Philipp v. Stah

798 A.2d 83 (N.J. 2002)

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Nature of the Case

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Facts

Same facts as Philipp v. Stahl 781 A.2d 1065 (N.J. Super A.D. 2001). The appellate court reversed the trial court, and this appeal resulted. The Appellate Division reversed, finding that the post-divorce judgments issued in New Jersey courts touched on support of the children, that the mother and daughter whose educational costs are at issue still reside in New Jersey and, thus, New Jersey has jurisdiction to hear and resolve the matter. According to the majority, New Jersey courts had issued at least three orders that modified the original Georgia support order embodied in the judgment of divorce, thus under UIFSA, Georgia lost the 'continuing, exclusive jurisdiction' that it once had regarding support matters, and that 'continuing, exclusive jurisdiction' is now vested in New Jersey. The majority also noted that at least impliedly, the parties understood and acknowledged that all further proceedings in the case would be held in New Jersey, based on the language in the orders broadly retaining jurisdiction in the Chancery Division. According to the majority, the language in UIFSA, a reasonable interpretation of the facts and the law supporting integration into one court of all issues concerning one family, and limited case law all support the view that the New Jersey court has jurisdiction to deal with the issue of contribution for college expenses. In addition, the majority held that the State could exercise personal jurisdiction over Robert since there were clearly more than minimal contacts to provide a basis for jurisdiction. The Appellate Division remanded the matter to the trial court for a hearing to determine the extent of parental contribution for Julia's college expenses.