Court Opinion

ID: 9630345
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-22 10:09:04.152309+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:07:37.335608
License: Public Domain

Dissenting Opinion by
Mr. Justice Eoberts:
Mrs. Stambaugh is denied her right to permanent alimony solely on account of the majority’s adherence to a conceptualization unrelated to the particular and exceptional facts of this case. Because no attempt is made to view functionally the relationship of the parties and the parties’ (especially Mr. Stambaugh’s) conduct, I dissent.
Although correctly holding that Mr. Stambaugh’s ex parte Florida divorce is “ineffective on the issue of *159permanent alimony,” the majority mistakenly relies on the general rule of Pennsylvania substantive law that a divorce from the bonds of matrimony terminates any right to support. The majority errs by not adequately considering the effect of Mr. Stambaugh’s disobedience of a valid and final anti-suit injunction obtained by Mrs. Stambaugh, enjoining him from prosecuting a divorce in a state other than Pennsylvania.
To reach its result, the majority is forced to utilize the overly-broad language of Smith v. Smith, 364 Pa. 1, 4, 70 A.2d 630, 632 (1950) : “Since equity has no power to restrain a person from obtaining a lawful divorce, it follows that an injunction may only be granted where the spouse has not established a bona fide domicile in the state in which the divorce is sought.” Although this articulation has been used on other occasions, e.g., Monihan v. Monihan, 438 Pa. 380, 382, 264 A.2d 653, 653 (1970),1 it is predicated on a fundamental misunderstanding of the powers of a court of equity.2
*160A court of equity plainly has the power to restrain a person from prosecuting a suit in another state (though it be lawful to do so in that state), if the enjoining court has jurisdiction over the person to be enjoined and if the foreign prosecution will offend a policy of the enjoining state. This much was recognized by the Supreme Gourt of the United States as long ago as 1877. “Dehon v. Foster, 4 Allen, 545, is the leading case upon the subject, argued by eminent counsel on both sides, and decided upon great consideration. The Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts, speaking through Bigelow, O. J., points out that the jurisdiction of a court, as a court of chancery, to restrain persons within its jurisdiction from prosecuting suits, upon a proper case made, either in the courts of Massachusetts or in other States or foreign countries, rests on the clear authority vested in courts of equity over persons within the limits of their jurisdiction and amenable to process, to stay acts contrary to equity and good conscience; and that, as the decree of the court in such cases is directed solely at the party, it is wholly immaterial that such party is prosecuting his action in the courts of another state or country.” Cole v. Cunningham, 133 U.S. 107, 124, 10 S. Ct. 269, 275 (1890). And this rule applies to injunctions designed to halt *161tlie prosecution of a divorce in another jurisdiction. See, e.g., Linett v. Linett, 434 Pa. 441, 444-45, 254 A.2d 7, 9 (1969); Rothman v. Rothman, 425 Pa. 406, 408, 228 A.2d 899, 901 (1967); Wenz. v. Wenz, 400 Pa. 397, 399, 162 A.2d 376, 377 (1960). See also James v. Grand Trunk Western R.R., 14 Ill.2d 356, 152 N.E.2d 858, cert. denied, 358 U.S. 915, 79 S. Ct. 288 (1958); Hammer v. Hammer, 303 N.Y. 481, 104 N.E.2d 864 (1952); Garvin v. Garvin, 302 N.Y. 96, 96 N.E.2d 721 (1951).
The unnecessarily broad language of Smith v. Smith, 364 Pa. at 4, 70 A.2d at 632, is also based on a misreading of Williams v. North Carolina, 317 U.S. 287, 63 S. Ct. 207 (1942) (Williams I). That case did not pass on whether an anti-suit injunction was constitutional. Cole v. Cunningham, 133 U.S. 107, 10 S. Ct. 269 (1890), had decided that question long before; under Gole, an anti-suit injunction violates neither the full faith and credit clause nor the privileges and immunities clause of the United States Constitution.
