## Facts

- Ian A. Pringle married Bernadette Pringle in 1978 in the Virgin Islands.
- In 1980, Ian and Bernadette decided to obtain a fast divorce as part of a sham arrangement tied to a fraudulent business purpose.
- They traveled to Puerto Rico and used the Dominican Republic consulate, which was known for facilitating rapid divorce decrees for nonresidents.
- From the consulate in Puerto Rico, they petitioned a Dominican court for a divorce decree.
- Neither Ian nor Bernadette resided in, or was domiciled in, the Dominican Republic; Ian later made only a brief trip to the Dominican Republic to pick up the decree.
- After the decree issued, Ian and Bernadette continued living together in the Virgin Islands and held themselves out as husband and wife; Bernadette bore Ian’s children during the post-decree period.
- During the same time, Ian had relationships with other women, and some of those relationships resulted in children.
- In 1996, Ian disappeared while piloting a flight from St. Croix to Dominica; he was presumed dead after the plane failed to arrive and no wreckage was recovered.
- A probate proceeding was opened in the Virgin Islands Territorial Court. Bernadette sought to participate as Ian’s surviving spouse and to claim a spousal share of the estate.
- Ian’s heirs opposed Bernadette’s claim, arguing that the Dominican divorce was valid and that Bernadette was not a surviving spouse and therefore lacked the right to claim a share of the estate.

## Issues

1. Whether the Virgin Islands Territorial Court should recognize, as a matter of comity, a Dominican Republic divorce decree obtained through a consulate by spouses who were neither residents nor domiciliaries of the Dominican Republic.
2. If the Dominican divorce is not recognized, whether Bernadette remained Ian’s lawful spouse at the time of his presumed death and therefore could claim surviving-spouse rights in the probate proceeding.

## Decision

- The court declined to recognize the Dominican Republic divorce decree because the Dominican tribunal lacked a sufficient jurisdictional basis where neither spouse established domicile (or a comparable matrimonial connection) in the Dominican Republic.
- Treating the Dominican decree as ineffective in the Virgin Islands, the court concluded that Ian and Bernadette’s marriage was not dissolved for Virgin Islands purposes.
- Because the marriage remained intact, the court determined that Bernadette qualified as Ian’s surviving spouse and could assert spousal rights in the estate administration, including a spousal share under applicable Virgin Islands probate and intestacy law.

## Legal Principles

- Foreign-nation judgments may be recognized in the Virgin Islands as a matter of comity, but comity is not required where the foreign court lacked jurisdiction.
- For a divorce decree, a core jurisdictional basis is a bona fide domicile (or equivalent matrimonial nexus) of at least one spouse in the rendering jurisdiction; a paper or transient connection is insufficient.
- A “mail-order” or consular divorce obtained by nonresident, nondomiciliary spouses may be denied recognition when the record shows no genuine domiciliary basis for the foreign court’s authority.
- In probate, surviving-spouse status and inheritance rights depend on whether any prior divorce is valid and recognized in the forum; if the divorce is not recognized, the marriage continues for inheritance purposes.

## Conclusion

Because neither Ian nor Bernadette was domiciled in the Dominican Republic and the decree was obtained through a consular, nonresident process lacking a proper jurisdictional foundation, the Virgin Islands court refused to recognize the Dominican divorce and treated the marriage as continuing until Ian’s presumed death, making Bernadette the surviving spouse entitled to claim spousal rights in the estate.


In re Estate of Ian A. Pringle, 2000 WL 1349231 (2000)