## Facts

- A husband and wife married in 1937 and lived in New York until the husband left in 1942.
- While both spouses were domiciled in New York, the wife obtained a New York separation decree awarding her $180 per month for maintenance and support.
- The husband later went to Nevada, established residence, and obtained an ex parte Nevada divorce on constructive notice; the wife did not appear.
- After the divorce, the husband stopped paying support required by the New York separation decree.
- The wife sued in New York to recover arrears under the New York decree.
- New York courts recognized the Nevada divorce as dissolving the marriage but entered judgment for the wife for alimony arrears, concluding the support award survived under New York law.
- The husband sought review, arguing the New York judgment denied full faith and credit to the Nevada divorce decree.

## Issues

1. Whether, consistent with the Full Faith and Credit Clause, New York could recognize an ex parte Nevada divorce as terminating marital status while still enforcing arrears under a preexisting New York separation decree for support.
2. Whether a state granting an ex parte divorce on constructive service may adjudicate or extinguish the nonappearing spouse’s support rights previously fixed by another state’s judgment.

## Decision

- The Supreme Court affirmed the New York judgment.
- New York could give effect to the Nevada decree as dissolving marital status while enforcing the wife’s preexisting support rights under the New York separation judgment.
- Nevada lacked power, absent personal service or appearance, to adjudicate or cut off the wife’s rights established by the New York judgment; therefore New York need not give full faith and credit to any purported effect of the Nevada decree on those rights.

## Legal Principles

- A state of a spouse’s domicile may grant a divorce altering marital status on constructive service, and other states must recognize that status determination.
- An ex parte divorce court lacking personal jurisdiction over the nonappearing spouse cannot adjudicate that spouse’s personal or property rights, including support rights fixed by a prior judgment.
- Full faith and credit requires recognition of valid judgments within the rendering court’s jurisdictional power, but does not compel a state to treat an ex parte status decree as extinguishing support obligations previously adjudicated elsewhere.
- A divorce decree may be effective as to marital status yet ineffective as to financial incidents of marriage when personal jurisdiction over the affected spouse is absent.

## Conclusion

The Court held that recognizing an ex parte Nevada divorce as ending the marriage did not require New York to treat the divorce as terminating the wife’s support rights established by an earlier New York separation judgment, because Nevada lacked personal jurisdiction to adjudicate those rights; enforcing arrears in New York therefore did not violate full faith and credit.


Estin v. Estin, 334 U.S. 541 (1948)