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STATE OF MICHIGAN 

COURT OF APPEALS 

RAJ KAMAL GOVINDARAJULU, 

 Plaintiff/Counter DefendantAppellant, 

UNPUBLISHED 

April 12, 2016 

v No. 325822 

Oakland Circuit Court 

SANGEETHA SUNDARARAJAN, LC No. 2014-822159-DM 

 Defendant/Counter PlaintiffAppellee. 

Before: GLEICHER, P.J., and CAVANAGH and FORT HOOD, JJ. 

PER CURIAM. 

 Plaintiff appeals as of right the trial court’s grant of a default judgment of divorce in 

favor of defendant. We affirm. 

 The parties have one minor son and lived together in their marital home in Novi, 

Michigan. In 2013, the parties traveled to India with their son to attempt reconciliation of their 

marriage. In March 2014, defendant returned to Michigan because her green card was set to 

expire, but shortly thereafter returned to India to continue working toward reconciliation with 

plaintiff. However, when she returned, plaintiff had left India with the parties’ son. Plaintiff 

changed his phone number and his parents would not give defendant any information about his 

whereabouts. She later discovered that plaintiff and the minor child were living in Texas. She 

returned to Michigan on July 8, 2014. On July 28, 2014, plaintiff filed a complaint for divorce in 

Michigan, alleging that he and defendant resided in Novi, Michigan. On August 22, 2014, 

plaintiff filed a counterclaim, alleging that her residence was in Michigan, but denying 

defendant’s residency. After filing for divorce, plaintiff took the minor child back to India, 

where they stayed throughout the remainder of the proceedings. Plaintiff filed a motion 

challenging jurisdiction, alleging that neither he nor defendant had resided in Michigan prior to 

his filing for divorce or the filing of defendant’s counterclaim. The trial court denied the motion, 

and entered a default judgment of divorce. Plaintiff appeals. 

 Plaintiff first argues that the trial court lacked subject matter jurisdiction over this case. 

“The question whether a court has subject-matter jurisdiction is a question of law that we review 

de novo.” Kar v Nanda, 291 Mich App 284, 286; 805 NW2d 609 (2011). Whether the 

requirements of MCL 552.9(1) have been satisfied is a question of fact. Berger v Berger, 277 
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Mich App 700, 702; 747 NW2d 336 (2008). “Questions of domicile and intent are also 

questions of fact.” Kar, 291 Mich App at 287, citing Leader v Leader, 73 Mich App 276, 283; 

251 NW2d 288 (1977). We review factual findings for clear error. Berger, 277 Mich App at 

702. “A finding is clearly erroneous if, on all the evidence, the Court is left with the definite and 

firm conviction that a mistake has been made.” Id. 

 Plaintiff specifically argues that the trial court lacked subject matter jurisdiction over both 

his own complaint as well as defendant’s counterclaim because neither party met the 180-day 

state residency requirement or the 10-day county residency requirement of MCL 552.9(1). MCL 

552.9(1) provides: 

 A judgment of divorce shall not be granted by a court in this state in an 

action for divorce unless the complainant or defendant has resided in this state for 

180 days immediately preceding the filing of the complaint and, except as 

otherwise provided in subsection (2), the complainant or defendant has resided in 

the county in which the complaint is filed for 10 days immediately preceding the 

filing of the complaint. 

“The statutory residency requirements are jurisdictional, and a divorce is void if it does not 

comply with the residency requirements.” Kar, 291 Mich App at 287. “Residence” is “a place 

of abode accompanied with the intention to remain.” Leader, 73 Mich App at 280. Further, “the 

ordinary, common meaning of the term ‘reside’ does not require an intent to remain permanently 

or indefinitely,” but it does require “an intent to remain.” Kar, 291 Mich App at 288. 

 A review of the record reveals that it is undisputed that, at the start of both the state and 

county residency periods, neither plaintiff nor defendant was physically located in Michigan or 

Oakland County. However, a party’s “continuing physical presence” in the state or county for 

the entirety of the state and county residency periods is not required by MCL 552.9(1). Berger, 

277 Mich App at 703; Leader, 73 Mich App at 283. “[D]etermining residence or domicile 

requires a multi-factor analysis, but the preeminent factor is the person’s intent.” Berger, 277 

Mich App at 704. Further, “an established domicile is not destroyed by a temporary absence if 

the person has no intention of changing his or her domicile.” Id. While addressing the 10-day 

county residency requirement of MCL 552.9, the Berger Court held that a temporary absence 

from the county during the jurisdictional period did not defeat jurisdiction, holding that when the 

plaintiff “establish and intended” the county to be her residence, “her temporary absence did not 

change it.” Berger, 277 Mich App at 703. 

