Courts generally agree to defer scheduling a trial if the same issues are being tried in a court in another jurisdiction. In addition, courts in this country agree to recognize and enforce the valid legal contracts and court orders of other countries. Comity is the legal doctrine under which countries recognize and enforce each others' legal decrees.
Comity usually arises in two situations in family law.
The first is where a divorce is granted by another country. If both parties were present and consented to the divorce, there is usually no problem with the U.S. recognizing the foreign divorce decree. The second situation arises in child custody cases. Courts of justice in one state will, out of comity, enforce the laws of another state, when by such enforcement they will not violate their laws or inflict. It is a general rule that the municipal laws of a country do not extend beyond its limits, and cannot be enforced in another, except on the principle of comity.