Brown County Family Service Center v. Kahoun

427 N.W.2d 20, 1988 Minn. App. LEXIS 746, 1988 WL 81578
CourtCourt of Appeals of Minnesota
DecidedAugust 9, 1988
DocketC8-88-216
StatusPublished

This text of 427 N.W.2d 20 (Brown County Family Service Center v. Kahoun) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Minnesota primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Brown County Family Service Center v. Kahoun, 427 N.W.2d 20, 1988 Minn. App. LEXIS 746, 1988 WL 81578 (Mich. Ct. App. 1988).

Opinion

OPINION

WOZNIAK, Chief Judge.

This is an appeal from a trial court order granting respondent Craig Kahoun’s motion to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction. Appellants Brown County Family Service Center and Deborah Seeboth claim respondent had sufficient minimum contacts with the state of Minnesota to support jurisdiction under Minnesota’s long-arm statute, Minn.Stat. § 543.19, and the due process clause of the United States Constitution. We reverse and remand.

FACTS

In April or May 1985, respondent Craig Kahoun and appellant Deborah Seeboth met in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. Seeboth is a Minnesota resident who attended school at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire. Kahoun is a resident of Green Bay, Wisconsin, has never resided in Minnesota, and owns no property in Minnesota. Shortly after the parties met, they began a sexual relationship.

Seeboth asserts that the parties engaged in sexual intercourse nightly until school ended on May 17, 1985. Kahoun disputes the regularity of that allegation. When school ended, Kahoun drove Seeboth from school to her home in New Ulm, Minnesota. He stayed the night and returned to Wisconsin the next day. The parties did not engage in sexual intercourse on this Minnesota visit. On May 28, Kahoun again returned to Minnesota to visit Seeboth for two or three days. Seeboth contends the parties engaged in sexual intercourse during his visit. Kahoun denies ever engaging in sexual intercourse with Seeboth in Minnesota.

From June 1 through June 28, Seeboth visited Kahoun in Wisconsin. While in Wisconsin, Seeboth’s pregnancy was confirmed. Thereafter, plans were made for a wedding to take place on August 3, 1985. On June 28, however, Kahoun informed Seeboth that he did not want to go through with their wedding plans. The parties then terminated their two-month plus relationship, and Seeboth returned to Minnesota.

Sometime in August of 1985, the parties communicated by telephone. During this conversation, Kahoun offered to pay one-half of the costs of an abortion. On February 23, 1986, Seeboth gave birth to a daughter in Minnesota. She alleges that in April or May of 1986, Kahoun called her in New Ulm to “work things out.” The parties then met in Wisconsin to discuss matters. Kahoun claims he never spoke with Seeboth on the telephone, and contends that the Wisconsin meeting was the result of a surprise visit by Seeboth.

Kahoun has repeatedly denied paternity. Seeboth submitted a blood test indicating the likelihood of Kahoun being the father is 99.897%. After reviewing the record, the trial court granted Kahoun’s motion to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction.

ISSUE

Do sufficient contacts with Minnesota exist to support a constitutional exercise of personal jurisdiction in a paternity action?

ANALYSIS

Before a Minnesota court may exercise personal jurisdiction over a nonresident defendant, two criteria must be satisfied. First, there must be jurisdiction within Minnesota’s long-arm statute, Minn.Stat. § 543.19 (1986). Second, there must be sufficient “minimum contacts” between the defendant and Minnesota such that the assertion of jurisdiction would not offend traditional due process notions of fairness. Ulmer v. O’Malley, 307 N.W.2d 775, 777 (Minn.1981).

The Minnesota Supreme Court has determined that civil proceedings to establish paternity involve tortious conduct within the meaning of the long-arm statute. Id.; see also State ex rel. Nelson v. Nelson, 298 Minn. 438, 216 N.W.2d 140 (1974).