 In Leader, the plaintiff and the defendant “had lived in Michigan for a substantial period 

of time.” Leader, 73 Mich App at 278. But in October 1975, the plaintiff left Michigan and 

traveled to Kentucky with the defendant until January 1976. Id. The plaintiff testified that she 

traveled to Kentucky at the defendant’s request to attempt reconciliation. Id. The plaintiff added 

that she had no intent of staying in Kentucky, or anywhere else with the defendant, unless the 

couple reconciled. Id. Even though it was clear that the reconciliation would be unsuccessful, 

the plaintiff stayed in Kentucky because she did not want to leave her children without a mother 

and because the defendant was threatening her. Id. The Leader Court concluded that, based on 

the plaintiff’s intent, her residence remained in Michigan even though she was physically present 

in Kentucky for most of the jurisdictional period. Id. at 278, 280. 
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Leader is instructive on the case at bar. Here, plaintiff was absent from the state and 

county for a majority of the residency requirements preceding the filing of the plaintiff’s 

complaint or her counterclaim. However, like the facts in Leader, defendant was absent from 

Michigan and from Oakland County due mainly to plaintiff’s actions, and it was her intention to 

remain. Defendant testified that she lived in her marital home in Novi before the statutory period 

began, and while she was visiting India it was always her intention to return to the marital home 

in Novi, but she could not due to plaintiff’s actions of taking her son, locking her out of the 

marital home, emptying their joint bank accounts, and threatening and harassing her via e-mail. 

Defendant went to India to work on the parties’ marital problems with family and did not intend 

to remain in India, as evidenced by her return trip to Michigan to maintain her green card status. 

Consistent with her stated intention of residing in Michigan, defendant ultimately returned to 

Michigan and attempted to continue residing in the marital home even though she did not know 

where plaintiff and her son were living. Also significantly, in the complaint and counterclaim 

for divorce, plaintiff and defendant each averred that defendant had resided in Michigan and 

Oakland County for the requisite statutory period. 

 Ultimately, resolution of the issue of jurisdiction involved a credibility determination and 

the trial court found defendant’s testimony regarding her intent to reside in Michigan to be more 

credible than plaintiff’s testimony. Indeed, there were significant facts that likely impacted the 

trial court’s determination of plaintiff’s credibility, including that plaintiff had not been present 

for the entire pendency of the proceeding despite multiple court orders, including a bench 

warrant for his arrest, had fled the country with the parties’ son, and was in fact facing charges of 

criminal kidnapping of the minor child. After careful scrutiny of the record, and giving 

deference to the trial court’s superior fact-finding ability, we are not left with a definite and firm 

conviction that the trial court erred when it found that defendant satisfied the residence 

requirements of MCL 552.9(1) under the specific circumstances of this case. See MCR 

2.613(C); Berger, 277 Mich App at 715. Thus, subject matter jurisdiction was proper. 

 While only one party must satisfy the residency requirements set forth in MCL 552.9(1), 

we note that we do not agree with plaintiff that the trial court erred in determining that he was 

also a resident of Michigan and Oakland County. While plaintiff stated in his complaint for 

divorce that he satisfied the jurisdictional requirements, he later challenged the veracity of his 

own complaint. Plaintiff blamed his own counsel for misinforming him of the jurisdictional 

requirements and provided documents purporting to show that he was never physically in 

Michigan for any of the 180-day statutory period because he flew directly from India to Texas. 

But plaintiff’s counsel informed the trial court that plaintiff told him that his residence was in 

Novi, Michigan and that he would only be in Texas temporarily for a work assignment. The trial 

court credited plaintiff’s counsel and relied on the plain language of the complaint that plaintiff 

himself executed and filed, finding that plaintiff’s absence from Michigan did not defeat 

jurisdiction under those circumstances. It should be noted that the trial court never had the 

opportunity to hear testimony from plaintiff because he never appeared before the court despite 

multiple orders. Again, giving deference to the trial court’s superior fact-finding ability, we are 

not left with a definite and firm conviction that the trial court erred when it found that plaintiff 

also satisfied the residence requirements of MCL 552.9(1). See MCR 2.613(C); Berger, 277 

Mich App at 715. 
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 Plaintiff next argues that the trial court abused its discretion and failed to follow the 

procedures required in MCL 552.9f, when it did not address the 6-month waiting period and 

made no finding of undue hardship or compelling necessity to waive the period. Plaintiff failed 

to raise this claim of error at the hearing or in a subsequent motion to set aside the default 

judgment. Thus, this argument is not preserved. Porter v Porter, 285 Mich App 450, 464; 776 

NW2d 377 (2009). However, we may review unpreserved issues if the question presented is one 

of law concerning which the necessary facts have been presented. Duffy v Dep’t of Natural 

Resources, 490 Mich 198, 209 n 3; 805 NW2d 399 (2011). Questions of law are reviewed de 

novo. Matley v Matley, 234 Mich App 535, 537; 594 NW2d 850 (1999), vacated on other 

grounds 461 Mich 897 (1999). 

