Case of the Day: Hussain v. Hussain, 2016 Ohio App. LEXIS 2045 (Ohio App. Ct. 12th Dist. May 31, 2016)

Summary:

Wife filed for divorce in 2014. In response, the husband claims they were never married because the marriage, which took place in India in 1992, was not valid. Husband claimed that the marriage was "merely ceremonial" under Muslim and Indian law, and because the original Indian marriage certificate was not validly signed and the marriage was not properly registered. Trial court held that there was a valid marriage, and the husband appealed.

The appellate court affirmed. The court found that husband did not give adequate notice to apply foreign law, and at any rate did not find the husband's claim of foreign law credible.

Takeaway:

Here we have this blog's favorite--(relatively) small cases with complex private international law questions! What seems to be a simple divorce matter ends up implicating a tricky choice-of-law rules, and the husband in this case gets tripped up by the difficult procedure. 

Also notable is the footnote 1 of the court's opinion. Apparently the court attempted video conference with the husband's legal expert in India, but much of the testimony was unintelligible due to poor internet connection. Practical hazard of transnational litigation.