Husband’s maintenance obligation was established by a Tennessee Court. Husband filed a motion to modify his maintenance obligation in Kentucky. The Kentucky court denied his motion. Husband filed this appeal arguing the Kentucky trial court lacked subject-matter jurisdiction to make any order on spousal maintenance.
The Court of Appeals agrees with Husband holding that based on the “clear statutory scheme” between Tennessee and Kentucky, “Kentucky courts have no authority or subject-matter jurisdiction to modify a Tennessee court’s spousal maintenance order.” Although Husband raised this agreement after filing his appeal, subject-matter jurisdiction arguments cannot be waived and can be raised at any time. Thus the Court of Appeals reverses and remands to the trial court for an order “for transfer to the original Tennessee court.” However, Kentucky does have the authority to enforce the Tennessee order
Digested by Elizabeth M. Howell
