## Facts

- Non-Arkansas creditors loaned money to two brothers who were joint debtors on the obligation, including A. T. Combs.
- To secure the debt, a lien was obtained against a tract of land in Washington County, Arkansas, owned by A. T. Combs.
- The creditors filed suit in a Kentucky court seeking an in personam judgment against the brothers for the debt.
- Service on A. T. Combs in the Kentucky action was delayed for a substantial period after the case began.
- During that interval, A. T. Combs filed an equity action in an Arkansas chancery court against the same creditors concerning the same debt and the Arkansas land.
- In the Arkansas action, the creditors were all nonresidents of Arkansas and were proceeded against only by constructive service (publication), as permitted by Arkansas law; the creditors did not enter an appearance.
- A. T. Combs presented evidence in Arkansas that he had made partial payments on the loan, and the Arkansas court entered a decree fixing what it found to be the remaining balance due.
- The Arkansas court allowed Combs to pay that balance to a court-appointed commissioner and then entered a decree releasing the lien on the Arkansas property.
- After obtaining the Arkansas decree, Combs answered in the Kentucky action and attached the Arkansas judgment, asserting it barred further recovery and must be given full faith and credit.
- The Kentucky trial court rejected the defense and entered judgment for the creditors for the amount it found due.
- Combs appealed to the Kentucky Court of Appeals, arguing Kentucky was constitutionally required to treat the Arkansas decree as conclusive on the amount of the debt.

## Issues

1. Whether an Arkansas chancery decree, entered against nonresident creditors who were served only by publication and did not appear, could bind those creditors as an in personam determination of the debt balance.
2. Whether the Full Faith and Credit Clause required Kentucky to treat the Arkansas decree (fixing a balance and releasing an Arkansas lien upon payment) as barring the creditors’ Kentucky action for a personal money judgment.

## Decision

- The Kentucky Court of Appeals affirmed the Kentucky judgment for the creditors.
- The court held that, without personal service within Arkansas or a voluntary appearance, the Arkansas court did not obtain personal jurisdiction over the nonresident creditors.
- Because personal jurisdiction was lacking, any part of the Arkansas decree that purported to determine the creditors’ personal rights on the debt could not operate as a binding in personam judgment in Kentucky.
- At most, the Arkansas proceeding could have effect as to the Arkansas land (in rem or quasi in rem), such as releasing or affecting a lien on property located in Arkansas.
- Full faith and credit did not compel Kentucky to give the Arkansas decree broader effect than Arkansas could validly give it given the limits of jurisdiction.

## Legal Principles

- A court may adjudicate interests in property located within its territory through in rem or quasi in rem proceedings, and a resulting decree is effective only to the extent it operates on that property interest.
- A valid in personam judgment that fixes personal liability requires personal jurisdiction, typically obtained by personal service within the forum or by the defendant’s voluntary appearance.
- Constructive service (publication) on a nonresident who does not appear is insufficient to support a binding personal adjudication of money liability.
- Under the Full Faith and Credit Clause, a forum state must respect a sister-state judgment only to the extent the rendering court had jurisdiction; a judgment rendered without constitutionally sufficient jurisdiction is not binding as to personal liability in other states.

## Conclusion

Kentucky was not required to treat the Arkansas decree, obtained against nonresident creditors by publication alone and without appearance, as a conclusive determination of the creditors’ personal claim on the debt; the decree could affect the Arkansas land and lien, but it could not bar the creditors’ Kentucky action for an in personam money judgment.


Combs v. Combs, 249 Ky. 155, 60 S.W.2d 368, 89 A.L.R. 1095 (1933)