Personal jurisdiction is invoked by the party's appearance before the court, or by the lawful service of process upon the party. The existence of personal jurisdiction depends upon the presence of reasonable notice to the defendant that an action has been brought, and a sufficient connection between the defendant and the forum state as to make it fair to require the defendant to defend in that forum.
A petition to vacate a default judgment is a legal document filed in South Carolina to challenge a court decision where the defendant did not respond to the lawsuit. This specific petition outlines the failure to acquire jurisdiction over the defendants due to defective service of process, which means that proper legal notice was not served to the parties involved. By filing this petition, the defendant seeks to invalidate the default judgment on the grounds that they were not properly informed of the lawsuit, thus violating their due process rights. Keywords: South Carolina, petition to vacate, default judgment, failure to acquire jurisdiction, defective service of process. Different Types of South Carolina Petition to Vacate Default Judgment for Failure to Acquire Jurisdiction over Defendants due to Defective Service of Process: 1. Individual Defendant: A petition can be filed by an individual defendant who received a default judgment without being properly served with legal notice, leading to a lack of jurisdiction over the person. 2. Corporate Entity: A petition can be filed by a corporation or business entity when a default judgment was entered against them due to defective service of process, preventing the court from acquiring jurisdiction over the entity. 3. Government Entity: In some cases, a government entity may be involved as a defendant. If a default judgment was issued against them without proper service of process, the government entity can file a petition to vacate citing the lack of jurisdiction. 4. Joint Defendants: When multiple defendants are named in a lawsuit, and one or more of them were not properly served with the lawsuit, a joint defendant petition may be filed to vacate the default judgment against all parties due to the lack of jurisdiction. 5. Lack of Personal Jurisdiction: This type of petition argues that the court did not have jurisdiction over the defendant because they were not served in a manner that satisfied the legal requirements, making the default judgment invalid. 6. Lack of Subject Jurisdiction: In some cases, defendants may argue that the court lacked subject jurisdiction over the case due to improper service, leading to the default judgment being challenged. Note: The specific types of petitions may vary based on the circumstances of the case, the parties involved, and the legal arguments presented.
