Bergaust v. Flaherty

Jane Bergaust (plaintiff), a Virginia resident, conceived a child with Edward Flaherty (defendant), a French resident, while she was in France; the child was later born in Virginia, and Flaherty called and visited occasionally before contact tapered off and stopped. Bergaust sought child support in Virginia, but the juvenile court found it lacked personal jurisdiction over Flaherty and dismissed the petition; the circuit court affirmed, and Bergaust appealed, arguing Flaherty's acknowledgment of paternity while in Virginia, on his one visit, was enough to establish jurisdiction.