 MCL 552.9f provides as follows: 

 No proofs or testimony shall be taken in any case for divorce until the 

expiration of 60 days from the time of filing the bill of complaint, except where 

the cause for divorce is desertion, or when the testimony is taken conditionally for 

the purpose of perpetuating such testimony. In every case where there are 

dependent minor children under the age of 18 years, no proofs or testimony shall 

be taken in such cases for divorce until the expiration of 6 months from the day 

the bill of complaint is filed. In cases of unusual hardship or such compelling 

necessity as shall appeal to the conscience of the court, upon petition and proper 

showing, it may take testimony at any time after the expiration of 60 days from the 

time of filing the bill of complaint. Testimony may be taken conditionally at any 

time for the purpose of perpetuating such testimony. When the defendant in any 

case for divorce is not domiciled in this state at the time of commencing the suit 

or shall not have been domiciled herein at the time the cause for divorce arose, 

before any decree of divorce shall be granted the complainant must prove that the 

parties have actually lived and cohabited together as husband and wife within this 

state, or that the complainant has in good faith resided in this state for 1 year 

immediately preceding the filing of the bill of complaint for divorce. [Emphasis 

added.] 

“The failure to comply with the statute does not render the judgment of divorce void ab initio, 

but renders it voidable in a proper proceeding for that purpose.” Calo v Calo, 143 Mich App 

749, 753; 373 NW2d 207 (1985). Judgments that are merely voidable “may be set aside upon a 

timely application in the same proceedings as a matter of judicial discretion.” Abbott v Howard, 

182 Mich App 243, 247; 451 NW2d 597 (1990). 

 Here, the trial court failed to address waiver of the statutory period on the record. 

However, we conclude that reversal or setting aside of the judgment would be harmless because 

there was significant evidence in the record to support waiver of the statutory waiting period. 

Plaintiff filed his complaint for divorce on July 28, 2014. The trial court took proofs and 

ultimately entered a default judgment of divorce on January 12, 2015—16 days before the 

expiration of the statutory 6-month waiting period. During the pendency of this divorce case 

plaintiff never appeared before the court despite being ordered to do so repeatedly. Plaintiff even 

stopped communicating with his own attorney and did not give the court an address for himself 

and the minor child. The trial court resorted to appointing a Guardian Ad Litem (GAL) to track 
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down plaintiff and the parties’ minor child, who defendant had not seen since March 2014. The 

GAL worked with police and was able to find out that plaintiff had fled the United States and 

taken the minor child to India. On October 6, 2014, the Novi police issued an arrest warrant for 

plaintiff for parental kidnapping but stated if plaintiff returned the child to Michigan, the charges 

would be dropped. Plaintiff did not return to Michigan. Finally, the GAL reported that on 

November 14, 2014, police informed her that plaintiff had not responded to their e-mail request 

so they were commencing the extradition process. Thus, the record reflects that there were 

exigent circumstances involved in this case concerning the whereabouts and the safety and wellbeing of the parties’ minor child that constituted both “unusual hardship” and “compelling 

necessity” that “appeal[ed] to the conscience of the court.” MCL 552.9f. 

 Finally, plaintiff argues that the trial court violated his due process rights when it denied 

his motions to dismiss his own complaint and defendant’s counterclaim for lack of jurisdiction 

without allowing his counsel the opportunity to present all of his evidence or question defendant. 

We disagree. Plaintiff failed to raise this argument in the trial court, so the issue is unpreserved. 

Porter, 285 Mich App at 464. Unpreserved claims of constitutional error are reviewed for plain 

error affecting substantial rights. In re TK, 306 Mich App 698, 703; 859 NW2d 208 (2014). 

 Due process generally requires “notice of the nature of the proceedings and a meaningful 

opportunity to be heard by an impartial decision maker.” Reed v Reed, 265 Mich App 131, 159; 

693 NW2d 825 (2005). Here, the record is clear that the trial court safeguarded plaintiff’s due 

process protections. Plaintiff chose not to attend the hearing, so by his own choosing he could 

not personally be heard on the matter. However, plaintiff’s attorney not only attended the 

hearing but represented plaintiff’s position zealously. Plaintiff’s counsel presented plaintiff’s 

argument regarding the trial court’s lack of subject matter jurisdiction due to the residency 

requirements, strenuously voiced objections to defendant’s position, and presented documentary 

evidence allegedly in support of plaintiff’s position. Thus, the trial court allowed plaintiff a full 

and fair opportunity to present his case. Therefore, we conclude that there is nothing in the 

record that establishes that error occurred with regard to plaintiff’s due process rights. 

 Affirmed. Defendant, the prevailing party, may tax costs. MCR 7.219. 

/s/ Elizabeth L. Gleicher 

/s/ Mark J. Cavanagh 

/s/ Karen M. Fort Hood