USA – OHIO Law and Practice Contributed by: Andrew A Zashin, Amy M Keating, Kyleigh A Weinfurtner and Christopher R Reynolds, Zashin Law
1.2 Choice of Jurisdiction Subject Matter and Personal Jurisdiction For a divorce action to proceed in Ohio, a court must have subject matter jurisdiction over the action. Ohio courts have subject matter juris - diction over divorce proceedings so long as the plaintiff has been a resident of the state of Ohio for more than six months preceding the filing of the complaint. To qualify as an Ohio resident, the plaintiff must have lived in Ohio with an intent to remain in the state. For a court to order a defendant-spouse to divide property or pay spousal support, it must also have personal jurisdiction over the defend - ant-spouse. While an Ohio court has personal jurisdiction over a defendant-spouse who also lives in Ohio, the defendant-spouse need not be an Ohio resident for an Ohio court to exercise personal jurisdiction over them. If the defendant- spouse resides elsewhere, an Ohio court may exercise personal jurisdiction over the defend - ant-spouse as long as it does not deprive him or her of their due process rights. Ohio courts have found it appropriate to exercise personal juris - diction over a non-resident defendant-spouse where the defendant-spouse lived in Ohio dur - ing the marital relationship, even if that spouse subsequently left the state. An Ohio court can issue an order terminating the marriage even if it lacks personal jurisdiction over the defendant-spouse (what is known as an “in rem” divorce). If it lacks personal jurisdiction over the defendant-spouse, however, it cannot issue any orders that obligate, impose a duty on, or otherwise terminate a right of that spouse. These orders only affect the marital status of the parties.
Contesting Jurisdiction If the non-filing spouse believes that Ohio lacks subject matter jurisdiction or personal jurisdic - tion over them, that spouse can file a motion to dismiss the complaint. If a divorce proceed - ing is already pending in another jurisdiction, whether in a different state or different country, a party may seek to stay the Ohio action to avoid inconsistent decisions with respect to the same issues, but any such decision to stay proceed - ings is discretionary. A party commencing or contesting financial proceedings incident to a divorce may do so in accordance with the procedures outlined in 1.2 Choice of Jurisdiction . 2.2 Service and Process The service requirements for financial proceed - ings incident to divorce, or in post-decree actions regarding the same, are the same as those for divorce outlined in 1.1 Grounds, Timeline, Ser- vice and Process . Ohio domestic relations courts are “courts of equity”. This means that Ohio courts are tasked with equitably dividing the parties’ assets in con - nection with the divorce. To do so, Ohio domes - tic relations courts must first determine whether assets are “marital” in nature or are the “separate property” of either spouse before allocating the same. In making this determination, Ohio courts presume that all assets owned or acquired by the parties from the date of marriage through to the date of the final hearing are marital property. 2. Financial Proceedings 2.1 Choice of Jurisdiction 2.3 Division of Assets Dividing Assets in Divorce
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