<P> Subject - matter jurisdiction must be distinguished from personal jurisdiction, which is the power of a court to render a judgment against a particular defendant, and territorial jurisdiction, which is the power of the court to render a judgment concerning events that have occurred within a well - defined territory . Unlike personal or territorial jurisdiction, lack of subject - matter jurisdiction cannot be waived . A judgment from a court that did not have subject - matter jurisdiction is forever a nullity . To decide a case, a court must have a combination of subject (subjectam) and either personal (personam) or territorial (locum) jurisdiction . </P> <P> Subject - matter jurisdiction, personal or territorial jurisdiction, and adequate notice are the three most fundamental constitutional requirements for a valid judgment . </P> <P> In the United States, many state court systems are divided into divisions such as criminal, civil law, family, and probate . A court within any one of those divisions would lack subject - matter jurisdiction to hear a case regarding matters assigned to another division . Most U.S. state court systems, however, include a superior court that has "general" jurisdiction; that is, it is competent to hear any case over which no other state court has exclusive jurisdiction . Because the United States federal courts have exclusive jurisdiction over a very small percentage of cases, such as copyright disputes, patent disputes, and United States bankruptcy court disputes, state courts have the authority to hear the vast majority of cases . </P> <P> Subject - matter jurisdiction is significantly more limited in United States federal courts . The maximal constitutional bounds of federal courts' subject - matter jurisdiction are defined by Article III Section 2 of the U.S. Constitution . Federal courts' actual subject - matter jurisdiction derives from Congressional enabling statutes, such as 28 U.S.C. § § 1330--1369 and 28 U.S.C. § § 1441--1452 . The United States Congress has not extended federal courts' subject - matter jurisdiction to its constitutional limits . For example, the amount - in - controversy requirement for diversity jurisdiction is based on 28 U.S.C. § 1332, not a constitutional restriction . Moreover, Congress could constitutionally overrule the complete - diversity rule in diversity cases . </P>

When does a state court have subject matter jurisdiction
find me the text answering this question