Generally, in civil cases, the person who is filing the court case (the plaintiff or petitioner) is giving the court jurisdiction over him/herself by just filing. When you file a court case in which you are asking for a relief from a court, you are telling the court that there is an issue you need the judge to address and that you will be bound by whatever decision s/he reaches. That means that you are agreeing that the court has the power or authority to make a decision that affects you (personal jurisdiction).

It is a little more complicated when discussing the person you are filing a lawsuit against (the defendant or respondent.) Our biggest law (the U.S. Constitution) wants to make sure that a defendant in a case has an opportunity to defend him/herself if a lawsuit is filed against him/her. To make sure s/he can defend him/herself, the plaintiff or the court system needs to notify the defendant of the lawsuit or complaint against him/her. Each state has its own laws in terms of what needs to be done in order to legally notify someone of the action against him/her and if that is to be done by the plaintiff or by the court. If the defendant resides in the state where the court case is filed, once the defendant has been legally notified, the court gets personal jurisdiction over that party and can now start the legal process. It is more complicated if the defendant lives in a different state than where the lawsuit was filed.

Note: In most states, if you file a court case against someone who lives out of state and that party comes to court (makes an appearance), s/he must raise the lack of personal jurisdiction as a defense before or during the first court appearance. If all parties appear and no one tells the judge that the court does not have personal jurisdiction over the out-of-state defendant, then the judge will likely let the case continue.

For the majority of court cases, most states have what is known as a “long-arm statute,” which is a law that explains when a court can have personal jurisdiction over individuals who do not reside in that state. The long-arm statute lays out certain conditions, or “minimum contacts,” that must be met for the court to get personal jurisdiction over the defendant. Although this may vary from state to state, in general, the most common ways to get personal jurisdiction over the defendant are when:

• the cause of action occurred in the state where the case is being filed;
• the defendant was personally served with the court papers in the state; or
• the defendant has a substantial connection with the state (often called “minimum contacts”).

Note: There is one important exception to the information explained in this section. In cases involving custody of minor children, it does not necessarily matter if the other parent lives out of state. The court generally looks at where the children live – and that state’s court usually has jurisdiction over the children and their parents. There is a law called the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act (UCCJEA) that deals with this issue and applies in all states (except in Massachusetts where a similar law applies and Puerto Rico where no similar law has been adopted). The UCCJEA is a uniform law (statute) adopted by individual states that helps to set the “home state” that has jurisdiction over the children, and therefore, the parties. For more information on filing for custody in your state, you can go to our Custody page for the state where you will be filing.

After you file a court case, the other party has to be served with a copy of the papers that you filed and be notified of the upcoming court date. If you can have the defendant personally served with the court papers in the state where you filed the case, this will generally give the court personal jurisdiction to hear your court case. “Personal service” means someone other than you or another party in the court case hands the notice and the petition/complaint or other necessary documents directly to the person you are trying to sue. For example, if you know that the other party is coming to your state to visit family, attend a concert, or go to a business meeting, you can arrange to have him/her personally served with the court papers while s/he is in the state.

Note: In some states, service must be done by a sheriff or another certified person known as a process server. You may want to speak with a lawyer in your state to see if there are any special service rules that might apply in your situation.