cases of a particular type or cases relating to a specific subject matter. For instance, bankruptcy court only has the authority to hear bankruptcy cases....

 in divorce is domicile
Domicile
*In architecture, a general term for a place of residence or "permanent residence" in legal terms*Domicile , the zodiac sign over which a planet has rulership...

. Domicile is the place were a person resides with the intent to permanently or at least indefinitely remain. In colloquial terms, it is 'home.' A natural person (i.e. not a corporation), may only have one domicile at a time.

Courts within the United States apply the law of domicile in cases where the divorce was obtained in a US state, territory, the District of Columbia, or a foreign country.

Basis for collateral attack on sister state, territory, and District of Columbia divorces

The difference between an ex-parte divorce and a bilateral is critical to determining whether a divorce granted by state A (e.g. Nevada) can be collaterally attacked as invalid in state B (e.g. North Carolina).

Where divorce is ex-parte, only one party to marriage appears in the divorcing court. Under Williams v. North Carolina, 325 U.S. 226 (1945), the other spouse can collaterally attack the validity of the ex-parte divorce in another state on grounds that the state granting the divorce didn't have jurisdiction. This involves arguing that the spouse seeking the divorce in that state was not domiciled in that state.

Where the divorce is bilateral, both parties appear in the divorcing court. Even a special appearance
Special appearance
A special appearance is a term used in the American law of civil procedure to describe a civil defendant's appearance in the court of another state solely to dispute the personal jurisdiction of the court over that defendant...

 by the defendant spouse is sufficient. Sherrer v. Sherrer, 334 U.S. 343 (1948) bars collateral attack on these divorces because the parties could have argued the issue of domicile (and hence jurisdiction) in the divorcing state. When the issue is brought before the court of the other state, the full faith and credit clause (Article 4, Section 1 of the United States Constitution) requires that state to respect the divorcing court's decision. In effect, the determination made in the divorcing state is res judicata
Res judicata
Res judicata or res iudicata , also known as claim preclusion, is the Latin term for "a matter [already] judged", and may refer to two concepts: in both civil law and common law legal systems, a case in which there has been a final judgment and is no longer subject to appeal; and the legal doctrine...

.

Where that decree was issued in the District of Columbia or a United States territory
United States territory
United States territory is any extent of region under the jurisdiction of the federal government of the United States, including all waters including all U.S. Naval carriers. The United States has traditionally proclaimed the sovereign rights for exploring, exploiting, conserving, and managing its...

 (e.g. United States Virgin Islands), full faith and credit is applicable via a federal statute, 28 U.S.C. 1738, but not the federal constitution.

Basis for collateral attack on divorces obtained in a foreign country

Where a divorce obtained in another country is collaterally attacked in a court within the United States, full faith and credit is not an issue. Instead, the court may examine the issue of domicile under the principles of comity
Comity
In law, comity specifically refers to legal reciprocity—the principle that one jurisdiction will extend certain courtesies to other nations , particularly by recognizing the validity and effect of their executive, legislative, and judicial acts...

.

----
  • See generally Divorce
    Divorce
    Divorce is the final termination of a marital union, canceling the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage and dissolving the bonds of matrimony between the parties...

  • Divorce: Divorces Obtained in a Different Country of Jurisdiction
The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK