Keller v. Keller
Keller v. Keller
Opinion of the Court
The Family Court granted respondent Diane G. Keller a divorce from appellant Frank Boyd Keller and ordered him to pay her alimony and child support. Mrs. Keller thereafter petitioned the Court for an increase in the amounts ordered. Mr. Keller moved to dismiss her petition on the grounds that he is a resident of Virginia, that he has never appeared in South Carolina in connection with any action and that “[t]he Court lacks in personam jurisdiction over the Respondent and therefore the action is barred under Rule 12(b)(2) of the South Carolina Rules of Civil Procedure.” The Court denied his motion. Mr. Keller appeals. We affirm.
The parties were married on June 1, 1968, in South Carolina. Mr. Keller was then and is now in the Navy. Immedi
The dispositive issue on appeal is whether Mr. Keller has “minimum contacts with [South Carolina] such that the maintenance of the suit does not offend ‘traditional notions of fair play and substantial justice.’ ” Kulko v. Superior Court of California, 436 U. S. 84, 92, 98 S. Ct. 1690, 1696-97, 56 L. Ed. (2d) 132, 141 (1978), citing International Shoe Co. v. Washington, 326 U. S. 310, 316, 66 S. Ct. 154, 158, 90 L. Ed. 95, 102 (1945), quoting Milliken v. Meyer, 311 U. S. 457, 463, 61 S. Ct. 339, 342, 85 L. Ed. 278, 283 (1940).
In making this determination, consideration must be given to the interests of the forum state as well as the interests of the plaintiff in proceeding with the case in the forum chosen by the plaintiff. Kulko, 436 U. S. 84, 98 S. Ct. 1690, 56 L. Ed. (2d) 132, citing McGee v. International Life Ins. Co., 355 U. S. 220, 78 S. Ct. 199, 2 L. Ed. (2d) 223 (1957). “An essential criterion is whether the ‘quality and nature’ of the activity of the defendant make it ‘reasonable’ and ‘fair’ to require him to conduct his defense in that State.” Id. 436 U. S. at 93, 98 S. Ct. at 1697, 56 L. Ed. (2d) at 142, quoting International Shoe, 326 U. S. at 316-17, 319, 66 S. Ct. at 158, 159, 90 L. Ed. at 102-03, 104; accord, Shaffer v. Heitner, 433 U. S. 186, 97 S. Ct. 2569, 53 L. Ed. (2d) 683 (1977); Perkins v. Benguet Consol. Mining Co., 342 U. S. 437, 72 S. Ct. 413, 96 L. Ed. 485 (1952).
In Kulko, the Supreme Court held that the California court could not exercise “in personam jurisdiction over a nonresident, nondomiciliary parent of minor children domiciled within the State.” Kulko, 436 U. S. at 86, 98 S. Ct. at 1694, 56 L. Ed. (2d) at 137. However, the facts on which the Supreme Court based its decision are materially different from the facts in the instant case. There, the father had been in California on only two occasions, once for a three-day military stopover on his way to Korea and again for a
In the instant case, not only is it undisputed that Mr. and Mrs. Keller were married in South Carolina but, more importantly, it is undisputed that they and their children were last together as a family in this state. It is also undisputed that the period of separation which ultimately led to their divorce began when Mr. Keller left South Carolina and that Mrs. Keller and the children have resided in this state ever since. It is obviously in the interest of Mrs. Keller to proceed in South Carolina, the state in which she and the children reside. The interest of South Carolina in having its residents supported is equally obvious. It is reasonable and fair, under the circumstances, to require Mr. Keller to proceed in this state. Based on these facts, we conclude that he has the requisite minimum contacts with South Carolina.
The result that we reach in the instant case is supported by the decision of our Supreme Court in Crowe v. Crowe, 289 S. C. 330, 345 S. E. (2d) 498 (1986). There, a husband and wife were married in South Carolina and established a marital home in this state. Two children of the husband by a prior marriage lived with them. The husband abandoned the wife and his children, moving to Georgia where he continued to live. Twenty years later, the wife filed a petition for divorce on the ground of desertion. The Court concluded that South Carolina had in personam jurisdiction over the husband based on the fact that:
South Carolina was the parties’ last matrimonial domicile, and the place where Husband’s conduct created the cause of action for divorce. It has remained the domicile of Wife and Husband’s children, and the state in which their living expenses have been paid. Husband’s move to Georgia was voluntary.
For these reasons, the order of the Family Court is
Affirmed.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.