*22 In determining whether maintenance of an action is consistent with due process, the minimum contacts must be such that the defendant could “reasonably anticipate being haled into court” in Minnesota. World Wide Volkswagen Corp. v. Woodson, 444 U.S. 286, 297, 100 S.Ct. 559, 567, 62 L.Ed.2d 490 (1980). The pertinent factors to be considered in making the “minimum contacts” determination are: (1) the quantity of defendant’s contacts with the state; (2) the nature and quality of the contacts; (3) the source and connection of the cause of action with those contacts; (4) the interest of the state in providing a forum; and (5) convenience to the parties. Ulmer, 307 N.W.2d at 777 (citing Hardrives, Inc. v. City of LaCrosse, 307 Minn. 290, 294, 240. N.W.2d 814, 817 (1976)). We find Kahoun’s contacts are sufficient to support the exercise of jurisdiction.

Quantity of Contacts

Kahoun’s contacts with Minnesota are limited to a few telephone calls and two overnight visits to Minnesota, one visit lasting two to three days. While Seeboth claims they engaged in sexual intercourse during the second Minnesota visit, Kahoun denies ever engaging in sexual intercourse while in Minnesota. When the quantity of contacts is minimal, the nature and quality of the contacts become dispositive. Marquette National Bank v. Norris, 270 N.W. 2d 290, 295 (Minn.1978).

Nature and Quality of Contacts

Kahoun claims the quality of contacts is minimal because the parties’ social and sexual activities were initiated, developed, and continued solely in the state of Wisconsin. However, the Minnesota Supreme Court has not hesitated to uphold the exercise of jurisdiction over a Wisconsin resident in a paternity action. Howells v. McKibben, 281 N.W.2d 154 (Minn.1979). In Howells, the parties met in Wisconsin, first engaged in sexual intercourse in Minnesota, and continued the sexual relationship in Wisconsin for approximately three months. The defendant visited the plaintiff’s home in St. Paul on two occasions, and telephoned her during the pregnancy.

The Howells court found that the quantity and quality of the contacts with Minnesota were significant, and that a substantia] portion of the relationship was developed in Minnesota. Id. at 157. The court also held:

[I]t was certainly reasonably foreseeable by defendant that a continued sexual relationship with plaintiff, a Minnesota resident, might result in the injuries suffered by plaintiff and that those injuries would be sustained in this state.

Id.

In State v. Hartling, 360 N.W.2d 439, 441 (Minn.Ct.App.1985), this court also found sufficient contacts to support personal jurisdiction in a Minnesota paternity action. In Hartling, the plaintiff, a Minnesota resident, met the defendant, a Wisconsin resident, in Wisconsin. The parties initially engaged in sexual relations in Minnesota, but spent the majority of the three-month relationship together in Wisconsin. The only other Minnesota contact was when the defendant drove the plaintiff home to Duluth, Minnesota from Superior, Wisconsin after a date.

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Related

World-Wide Volkswagen Corp. v. Woodson
444 U.S. 286 (Supreme Court, 1980)
State Ex Rel. Nelson v. Nelson
216 N.W.2d 140 (Supreme Court of Minnesota, 1974)
Ulmer v. O'MALLEY
307 N.W.2d 775 (Supreme Court of Minnesota, 1981)
Howells v. McKibben
281 N.W.2d 154 (Supreme Court of Minnesota, 1979)
Marquette National Bank of Minneapolis v. Norris
270 N.W.2d 290 (Supreme Court of Minnesota, 1978)
State v. Hartling
360 N.W.2d 439 (Court of Appeals of Minnesota, 1985)
Anderson v. Luitjens
247 N.W.2d 913 (Supreme Court of Minnesota, 1976)
Hardrives, Inc. v. City of LaCrosse, Wis.
240 N.W.2d 814 (Supreme Court of Minnesota, 1976)
Sherburne County Social Services ex rel. Pouliot v. Kennedy
409 N.W.2d 907 (Court of Appeals of Minnesota, 1987)

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Bluebook (online)
427 N.W.2d 20, 1988 Minn. App. LEXIS 746, 1988 WL 81578, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/brown-county-family-service-center-v-kahoun-minnctapp-1988.