Conflict of laws, choice of the forum court in the US, and the due process in family law disputes

Abstract

In the United States (US) the family law litigant will have to consider the implications of laws that are federally recognised and those which the state embodies in its own family law statutes. The function of the equal protection clause and due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment of the Constitution protects the parties in family disputes that reach the court. The operation of the Full Faith and Credit Clause is an important consideration and is central to the question if the court can apply the law of the forum court (lex fori) or that of the state where the dispute emanated. The federal constitution allows the state courts to apply marriage laws of another state. If the issue is procedural, then the law of the state will be applied where the dispute that gave rise to the litigation (lex loci). This paper examines the interstate in family law by considering marriages, child custody, and adoption rules and it enquires whether the courts have been sufficiently consistent in interpreting family law of the state in accordance with Article IV, Section 1. There is also a section that compares the law in the US with the application of the lex fori rules in family cases in the Scottish jurisdiction and how that influences parties in family law disputes.