W. v. Ms. W.

A.W. (plaintiff) and Pauline (defendant), both naturalized American citizens (originally German and Canadian), moved repeatedly across many countries during their marriage, living briefly in the U.S. only in Texas (1960- 1962) and Maryland (starting 1970), before finally settling permanently in La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland in 1979. Their marriage deteriorated there, and A.W. filed for divorce in the local Swiss court in 1986; the Family Court granted the divorce and ordered A.W. to pay alimony. A.W. appealed, arguing Texas law — as the law of their shared American nationality — should govern under Swiss choice-of-law rules, rather than Swiss law.

Whether a Swiss court may apply Swiss law to a divorce proceeding between two American citizens where the couple most recently and permanently resided in Switzerland and had spent only short periods of time in the United States.