Feore v. Feore

• Citation: 627 So.2d 411
• Parties: John Jay FEORE v. Patricia Lim FEORE. 2910622.
• Decision Date: 26 February 1993
• Court: Alabama Court of Civil Appeals

Page 411

627 So.2d 411

John Jay FEORE v. Patricia Lim FEORE.

2910622.

Court of Civil Appeals of Alabama.

Feb. 26, 1993.

Rehearing Denied April 2 and July 23, 1993.

Jon A. Green and E.J. Saad of Crosby, Saad, Beebe, Cavender & Crump, P.C., Mobile, for appellant.

Mavanee R. Bear, Mobile, for appellee.

THIGPEN, Judge.

This is a divorce case.

The record reveals that Patricia Lim Feore (wife) and John Jay Feore (husband) were married in the Republic of Singapore in 1983. Two children were born of the marriage. The parties moved to the United States Territory of Guam in January 1987 and established a business there. The record reveals that in June 1991, the husband and children came to Mobile, Alabama, for a purported vacation, and that on July 3, 1991, the wife and husband each filed divorce complaints in Guam and Alabama respectively. Record evidence reveals that the Superior Court of Guam granted an interlocutory divorce judgment in December 1991, and a final decree of divorce in January 1992, based upon the wife's complaint. It appears that the husband's complaint was dismissed for failure to comply with Alabama's residency requirement, and that he filed a second complaint in January 1992.

The Guam decree awarded custody of the children and certain property to the wife. The husband was awarded visitation and was ordered to pay $1,000 per month in child support, to maintain medical, dental and life insurance coverage for the benefit of the wife and the children, and to pay the community debts of the marriage. The husband contended that he attempted to set aside the Guam divorce decree. In March 1992, the wife filed a plea to abate and dismiss the husband's Alabama divorce complaint, alleging that the Guam decree resolved all issues.

Following an ore tenus proceeding in April 1992, the Alabama trial court entered an order holding all pending matters "in abeyance for a period of thirty (30) days or the final hearing and determination of the proceedings in the Superior Court of Guam, whichever is less." Although the trial court scheduled a hearing in May 1992, we have no record of any further proceedings. The wife filed an instanter motion to dismiss and to enforce the foreign judgment on June 23, 1992, alleging that the Superior Court of Guam had denied the husband's motion to set aside, and requesting that the trial court order the husband to release the children to her custody pursuant to the Guam decree. The wife also filed a motion for a writ of habeas corpus, alleging that the husband refused to release the children and demanding that the husband return the children.

On June 26, 1992, the trial court dismissed the husband's complaint for divorce with prejudice, gave the Guam divorce judgment full faith and credit, and ordered the husband to deliver the children immediately. The husband appeals.

In reviewing the grant of a motion to dismiss, an appellate court is to take "the allegations of the complaint most strongly in favor of the pleader, to determine whether the plaintiff could prove any set of facts in support of his claim which would entitle him to relief." Phillips v. Opp & Micolas Cotton Mills, Inc., 445 So.2d 927, 929 (Ala.Civ.App.1984). When it appears beyond a doubt that there is no set of facts supporting a plaintiff's claim and entitling him to relief, a motion to dismiss is proper. We consider whether a plaintiff may possibly prevail, not whether he will ultimately prevail. Davis v. University of Montevallo, 586 So.2d 27 (Ala.Civ.App.1991).

In opposition to the dismissal, the husband argues that the trial court erred in granting full faith and credit to the Guam decree. He claims that the trial court had no evidence of a jurisdictional basis or the existence of a final judgment in the Guam proceedings.

Pursuant to the full faith and credit clause of the United States Constitution, Alabama courts are generally required to give a foreign judgment at least the res judicata effect which would be accorded in the state which rendered it. Alston Electric Supply Co. v. Alabama Electrical Wholesalers, Inc., 586 So.2d 10 (Ala.Civ.App.1991). Before giving effect to a foreign judgment, Alabama courts are permitted to inquire into the jurisdiction of the foreign court rendering the judgment. The scope of inquiry is limited to, "(1) whether the issue of jurisdiction was fully and fairly litigated by the foreign court and (2) whether the issue of jurisdiction was finally decided by the foreign court." Alston Electric at 11. Having determined that jurisdiction is not lacking, the court is required to give full faith and credit to the foreign judgment. Trillo v. Trillo, 506 So.2d 1019 (Ala.Civ.App.1987).

The Uniform Enforcement of Foreign Judgments Act defines "foreign judgment" as "any judgment, decree, or order of a court of the United States or of any other court which is entitled to full faith and credit in this state." Ala.Code 1975, § 6-9-231.

When a sister state's court has jurisdiction over the subject matter and persons, its judgment is entitled to full faith and credit. Jeffers v. Belmonte Hills Owners Association, Inc., 585 So.2d 75 (Ala.Civ.App.1991). When that judgment is authenticated and produced at trial, there is a presumption that the court rendering the judgment had jurisdiction to do so, placing the burden on "the challenger of the judgment to assert and produce evidence to challenge the judgment and to overcome the presumption." Jeffers at 77. An individual's liberty interest is recognized and protected by the requirement of personal jurisdiction. "The test for personal jurisdiction requires that the traditional notions of fair play and substantial justice not be offended by the maintenance of the suit." Walnut Equipment Leasing Co. v. Long, 550 So.2d 998, 999 (Ala.Civ.App.1989).

In September 1991, at a hearing following the husband's original divorce complaint, the husband testified that he and the children were in Mobile from August to December 1986, but have lived in Guam ever since. The husband also testified that his Guam business license was issued in late 1986, and that he and his wife had been operating the business since 1987. The husband acknowledged that he has...