Williams I has relevance to the situation presented by a disobedience of an anti-suit injunction only because it restricts what sanctions a court may impose on the party who violates the court’s injunction. According to the rule in Williams I, the enjoining state may not deny a foreign divorce full faith and credit if the spouse who obtained the divorce was a bona fide domiliciary of the foreign state. And this rule is even more limited. The United States Supreme Court has repeatedly held that a divorce valid under the law of a sister state is entitled to full faith and credit only as it speaks to marital status; it is not binding on the issue of alimony. Estin v. Estin, 334 U.S. 541, 549, 68 S. Ct. 1213, 1218 (1948) (recognizing divisible divorces). Accord, Vanderbilt v. Vanderbilt, 354 U.S. 416, 77 S. Ct. 3360 (1957); Armstrong v. Armstrong, *162350 U.S. 568, 76 S. Ct. 629 (1956); Kreiger v. Kreiger, 334 U.S. 555, 68 S. Ct. 1221 (1948).
So, it can be seen that tbe majority’s reliance on Smith v. Smith produces a decidedly anomalous result. If an anti-suit injunction is proper only when a spouse is not a valid domiciliary of a sister state, Smith v. Smith, and if an ex parte divorce decree need not be given full faith and credit if the spouse is not a domiciliary of the sister state, Williams I, then obtaining an anti-suit injunction is a meaningless gesture. There is little reason for an anti-suit injunction if the spouse’s ex parte divorce is in any event not entitled to full faith and credit because it is invalid in the jurisdiction granting the divorce.
The logical, realistic, and reasonable rule is that once personal jurisdiction over a party is obtained, an anti-suit injunction, if warranted, may validly issue. Or, as Mr. Justice O’Bbien succinctly stated for this Court in Rothman v. Rothman, 425 Pa. 406, 228 A.2d 899 (1967): “Inasmuch as appellant [the enjoined spouse] had submitted himself to the jurisdiction of the court in the previous actions, its decree in the equity action [i.e., issuance of an anti-suit injunction] may properly bind him.” Id. at 409, 228 A.2d at 901. See also Linett v. Linett, 434 Pa. 441, 254 A.2d 7 (1969); Wenz v. Wenz, 400 Pa. 397, 162 A.2d 376 (1960). In short, an anti-suit injunction may issue even if the party to be enjoined is a bona fide domiciliary of a sister state.
It must also be noted that the Legislature foresaw that anti-suit injunctions may be necessary and specifically empowered our courts in matrimonial causes to issue such injunctions. “In all matrimonial causes the court shall have full equity power and jurisdiction, and may issue injunctions or other orders which are necessary to protect the interests of the parties or to effectuate the purposes of this act, and may grant such other *163relief or remedy as equity and justice require against either party or against any third person over whom the court has jurisdiction and who is involved in or concerned with the disposition of the cause.” Act of May 2, 1929, P.L. 1237, § 55, as amended, 23 P.S. § 55(2) (Supp. 1974).
Two elements then are necessary for the valid issuance of an anti-suit injunction: jurisdiction over the party to be enjoined and a proper set of justifying facts. In the instant case, both elements are present.
As for jurisdiction, the majority does not question, as it could not, Pennsylvania’s jurisdiction over Mr. Stambaugh. The record shows that although he was no longer residing in this state when his wife commenced her divorce suit in 1966, Mr. Stambaugh entered a general appearance through his attorney and filed an answer on the merits contesting the divorce. “A state has power to exercise judicial jurisdiction over an individual who enters an appearance as defendant in the action.” Eestatement (Second) of Conflicts of Laws § 33 (1971). Our cases are in accord that once a party enters a general appearance, he waives all objections to in personam jurisdiction. E.g., Morell Estate, 426 Pa. 528, 532, 233 A.2d 522, 524 (1967); C.E. Williams Co. v. Henry B. Pancoast Co., 412 Pa. 166, 189, 194 A.2d 189, 190 (1963). The rationale for this rule is that the “individual’s voluntary participation as a party in an action makes it reasonable for the state to exercise jurisdiction over him in that action.” Eestatement (Second) of Conflict of Laws § 33, comment a at 136 (1971).
Thus, the Pennsylvania court which entered the injunction against Mr. Stambaugh had in personam jurisdiction over him. And once personal jurisdiction attaches, this “jurisdiction continues throughout all subsequent proceedings which arise out of the original cause of action.” Id. § 26.
