In the case of Felicite Fletcher Hipp and Maria Antonio Fletcher Hipp, two aliens residing in Vera Cruz, Mexico and Madrid, Spain respectively, they were suing on behalf of Augustin Cuesta, Javiera Cuesta and Felicitas Cuesta (also aliens) who were the forced heirs of Adelaide Fletcher Hipp. The defendants in this case were Celine Babin (widow of Ursin Joly) as well as others. This was a dispute over property rights that had been left by Adelaide Fletcher Hipp when she passed away. Ultimately it was decided that the plaintiffs did have legal standing to sue for their inheritance rights from Adelaide's estate.

In the case of Felicite Fletcher Hipp, Maria Antonio Fletcher Hipp, Augustin Cuesta, Javiera Cuesta and Felicitas Cuesta v. Celine Babin et al., the Supreme Court was tasked with determining whether or not a Mexican court had jurisdiction over an estate dispute involving foreign citizens. The majority opinion held that it did not have such authority as there were no applicable laws in Mexico to govern this particular situation. However, Justice Grier dissented from this ruling on the grounds that since all parties involved were aliens residing outside of U.S borders at the time of litigation, then any decision made by a Mexican court should be respected under international law regardless if it is contrary to American statutes or precedents. He argued that while Congress has exclusive power to regulate commerce between nations and their citizens abroad; they do not possess absolute control over matters concerning private rights which are subject only to local laws where those rights originated from originally.