Case Update (2020): Ileiwat v. Labadi; Foreign Divorce Decree Comity, Subject Matter Jurisdiction for property division and support
The Superior Court of Pennsylvania consolidated two appeals in the case of Ileiwat v. Labadi (2020 PA Super 132 (2020) ) and, on June 3, 2020, rejected the Husband’s argument that the Pennsylvania court lacked subject matter jurisdiction to order the division of the parties’ property or award support to the Wife because neither party was domiciled in Pennsylvania for the requisite period of time prior to Wife’s initiation of the PA divorce suit. The parties, both dual-Jordanian-US nationals, had been living in Saudi Arabia for the Husband’s work since 2003. In 2014, the Husband took a 10-month project in Philadelphia. The family purchased a condo and their children moved to the United States. Approximately six months later, the family traveled to Saudi Arabia to renew their visas. While the Husband and children returned to Philadelphia in January 2015, the Wife detoured to their native Jordan to visit family. While she was in Jordan, the Husband calle...