*164The facts and circumstances, considered as a whole, demonstrate that a case has been made out for the issuance of the anti-suit injunction. First, Pennsylvania’s contacts with the marriage are substantial. The parties were married in Pennsylvania in 1985, and lived together in Delaware County until 1966. Mrs. Stambaugh presently lives here. Although Mr. Stambaugh now resides in Florida, he maintains considerable contacts with Pennsylvania. For instance, since he moved to Florida, Mr. Stambaugh continues to remain active in the operations of his Philadelphia-based real estate firm.
Second, Pennsylvania obtained jurisdiction over this controversy almost three years prior to Mr. Stambaugh’s filing for his ex parte Florida divorce. And the court had personal jurisdiction over both parties. It is well settled that a court “ ‘ “ may restrain a party from prosecuting a subsequent suit in another jurisdiction, whether the objects of the two suits are the same or not, if the effect of the second suit is to withdraw from the court first acquiring jurisdiction a part of the subject-matter of the first suit.” ’ ” Wenz v. Wenz, 400 Pa. at 399, 162 A.2d at 377 (quoting Trees v. Glenn, 319 Pa. 487, 490-91, 181 A. 579, 580 (1935)).
Third, Pennsylvania has a substantial interest in providing Mrs. Stambaugh with her day in court on the question of permanent alimony. Mr. Stambaugh’s Florida divorce was ex parte, and that court never obtained the in personam jurisdiction necessary to adjudicate Mrs. Stambaugh’s personal rights. Ensuring that domiciliaries of this Commonwealth receive due process of law is a weighty consideration in deciding to issue an anti-suit injunction. .
True, Mr. Stambaugh is a bona fide domiciliary of Florida. If the party to be enjoined is not a bona fide domiciliary of another state, certainly a much stronger case for an anti-suit injunction is presented. But this *165fact is not determinative on the question whether an anti-suit injunction may validly issue. Rather, it is a factor to be weighed with all the others.
In light of all these facts, the trial court exercised its discretion and enjoined Mr. Stambaugh, a party before it, from prosecuting a divorce in another state. Despite timely notice of the hearing on this injunction, Mr. Stambaugh chose not to appear personally to contest it.3 After the injunction was issued and became final, he never sought to have it amended or vacated. He took no appeal from the trial court’s decree.
Instead, Mr. Stambaugh ignored the injunction. He disobeyed it by prosecuting his divorce in Florida.
*166Having obtained an exparte foreign divorce in violation of a proper injunction, only then did Mr. Stambaugh return to Pennsylvania and attempt to secure from the court, whose decree he defied, the benefits of his contumacious conduct. He challenges the award of permanent alimony to Mrs. Stambaugh on the ground that the Florida decree terminates all her rights to this support even though this was not, and could not have been, decided by Florida. And the majority upholds this challenge and approves his contumacious conduct. I cannot agree.
Because Mr. Stambaugh was a bona fide domiciliary of Florida, his ex parte divorce is entitled to full faith and credit on the issue of marital status. Usually in this Commonwealth a final decree of divorce terminates the duty of the husband to pay either support or alimony to his wife. E.g., Commonwealth ex rel. McVay v. McVay, 383 Pa. 70, 118 A.2d 144 (1955); Commonwealth ex rel. Esenwien v. Esenwein, 348 Pa. 455, 35 A.2d 335 (1944), aff’d sub. nom. Esenwein v. Pennsylvania ex rel. Esenwein, 325 U.S. 279, 65 S. Ct. 1118 (1945); Commonwealth ex rel. Lorusso v. Lorusso, 189 Pa. Superior Ct. 403, 150 A.2d 370 (1959).
But this is not the usual case. Whether a wife’s potential right to permanent alimony can be terminated by an ex parte foreign divorce obtained by her husband in violation of a lawfully-issued anti-suit injunction is a unique question.
In my view, Mr. Stambaugh’s contumacious conduct should estop him from asserting the existence of his ex parte Florida divorce on the issue of alimony. The situation is as if for the purposes of alimony the divorce did not exist.
