...ry of an ERISA-governed retirement plan. Participant and Spouse later divorced, but Participant never changed the plan beneficiary form. A state revocation-on-divorce statute would treat Spouse as predeceased for state-l...
Citations: ERISA beneficiary-designation principles
A divorce court has personal jurisdiction over both spouses. The marital estate includes a vacation parcel located in another state. One spouse asks the divorce court to award the parcel and compel the other spouse to si...
Citations: Fall v. Eastin, 215 U.S. 1 (1909), Shaffer v. Heitner, 433 U.S. 186 (1977)
A divorce decree awarded Spouse A the marital residence and ordered Spouse A to pay Spouse B $200,000 over five years as an equalizing property payment. The decree also ordered Spouse A to pay Spouse B $3,000 per month i...
Citations: NCBE MEE Subject Matter Outline, Family Law, Uniform Marriage and Divorce Act sections 316, 319
A divorce decree divided marital property and ordered one spouse to pay monthly maintenance until further order of the court. Two years later, the payor spouse involuntarily loses a job and obtains new employment at subs...
Citations: NCBE MEE Subject Matter Outline, Family Law, Uniform Marriage and Divorce Act sections 316, 319
A divorce statute permits divorce for willful desertion lasting at least one year. Spouses mutually agreed to live apart for two months while attending counseling. One spouse then filed for divorce alleging desertion. Wh...
Citations: NCBE MEE Subject Matter Outline, Family Law, Restatement (Second) of Conflict of Laws section 74
A spouse appeared in a State D divorce action and argued that the filing spouse was not domiciled in State D. After an evidentiary hearing, the State D court found domicile and entered a divorce decree. The appearing spo...
Citations: Sherrer v. Sherrer, 334 U.S. 343 (1948), Coe v. Coe, 334 U.S. 378 (1948)
A spouse domiciled in State A files for divorce in State A. The other spouse lives in State B, receives proper notice, has no contacts with State A, and does not appear. State A enters a decree dissolving the marriage an...
Citations: Williams v. North Carolina, 317 U.S. 287 (1942), Estin v. Estin, 334 U.S. 541 (1948)
A spouse domiciled in State F files for divorce there and asks for alimony. The other spouse lives in State G, has never lived in State F, owns no property there, has no contacts there, receives proper notice, and does n...
Citations: Vanderbilt v. Vanderbilt, 354 U.S. 416 (1957), Kulko v. Superior Court, 436 U.S. 84 (1978)
A State A divorce decree includes a final property-equalization payment, $15,000 in accrued child-support arrears not subject to retroactive modification, and future monthly support subject to prospective modification. T...
Citations: Full faith and credit principles, Judgment finality principles
A state uses equitable distribution in divorce. One spouse argues that the judge must divide every marital asset exactly 50-50 because the word equitable means equal. Which statement best describes equitable distribution...
Citations: NCBE MEE Subject Matter Outline, Family Law, Uniform Marriage and Divorce Act section 307
After 18 years of marriage, Spouse A filed for divorce from Spouse B in a state that uses equitable distribution. Before the marriage, Spouse A owned a brokerage account worth $90,000. During the marriage, Spouse A depos...
Citations: NCBE MEE Subject Matter Outline, Family Law, Uniform Marriage and Divorce Act sections 307, 308
After divorce became likely, one spouse secretly spent $40,000 of marital savings on gambling trips and gifts to a romantic partner. At trial, the spouse argues the court cannot consider the money because it has already...
Citations: NCBE MEE Subject Matter Outline, Family Law
Before divorce, Dana signed a will leaving her estate to her spouse, Alex, and named Alex as beneficiary of a state-law payable-on-death bank account, a life insurance policy, and an ERISA-governed employer retirement pl...
Citations: NCBE MEE Subject Matter Outline, Trusts and Estates, Uniform Probate Code revocation-on-divorce principles, ERISA beneficiary-designation principles
Before divorce, Decedent named Spouse as beneficiary of a state-law TOD brokerage account. The divorce decree was silent. Decedent never changed the TOD form. The state has a UPC-style revocation-on-divorce statute cover...
Citations: Uniform Probate Code revocation-on-divorce principles
Married spouses separated but did not divorce. Spouse A moved into a modest apartment and was injured in a car accident. Hospital provided emergency treatment worth $38,000 after Spouse A signed the admission papers. Lan...
Citations: NCBE MEE Subject Matter Outline, Family Law, Uniform Marriage and Divorce Act section 308
Mother and Father divorced when Child was two. The decree gave Mother sole legal and physical custody and gave Father supervised visitation. Father visited twice in the first year, then stopped visiting for three years...
Citations: NCBE MEE Subject Matter Outline, Family Law, Santosky v. Kramer, 455 U.S. 745 (1982), Troxel v. Granville, 530 U.S. 57 (2000)
Spouse A and Spouse B divorced in State D. The State D divorce decree awarded Spouse A a fixed $80,000 property-equalization payment, awarded Spouse A $20,000 in already-accrued unpaid temporary support, and ordered Spou...
Citations: U.S. Constitution Article IV, Section 1, 28 U.S.C. 1738, Judgment finality principles
...in a short-term rental for 70 days, and obtained an ex parte State C divorce after the other spouse received notice but did not appear. Spouse then returned to State A. In State A, the other spouse argues that Spouse wa...
Citations: Williams v. North Carolina, 325 U.S. 226 (1945), 28 U.S.C. 1738
State J permits divorce on a finding that the marriage is irretrievably broken. One spouse files after satisfying all jurisdictional requirements and proves that the parties have not lived together for a year and have no...
Citations: NCBE MEE Subject Matter Outline, Family Law, Uniform Marriage and Divorce Act section 305
...the filing spouse to reside in State K for 180 days before filing for divorce. A spouse moves to State K intending to stay and files for divorce after 45 days. The other spouse is properly served and appears. What is the...
Citations: Sosna v. Iowa, 419 U.S. 393 (1975), NCBE MEE Subject Matter Outline, Family Law
Two spouses live in State H. They jointly file for divorce in State I because State I has a faster docket. Neither spouse has ever lived in State I, and State I requires one spouse to be domiciled there for six months be...
Citations: Williams v. North Carolina, 317 U.S. 287 (1942), Sosna v. Iowa, 419 U.S. 393 (1975)
...out their marriage in State J. They jointly decided to obtain a quick divorce in State K because State K's filing fees were lower and its docket was faster. Neither spouse had ever lived in State K, owned property there...
Citations: Williams v. North Carolina, 317 U.S. 287 (1942), Sosna v. Iowa, 419 U.S. 393 (1975), Restatement (Second) of Conflict of Laws sections 71, 74
...ns. NCBE MEE Subject Matter Outline, Family Law, Uniform Marriage and Divorce Act section 402
Citations: NCBE MEE Subject Matter Outline, Family Law, Uniform Marriage and Divorce Act section 402
...ed. NCBE MEE Subject Matter Outline, Family Law, Uniform Marriage and Divorce Act section 208
Citations: NCBE MEE Subject Matter Outline, Family Law, Uniform Marriage and Divorce Act section 208
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