Conflicts of Laws

Question 1

Due Process

Answer 1

under the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, a forum state may apply its own law to a particular case only if it has a significant contact or a significant aggregation of contacts with the state such that a choice of its law is neither arbitrary nor fundamentally unfair

Question 2

Full Faith & Credit

Answer 2

Under the U.S. Constitution, state courts are required to give full faith and credit to the judgments of other states. State courts are likewise required to treat federal judgments as those judgments would be treated by the federal courts.

Question 3

Statutory limitations State Statutes

Answer 3

a state may have a statute requiring certain COL rules to be applied in a particular case

Question 4

Statutory limitation Federal Statutes

Answer 4

certain federal statutes may preempt a state from claiming jurisdiction over certain cases (e.g., patent, antitrust, bankruptcy cases)

Question 5

Party controlled choice of law rules

Answer 5

A valid Agreement with effective COL clause
Applicable to the lawsuit under the terms of the contract
Reasonably related to the lawsuit
Not in violation of the public policy of the forum state or another interested state

Question 6

Substantive Law

Answer 6

Federal courts sitting in diversity must apply substantive laws of the state in which it sits, including that state’s choice-of-law rules

Question 7

Vested Rights Approach

Answer 7

The law that controls is the law of the jurisdiction where the parties’ rights were vested (i.e., where the act or relationship that gave rise to the cause of action occurred or was created)

Question 8

Most Significant Relationship Approach

Answer 8

In determining the enforceability of a premarital agreement, most states apply the law of the state with the most significant relationship to the matter at hand. When determining which state has the most significant relationship, the forum court generally considers the “connecting facts” or contacts that link each jurisdiction to the case

Question 9

Governmental Interest Approach

Answer 9

It is presumed that the forum state will apply its own law, but parties may request that another state’s law be applied because that state has a greater interest in the outcome

Question 10

Wills & Estates

Answer 10

Questions regarding the transfer of personal property from someone who dies intestate or who has a will are governed by the law of the deceased’s domicile at the time of death. Questions regarding the transfer of real property from someone who dies intestate or who has a will are governed by the law of the situs.

Question 11

Torts

Answer 11

The Default rule is that the place of injury controls unless another state has a more significant relationship to the parties or tort

Question 12

Contracts

Answer 12

1) Land contracts: controlled by the law of the state of the situs of the land;
2) Personalty contracts: controlled by the law of the state where delivery occurs;
3) Life insurance contracts; controlled by the law of the state of the insured’s domicile
4) Casualty insurance contracts—controlled by the law of the state where the insured risk is located
5) Loans—controlled by the law of the state where repayment is required
6) Suretyship contracts—controlled by the law of the state governing the principal obligation
7) Transportation contracts (covering both persons and goods)—controlled by the law of the state of departure

Question 13

Corporations

Answer 13

generally governed by the law of the state of incorporation

Question 14

Marriage

Answer 14

in general, valid where it took place and recognized in all other states.

Question 15

Exception to Marriage

Answer 15

a marriage that is valid in the state where it took place, but violates a prohibitory rule of the domicile of one of the parties will be void in the state where the marriage would have been prohibited if the parties immediately return to that state and become domiciled there

Question 16

Divorce Decrees

Answer 16

from other states are entitled to full faith and credit as long as the original state had jurisdiction to issue the decree and the decree is valid in the original state

Question 17

Bilateral Divorce

Answer 17

if the court has personal jurisdiction over both spouses and at least one spouse is domiciled in the state, then the divorce judgment will be valid and will be entitled to full faith and credit

Question 18

Ex parte Divorce

Answer 18

must adhere to subject-matter jurisdiction rules and personal jurisdiction must exist over one spouse; full faith and credit is not given to other marital agreements such as property rights, alimony, and child custody, but the non-domiciled spouse may agree to such judgments

Question 19

Child custody

Answer 19

under the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act (UCCJEA), a court can make initial custody decisions if it is in the child’s home state, all other states must give full faith and credit to such decisions

Question 20

Legitimacy

Answer 20

governed by the law of the domicile of the parent whose relationship to the child is in question

Question 21

Adoption

Answer 21

the forum court applies its own state law