By refusing to permit Mr. Stambaugh to profit by his contumacious conduct, Pennsylvania accommodates the competing interests of federalism and this Commonwealth’s policies. The full faith and credit clause is *167not violated because the Florida divorce is recognized as to marital status. Estin v. Estin, 334 U.S. 541, 68 S. Ct. 1213 (1948). The legislative provision that there is no alimony after a valid divorce from the bonds of matrimony is not offended, because Mr. Stambaugh’s contumacious behavior makes non-existent, for purposes of alimony, the Florida ex parte divorce. The process and integrity of our judicial system is preserved by not allowing one who flouts valid and final orders of our courts from obtaining the benefits of his contumacious conduct. Mrs. Stambaugh’s due process right to a hearing on the issue of her right to support is vindicated.
However, the majority in effect gives more than full faith and credit to the Florida ex parte divorce decree. Nothing in the full faith and credit clause requires Pennsylvania to allow Mr. Stambaugh’s contumacious conduct to cut off his wife’s right to support.
I dissent and would affirm in all respects the order of the Superior Court.

 See also Wallace v. Wallace, 371 Pa. 404, 89 A.2d 769 (1952). That case is distinguishable. There, the injunction was issued after the husband had already obtained a foreign divorce. The decree entered enjoined the husband “from doing anything in Pennsylvania to affect [the wife’s] marital status or her property rights incident to that relationship.” Id. at 407, 89 A.2d at 770.
Although the parties were married in Pennsylvania, they moved immediately to Florida. They lived together there until the wife left the husband and returned to Pennsylvania. This Court had no problem in concluding that the husband was a bona fide domiciliary of Florida. Having concluded that, the Court was required under Williams v. North Carolina, 317 U.S. 287, 63 S. Ct. 207 (1942), to recognize the Florida divorce on the issue of marital status.

 March Estate, 426 Pa. 364, 231 A.2d 168 (1967), and Knaus v. Knaus, 387 Pa. 370, 127 A.2d 669 (1956), relied upon by the majority, are inapposite.
In March Estate, this Court reversed a chancellor’s refusal to vacate a widow’s election to take against the will of her one-time husband, because she had not met her burden under the full faith and credit clause of overcoming the presumption of validity of a *160foreign divorce. That case did not involve the effect of an anti-suit injunction. Although such an injunction had been issued in that case, its existence or propriety was not pertinent to the ratio decidendi of that case. More fundamentally, this Court never stated that the enjoined spouse was a domiciliary of the state in which he obtained his divorce.
In Knaus v. Knaus, the reason the order committing appellant to jail until he purged himself of contempt was reversed had nothing to do with whether he was or was not a bona fide domiciliary of another state. Rather, that ease rested on the ground that one cannot be imprisoned until he purges himself of contempt by doing “something which is apparently beyond his power to do . . . .” 387 Pa. at 380, 127 A.2d at 674.

 The record reveals that on March 5, 1909, the day the wile filed her petition for a restraining order, her counsel mailed a copy of the petition to the office of Mr. Cramp, Mr. Stambaugh’s counsel of record. Mr. Surrick, Mr. Cramp’s associate, admitted receiving the copy of the petition, and said he then notified Mrs. Stambaugh’s counsel that Mr. Cramp was out of town. Mrs. Stambaugh thereafter proceeded with her action and on March 14, 1969, the court entered the restraining order. At the time the decree was granted Mr. Surrick was present in court, representing the husband, and in fact succeeded in having the court modify the language of the proposed decree.
According to Rule 1027 of the Pennsylvania Rules of Civil Procedure:
“A party filing a pleading, other than a complaint l>y which an action is commenced, shall forthwith serve it on every other party
“(2) by leaving a copy for or mailing a copy to him at the residence or place of business of the party or the address of the party’s attorney of record, . . .”. (Emphasis added.) See also Pa. R. Civ. P. 233. Because this petition for a restraining order was ancillary to the original complaint in divorce the requirement of the first part of the rule was met. See Rothman v. Rothman, 425 Pa. at 409, 228 A.2d at 901 (Robebts, J., concurring). Further, Mrs. Stambaugh complied completely with the second part of the Rule by mailing a copy of her petition to her husband’s counsel’s office. Mr. Stambaugh therefore was given all the notice required by the Rule.