Pries v. Watt

• Citation: 410 S.E.2d 285,186 W.Va. 49
• Decision Date: 17 October 1991
• Docket Number: No. 20245,20245
• Parties: Jacqueline PRIES, Relator, v. Honorable Clarence L. WATT, III, Judge of the Circuit Court of Putnam County and John L. Pries, Respondents.
• Court: Supreme Court of West Virginia

Page 285

410 S.E.2d 285

186 W.Va. 49

Jacqueline PRIES, Relator, v. Honorable Clarence L. WATT, III, Judge of the Circuit Court of Putnam County and John L. Pries, Respondents.

No. 20245.

Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia.

Submitted Sept. 10, 1991.

Decided Oct. 17, 1991.

Syllabus by the Court

1. The Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution operates to limit the jurisdiction of a state court to enter a judgment affecting the rights or interests of a nonresident defendant. This due process limitation requires a state court to have personal jurisdiction over the nonresident defendant.

2. In order to obtain personal jurisdiction over a nonresident defendant, reasonable notice of the suit must be given the defendant. There also must be a sufficient connection or minimum contacts between the defendant and the forum state so that it will be fair and just to require a defense to be mounted in the forum state.

3. To what extent a nonresident defendant has minimum contacts with the forum state depends upon the facts of the individual case. One essential inquiry is whether the defendant has purposefully acted to obtain benefits or privileges in the forum state.

4. "A writ of prohibition will lie where the trial court does not have jurisdiction or, having jurisdiction, exceeds its legitimate powers." Syllabus Point 3, State ex rel. McCartney v. Nuzum, 161 W.Va. 740, 248 S.E.2d 318 (1978).

Brenda Waugh, Maureen Conley, Legal Aid Soc. of Charleston, Charleston, for relator.

David Hill, Hill, McCoy & Corey, Hurricane, for respondent John L. Pries.

MILLER, Chief Justice:

In this original proceeding in prohibition, the relator, Jacqueline Pries, seeks to prevent the respondent judge from proceeding further in a case for modification of spousal support filed in the Circuit Court of Putnam County by John L. Pries, the relator's ex-husband. The relator contends that the circuit court does not have jurisdiction of her person and that further proceedings therefore violate due process. We agree, and we make the rule in prohibition permanent.

In July of 1984, the relator and her husband were divorced in Morris County, New Jersey, after thirty-six years of marriage. The divorce decree required Mr. Pries to pay the relator $205 per week in alimony.

Sometime thereafter, Mr. Pries moved to Putnam County, West Virginia, and ceased making alimony payments. By order dated February 5, 1990, a New Jersey court found that Mr. Pries owed over $4,700 in back alimony as of December 15, 1989, and ordered him to pay an additional $100 towards reducing the arrearages. The relator was apparently able to attach a portion of Mr. Pries' social security benefits as partial payment of the alimony due.

In January of 1991, Mr. Pries filed a petition in the Circuit Court of Putnam County seeking modification of the New Jersey alimony award. The relator, who still resides in New Jersey, was served by mail with a copy of the complaint. Her pro se motion to dismiss the action for lack of personal jurisdiction was apparently denied, and the matter was set for hearing in June of 1991. The Legal Aid Society of Charleston undertook representation of the relator and instituted this proceeding in prohibition.

