California or New York - which lucky court and which lucky judge will be the one interpreting the prenuptial agreement of Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes or be in charge of the court proceedings?
The concept of Jurisdiction deals with which court has the authority to hear and rule on the matters at hand. Each state has its own laws when it comes to divorce, even though they may have similar laws; the biggest issue in this case, like many high profile cases, deals with privacy issues.
No one wants their personal issues to be aired out in the courtroom but more importantly I do not think either party wants the media to be in the courtroom for the blow for blow. ( that includes Tom and Katie)
In the state of New York, files can be sealed and the public may have limited access to the divorce proceeding; however, in California, the privacy rights are not as stringent.
Generally, each state has its own requirements for Jurisdiction. For example, in Florida, in order to obtain a divorce either party has to be a resident of the State of Florida for at least 6 months, along with other factors needing to be met for the dissolution.
Also, if there was a prenuptial agreement, it may have a provision as to which state may have jurisdiction and/or how the divorce will play out, at least to the financial concerns; the child may be another story.