Virginia Code 20-88.35: Bases for jurisdiction over nonresident
In a proceeding to establish or enforce a support order or to determine parentage of a child, a tribunal of the Commonwealth may exercise personal jurisdiction over a nonresident individual or the individual’s guardian or conservator if:
Terms Used In Virginia Code 20-88.35
- Guardian: A person legally empowered and charged with the duty of taking care of and managing the property of another person who because of age, intellect, or health, is incapable of managing his (her) own affairs.
- Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
- Process: includes subpoenas, the summons and complaint in a civil action, and process in statutory actions. See Virginia Code 1-237
- State: when applied to a part of the United States, includes any of the 50 states, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, and the United States Virgin Islands. See Virginia Code 1-245
- United States: includes the 50 states, the District of Columbia the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands and the United States Virgin Islands. See Virginia Code 1-255
1. The individual is personally served with process within the Commonwealth;
2. The individual submits to the jurisdiction of the Commonwealth by consent, by entering a general appearance, or by filing a responsive document having the effect of waiving any contest to personal jurisdiction;
3. The individual resided with the child in the Commonwealth;
4. The individual resided in the Commonwealth and paid prenatal expenses or provided support for the child;
5. The child resides in the Commonwealth as a result of the acts or directives of the individual;
6. The individual engaged in sexual intercourse in the Commonwealth and the child may have been conceived by the act of intercourse;
7. The individual asserted parentage of a child in the Virginia Birth Father Registry maintained in the Commonwealth by the Department of Social Services;
8. The exercise of personal jurisdiction is authorized under subdivision A 8 of § 8.01-328.1; or
9. There is any other basis consistent with the constitutions of the Commonwealth and the United States for the exercise of personal jurisdiction.
The bases of personal jurisdiction set forth in this section or any other law of the Commonwealth may not be used to acquire personal jurisdiction for a tribunal of the Commonwealth to modify a child support order issued by a tribunal of another state unless the requirements of § 20-88.76 or 20-88.77:3 are met.