Family Law Keyed to Weisberg
Kulko v. Superior Court
Facts
Appellant Ezra Kulko married appellee Sharon Kulko Horn in 1959 during appellant’s three-day stopover in California en route from a military base in Texas to a tour of duty in Korea. At the time both parties were domiciled in and residents of New York. Appellee immediately returned to New York after the marriage, as did appellant after his tour of duty. The two lived in New York for 13 years and then separated. Appellant remained in New York with their children, while appellee moved to California. She briefly returned to sign a separation agreement providing the children would live in New York. Immediately afterward appellee flew to Haiti and procured a divorce incorporating the terms of the agreement. In 1973 appellant’s daughter told her father that she wanted to remain in California after her Christmas vacation. Appellant bought her a one-way ticket. In 1976 appellant’s other child called his mother and told her he wanted to live with her in California. She sent h im a plane ticket unbeknownst to his father, and he flew to California and took up residence with his mother and sister. Less than a month later, appellee commenced this action against appellant in the California Superior Court seeking to establish the Haitian divorce decree as a California judgment; to modify the judgment to award her full custody of the children; and to increase appellant’s child-support obligations. Appellant appeared specially and moved to quash service of the summons on the ground that he was not a California resident and lacked sufficient minimum contacts with the State to warrant assertion of personal jurisdiction over him. The trial court summarily denied the motion to quash, and appellee sought review. The California Supreme Court sustained the lower court rulings.
Only StudyBuddy Pro offers the complete Case Brief Anatomy*
Access the most important case brief elements for optimal case understanding.
*Case Brief Anatomy includes: Brief Prologue, Complete Case Brief, Brief Epilogue
- The Brief Prologue provides necessary case brief introductory information and includes:
Topic:
Identifies the topic of law and where this case fits within your course outline.Parties:
Identifies the cast of characters involved in the case.Procedural Posture & History:
Shares the case history with how lower courts have ruled on the matter.Case Key Terms, Acts, Doctrines, etc.:
A case specific Legal Term Dictionary.Case Doctrines, Acts, Statutes, Amendments and Treatises:
Identifies and Defines Legal Authority used in this case.
- The Case Brief is the complete case summarized and authored in the traditional Law School I.R.A.C. format. The Pro case brief includes:
Brief Facts:
A Synopsis of the Facts of the case.Rule of Law:
Identifies the Legal Principle the Court used in deciding the case.Facts:
What are the factual circumstances that gave rise to the civil or criminal case? What is the relationship of the Parties that are involved in the case.Issue(s):
Lists the Questions of Law that are raised by the Facts of the case.Holding:
Shares the Court's answer to the legal questions raised in the issue.Concurring / Dissenting Opinions:
Includes valuable concurring or dissenting opinions and their key points.Reasoning and Analysis:
Identifies the chain of argument(s) which led the judges to rule as they did.
- The Brief Prologue closes the case brief with important forward-looking discussion and includes:
Policy:
Identifies the Policy if any that has been established by the case.Court Direction:
Shares where the Court went from here for this case.