The United States Supreme Court has held that "[t]he Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment operates as a limitation on the jurisdiction of state courts to enter judgments affecting rights or interests of nonresident defendants.... [A] valid judgment imposing a personal obligation or duty in favor of the plaintiff may be entered only by the court having jurisdiction over the person of the defendant." Kulko v. Superior Court, 436 U.S. 84, 91, 98 S.Ct. 1690, 1696, 56 L.Ed.2d 132, 140 (1978). The Court cited two prerequisites for personal jurisdiction: First, the defendant must be afforded reasonable and adequate notice of the suit, and second, the defendant must have certain minimum contacts with the forum state such that the maintenance of the suit would not offend traditional concepts of fair play and substantial justice. See International Shoe Co. v. Washington, 326 U.S. 310, 66 S.Ct. 154, 90 L.Ed. 95 (1945). The Court in Kulko recognized that an essential element of the minimum contacts question is whether the defendant's activities are such that it is reasonable and fair to subject him to suit in the forum state, a determination that must be made on the particular facts of each case. The majority in Kulko also quoted with approval this line from Hanson v. Denckla, 357 U.S. 235, 253, 78 S.Ct. 1228, 1240, 2 L.Ed.2d 1283, 1298 (1958): " '[I]t is essential in each case that there be some act by which the defendant purposefully avails [him]self of the privilege of conducting activities within the forum State.' " 436 U.S. at 94, 98 S.Ct. at 1698, 56 L.Ed.2d at 142.

In World-Wide Volkswagen Corp. v. Woodson, 444 U.S. 286, 100 S.Ct. 559, 62 L.Ed.2d 490 (1980), and, more recently, in Asahi Metal Industry Co. v. Superior Court, 480 U.S. 102, 107 S.Ct. 1026, 94 L.Ed.2d 92 (1987), the Supreme Court had occasion to elaborate on some of the factors that would be used to determine whether the exercise of jurisdiction was reasonable in view of the defendant's minimal contacts. ¹

"A court must consider the burden on the defendant, the interests of the forum State, and the plaintiff's interest in obtaining relief. It must also weigh in its determination 'the interstate judicial system's interest in obtaining the most efficient resolution of controversies; and the shared interest of the several States in furthering fundamental substantive social policies.' World-Wide Volkswagen, 444 U.S., at 292 [100 S.Ct. at 564, 62 L.Ed.2d at 498] (citations omitted)." 480 U.S. at 113, 107 S.Ct. at 1033, 94 L.Ed.2d at 105.

We have followed the substance of these principles in our jurisdiction without reviewing them in detail. See, e.g., Carr v. Carr, 180 W.Va. 12, 375 S.E.2d 190 (1988); Hinerman v. Levin, 172 W.Va. 777, 310 S.E.2d 843 (1983); S.R. v. City of Fairmont, 167 W.Va. 880, 280 S.E.2d 712 (1981); State ex rel. Coral Pools, Inc. v. Knapp, 147 W.Va. 704, 131 S.E.2d 81 (1963). Illustrative of our rule in this area is the Syllabus of S.R. v. City of Fairmont, supra:

" 'The standard of jurisdictional due process is that a foreign corporation must have such minimum contacts with the state of the forum that the maintenance of an action in the forum does not offend traditional notions of fair play and substantial justice.' Syllabus Point 1, Hodge v. Sands Manufacturing Company, 151 W.Va. 133, 150 S.E.2d 793 (1966)."

Under the foregoing United States Supreme Court cases, a more detailed test is appropriate to determine whether a state court has personal jurisdiction. Initially, we recognize that the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution operates to limit jurisdiction of a state court to enter a judgment affecting the rights or interests of a nonresident defendant. This due process limitation requires a state court to have personal jurisdiction over the nonresident defendant. In order to obtain such personal jurisdiction, reasonable notice of the suit must be given the defendant. There also must be a sufficient connection or minimum contacts between the defendant and the forum state so that it will be fair and just to require a defense to be mounted in the forum state.

To what extent the defendant has minimum contacts depends upon the facts of the individual case. One essential inquiry is whether the defendant has purposefully acted to obtain benefits or privileges in the forum state. In determining whether the exercise of personal jurisdiction is reasonable, a court should consider the burden on the defendant, the interests of the forum state, and the plaintiff's interest in obtaining relief. Finally, consideration should be given to the interstate judicial system's interest in obtaining the most efficient resolution of controversies and the shared interest of the several states in furthering fundamental substantive social policies.

In the proceedings below, Mr. Pries seeks to reduce the relator's alimony award. Such an action obviously affects the relator's personal monetary rights and, as such, requires that she be subject to the court's jurisdiction.

This case...