Case Update (2 Dec 2022): Bleich v. Bleich; subject matter jurisdiction over divorce requires meeting domicile requirement; recognition of foreign divorce is a matter of comity

On December 2, 2022, the Supreme Court of Nebraska clarified a procedural point when it came to the recognition of a foreign divorce decree.   On May 4, 2021, Ms. Bleich filed for divorce in the Nebraska court.  At the time, she met the Nebraska requirement that at least one of the two spouses be domiciled in Nebraska at the time of filing for a certain period.  Mr. Bleich, however, filed a motion to dismiss Ms. Bleich’s complaint on the basis that the court lacked subject matter jurisdiction because the parties had been previously divorced on March 23, 2015, by a court in Venezuela, and, at that time of that lawsuit, the parties were both domiciled in Venezuela.  The trial court granted his motion to dismiss, but the Supreme Court reversed.  It reversed on a picayune detail of process.  It stated that the Venezuelan divorce decree may be entitled to recognition as a matter of comity, and Ms. Bleich may be estopped from pursuing her lawsuit for divorce in Nebraska.  But that is not a lack of subject matter jurisdiction, which is a distinct argument.  On its face, Ms. Bleich’s suit was filed at a point in time where she met the requirements to seize the Nebraska court of subject matter jurisdiction over a divorce.  The case should proceed, no doubt with Mr. Bleich’s arguments being raised appropriately in the proceeding.