Opinion ID: 2405298
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Parties' Choice of Law

Text: The parties' choice of law provision does not alter this result. Under New Hampshire law, [w]here parties to a contract select the law of a particular jurisdiction to govern their affairs, that choice will be honored if the contract bears any significant relationship to that jurisdiction. Hobin v. Coldwell Banker Residential Affiliates, 144 N.H. 626, 628, 744 A.2d 1134 (2000) (quotation omitted). Under the approach set forth in the Restatement (Second) of Conflict of Laws, which New Hampshire has adopted, see Glowski v. Allstate Ins. Co., 134 N.H. 196, 197-98, 589 A.2d 593 (1991), the parties' choice of law will not be honored when applying the chosen law would be contrary to a fundamental public policy of the state of the otherwise applicable law (here, New Hampshire). Restatement (Second) of Conflict of Laws § 187(2)(b) (1971). We hold that to honor the parties' choice of law provision in their original decree would violate New Hampshire public policy, as reflected in UIFSA. We find In re the Marriage of Crosby & Grooms, 10 Cal.Rptr.3d at 152-53, instructive. In that case, the parties divorced in Idaho, and their agreement included a provision requiring that its interpretation be governed by Idaho law. In re Marriage of Crosby & Grooms, 10 Cal.Rptr.3d at 147-48. Before the parties signed the settlement agreement, the wife moved to California, and the husband moved to Oregon. Id. at 148. A California county district attorney's office filed a motion in California to modify the husband's child support obligation pursuant to California law. Id. The trial court granted the motion and applied California's child support guidelines in doing so. Id. The husband appealed, arguing, in part, that this was error because of the parties' choice of law provision. Id. at 152. The appellate court disagreed, reasoning that requiring that Idaho law apply would, among other things, undermine the mandate of UIFSA and be contrary to public policy. Id. The court explained that use of Idaho's child support guidelines would be contrary to a fundamental policy of California law, i.e., that the UIFSA be followed in choosing the forum state and the law applicable to an interstate child support modification. Id. at 153. Additionally, the court observed, because the wife lives in California, and, under UIFSA, California is the correct forum for modifying the child support order, California has a materially greater interest than Idaho in determining the amount of child support. Id. We find this reasoning persuasive. Here, as in the California case, neither the parties nor their children live in the original forum state (Massachusetts). New Hampshire, like California, has adopted UIFSA and applying Massachusetts' law regarding the payment of college expenses would be contrary to a fundamental public policy of New Hampshire, i.e., that . . . UIFSA be followed in choosing the forum state and the law applicable to the interstate child support modification. Id. Given that Husband lives in New Hampshire and New Hampshire is the proper forum for modifying the Massachusetts child support order under UIFSA, New Hampshire has a materially greater interest than Massachusetts in resolving this dispute. Accordingly, we hold that despite the parties' choice of law provision, New Hampshire law applies to Husband's obligation to pay college expenses. See Wagner v. Wagner, 885 So.2d 488, 494 (Fla.Dist.Ct. App.2004) (applying Florida law despite parties' agreement that California law would govern because, now that the parties and their children live in Florida, Florida is the only state with a legitimate interest in dispute); cf. Hale v. Hale, 33 Kan.App.2d 769, 108 P.3d 1012, 1014 (2005) (Although there are circumstances in which courts, and parties to a certain extent, may choose which state's law will apply in a given dispute, when the choice of law is dictated by statute, courts do not have the authority to contradict such mandates.).