Nelson et al. v. Woodruff et al. was a case heard by the United States Supreme Court in 1861 that dealt with the issue of whether or not an individual could be held liable for debts incurred prior to their marriage, even if they had no knowledge of them at the time of marriage. The court ruled that when one spouse incurs a debt before marriage and does not disclose it to their partner, then both spouses are jointly responsible for paying off those debts after they marry. This ruling established legal precedent which has been used in many cases since then involving similar issues related to pre-marital debt liability and responsibility between married couples.

In Nelson et al. v. Woodruff et al., the Supreme Court was asked to decide whether a state court had jurisdiction over a case involving citizens of different states, when the amount in controversy exceeded $500 and did not involve land titles or boundaries. The majority opinion held that such cases were within the exclusive jurisdiction of federal courts, while Justice Grier dissented on behalf of himself and two other justices. He argued that this decision would lead to an increase in litigation costs for litigants who could no longer access their local state courts for resolution of disputes between citizens from different states; instead they would have to travel long distances at great expense just to bring suit before a federal court. Furthermore, he noted that Congress had never intended nor authorized any such restriction on state court authority as proposed by the majority opinion; rather it was up to each individual state legislature alone to determine which matters should be heard in its own courts and which should be referred elsewhere. In conclusion, Grier concluded that there was nothing unconstitutional about allowing both federal and state courts concurrent jurisdiction over certain types of civil suits between parties from different states so long as neither party felt disadvantaged or prejudiced by having their case heard locally rather than federally