said by tcope:said by bmilone2:Guppy is correct, the suit would be opened in the State that the debtor lives.
So I can sign a contract, move to Russia and the person who sues me needs to do so in Russia... just because I "moved" there?
A person cannot run from their contracts and make the other party hunt them down and file in that state. That make not make any sense whatsoever.
If you want to sue someone you need to serve them. However, even if you can't find them you can still do due diligence. This might involve placing ads in a local paper and then filing a motion for a court to accept this. Happens all of the time. If you break a contract with someone you simply cannot move to a state that is more favorable to you in order to have the case heard there.
In the situation being disussed by the poster, yes the creditor would have to go after the debtor in the state of their residence. The reason for this is that lets say for example the creditor is in New York State and the Debtor is in Florida. If the creditor gets a judgement in a New York Court it is not automatically recognised in other States. If the debtor has assests in New York State, then of course the creditor could seek those assets. But if the assets are in Florida the creditor would have to use an Attorney licensed in Florida to petition the court to accept a New York judgement (which will fail) or start an action for judgment in the Florida Courts.
You are correct that if someone moves it doesn't mean they no longer owe the money, but it does mean the creditor has to collect the assets in the State that they exist in.