This case, while not citing new law, succinctly summarizes the law regarding domicile and residency requirements in order to file a Complaint for Divorce in Massachusetts. The Appeals Court dismissed the Husband’s Complaint for Divorce for Lack of Subject Matter Jurisdiction, Lack of Personal Jurisdiction and Forum Non Conveniens. By way of background, the parties never lived together in Massachusetts, the Wife was last in Massachusetts briefly in 2017, more than three years before the Husband took a job in the Commonwealth in 2020.
The Court cites, “Where parties to a divorce action have never lived together as spouses in Massachusetts, a divorce may not be adjudged unless the plaintiff has satisfied either (1) the ‘one-year residency requirement’ under G.L. c. 208, Section 5; or (2) the ‘alternative jurisdictional requirements’ of Section 5, by proving that he or she was domiciled in Massachusetts at the commencement of the divorce action and the ‘cause’ for divorce occurred with Massachusetts.” Citations omitted.
The court then states that in order to meet the one-year residency requirement “a plaintiff (must) maintain an actual, continuous residence in the Commonwealth for twelve consecutive months immediately prior to the commencement of the divorce action.” Citations omitted. The Court makes the residency determination by hearing the totality of the facts.
In this case, the husband didn’t argue that any of the Court’s findings were erroneous concerning his residency but maintained other objections. The Court found that the Husband lived in Massachusetts but frequently returned to Tennessee prior to filing for divorce. He maintained a Tennessee driver’s license, paid taxes in Tennessee, refinanced the former marital home in Tennessee with the Wife where he averred he was living, among a host of other activities. Husband also noted on his MA taxes that he was a “non-resident/part-year resident in 2021, among a number of other findings. You can read the full opinion here: (insert opinion)
The take-away is that if you are planning to get divorced, be sure to confirm what state you will actually be able to file in. In some situations, particularly, if you are on the receiving end of a Complaint for Divorce in a different state where you do not want to litigate, you may need counsel in two states to help determine which state actually has jurisdiction over your divorce.