Also known as: physically present · physical-presence · actual presence
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
Actual bodily location of a person or object within a particular place or jurisdiction. This location may trigger or limit legal authority depending on the governing rule, such as supporting personal jurisdiction through service or failing to satisfy custody prerequisites when standing alone.
Perry Pratt flew into the forum state for a one-day business meeting. While he waited at the airport for his return flight, a process server handed him the summons and complaint. The court may exercise personal jurisdiction over him even though the claim arose elsewhere and his stay lasted only hours.
Patricia Patel brought her child to the forum state for a short vacation. When she filed a custody petition there, the court found no significant connection beyond the temporary stay. Jurisdiction therefore could not rest on physical presence alone under the statute.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
Paige Porter fled with her child to the forum state after the other parent threatened harm. The child had been abandoned in the prior state. The forum court could assume emergency jurisdiction because the child was physically present and needed immediate protection.
Preston Pratt was at home when officers arrived with his roommate's consent to search. He expressly refused entry and remained physically present throughout the encounter. The officers could not rely on the roommate's consent to search areas over which Pratt asserted control.
Paul Peterson and his child attended a family event in the forum state. When a custody dispute arose, the court held that their physical presence during the visit supplied neither a necessary nor a sufficient basis for making a custody determination.
Pacific Bank negotiated a long-term franchise agreement with a Michigan resident through mail and telephone calls. The resident never traveled to Florida. The absence of physical presence in the forum did not defeat jurisdiction when the commercial efforts were purposefully directed at the state.
Yes. A defendant who is served with process while physically present in the forum state is subject to in personam jurisdiction even if the presence is temporary and the claim is unrelated to the forum.
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No. Under the UCCJEA and the UMDA, physical presence of the child or a contestant is neither necessary nor sufficient to confer jurisdiction except in narrow emergency or abandonment situations.
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Police may not rely on consent when another co-occupant is physically present, expressly objects, and the search targets that objecting person. The objection controls.
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No. Domicile requires both physical presence and an intention to remain indefinitely. Presence without the requisite intent does not establish domicile.
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…defendants in Delaware was stock in Greyhound Corp., which was incorporated in Delaware. The stock certificates were not physically present in Delaware, but under Delaware law, the situs of the stock was deemed to be in Delaware. The individual defendants, whose primary residences and places of business were in Arizona, moved…