Opinion
No. 98-CC-1142
June 19, 1998
IN RE: Page, Patricia Ann; — Plaintiff(s); Applying for Supervisory and/or Remedial Writs; Parish of Jefferson 24th Judicial District Court Div. "H" Number 486-514; to the Court of Appeal, Fifth Circuit, Number 98-CW-0070
Denied.
WFM
PFC
JPV
CDT
JTK
LEMMON, J. concurs in the denial and assigns reasons.
KIMBALL, J. would grant the writ.
JOHNSON, J. not on panel.
Personal jurisdiction is necessary for a court to render a valid support judgment, which is a personal judgment against the defendant. La. Code Civ.Proc. art. 6. See also Robert A. Casad, Jurisdiction in Civil Actions, § 2.04[2][e][i]. In this case, the Louisiana court does not have jurisdiction over the person of the husband. While consent may be a basis for jurisdiction over the person, see 2 Casad, § 9.02[4][a][ii], the husband did not consent to the court's exercise of personal jurisdiction over him by appearing in that court in an ancillary matter to contest the denial of visitation. The appearance was not voluntary, and a decision construing that appearance to constitute consent to the exercise of personal jurisdiction would encourage unscrupulous former spouses to deny visitation arbitrarily in order to obtain jurisdiction for support orders.
Subject matter jurisdiction, incorrectly referred to by the lower courts, is not at issue here. The 24th Judicial District Court clearly had subject matter jurisdiction to adjudicate actions for child support.