Also known as: lex loci rule · lex loci · law of the place
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A conflicts principle directing that the law of the place where an act or event occurred governs the rights and obligations arising from it.
Gina executed a will before a Swiss notary while maintaining a long-term apartment lease in Basel. After she moved her domicile to State B and died there, her spouse Katie offered the will for probate. The court applied the law of the place of execution and upheld the instrument even though State B's stricter formalities were not met.
A wife injured in Missouri sued her husband in Oklahoma. Missouri law barred interspousal tort suits. The Oklahoma court applied the law of the place where the tort occurred and dismissed the claim even though Oklahoma would have permitted the action.
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A couple obtained a divorce in Florida after one spouse established domicile there. The other spouse later challenged the decree in Massachusetts. The Supreme Court held that the Florida decree was entitled to full faith and credit because the rendering court had jurisdiction under the law of the place where the divorce was granted.
A Pennsylvania resident injured on a railroad in Pennsylvania sued the railroad in federal court in New York. The court applied Pennsylvania substantive law, including its conflict rules, to determine the rights of the parties rather than any general federal common law.
A decedent who had contracted multiple marriages under Indian custom died in California. His surviving wives claimed shares of the estate. The court recognized the marriages as valid under the law of the place where they were celebrated for purposes of determining heirship.
The rule generally requires application of the law of the place where the relevant act or event occurred. Recognition may be withheld only when the result violates a strong public policy of the forum.
A state that no longer permits creation of common-law marriages within its borders must still recognize a status validly formed elsewhere under the law of that place. The abolition affects only future formations inside the state.
Under the Uniform Probate Code choice-of-law provision, a will is valid if its execution complies with the law of the place where it was executed. This rule allows a court to uphold a will executed before a foreign notary even when the testator later changes domicile to a jurisdiction with stricter formalities.
…that § 34 "has been uniformly held to be no more than a declaration of what the law would have been without it: to wit, that the lex loci must be the governing rule of private right, under whatever jurisdiction private right comes to be examined." See also Bank of Hamilton v. Dudley's Lessee , 2 Pet. 492, 525. Compare…