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Divorce
Forms |
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Child Support
 Child support
obligations are determined in Maryland by guidelines
put in place by the Maryland divorce laws. Such
child support is expected to be divided between
the parents in proportion to their adjusted actual
incomes. If one or both parents have made a request
for alimony or maintenance in the proceeding in
which a child support award is sought, the court
will decide the issue and amount of alimony or
maintenance before determining the child support
obligation. In the event that the court awards
alimony or maintenance, the amount of alimony
or maintenance will be considered actual income
for the recipient of the alimony or maintenance
and will be subtracted from the income of the
payer of the alimony or maintenance before the
court determines the amount of a child support
award.
Should a parent
be voluntarily unemployed or under-employed, child
support can be imputed (assumed and assigned).
Child care
expenses incurred on behalf of a child due to
employment or job search of either parent shall
be added to the basic obligation and shall be
divided between the parents in proportion to their
adjusted actual incomes.
Except in
cases of shared physical custody, each parent's
child support obligation shall be determined by
adding each parent's respective share of the basic
child support obligation,
work-related child care expenses, extraordinary
medical expenses, and additional expenses. The
court expects that the custodial parent will spend
that parent's total child support obligation directly
on the child or children.
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Maryland divorce
laws provide that in cases where a marriage annulment
or marital annulment is sought, and there are
children of the marriage, that those children
be afforded the same rights, protections and parental
financial support, including that the children
are not considered illegitimate offspring of the
parents, that other children of the state receive.
If a marriage separation
(sometimes referred to as a marital separation
or legal separation) has been decreed, the court
may make such further orders for the support and
maintenance of either spouse and for the support,
maintenance, and education of minor children,
by either spouse, or out of the property of either
spouse, as the court deemed appropriate.
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Child Custody
Maryland divorce laws
prevail in child custody disputes. In such cases
of child custody in Maryland, divorce laws dictate
that a parent is the sole natural guardian of
the minor child if the other parent: dies; abandons
the family; or is incapable of acting as a parent. The
parents of a minor child are jointly and severally
responsible for the child's support, care, nurture, |
welfare, and education, and have the same powers
and duties in relation to the child. If the parents
live apart, a court may award custody of a minor
child to either parent or joint custody to both
parents. Neither parent is presumed to have any
right to custody that is superior to the right
of the other parent. A child who is 16 years old
or older and who is subject to a child custody
custody order or decree may file a petition to
change child custody.
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Visitation/Co-Parenting
Maryland
divorce laws allow you and your partner the opportunity
to fashion a parenting agreement and visitation
schedule. If you and your spouse can agree on
a parenting schedule, leave nothing to interpretation.
Be as specific as you can including the right
language in your agreement. How is the decreed
custody defined? What are the rights and responsibilities?
Who has legal custody? Which holiday does the
child spend with you? What time and where may
the other parent pick the child up? What time
should the child be returned home? What is the
procedure to follow if either of you are running
late and won't be there on time? How
much notice should you be given if they are planning
a vacation? How far away may the other spouse
move? What about future partners? Should those |
partners
stay overnight in front of the children? If you
are unable to reach agreement, the court will
impose a standard set of times that may include:
alternate weekend visitation (3-day weekends included),
mid-week visitation, sharing of the children during
periods of school recess -winter, spring and summer,
New Year's Eve, Easter, Rosh Hashanah and Yom
Kippur, Thanksgiving, and Christmas with one parent
or the other in alternate years, Father's Day
with Father, Mother's Day with Mother, alternate
years on the children's birthdays, and open communication
by phone and computer
Be aware that you have to guide your side of
the divorce. Don't rely that your attorney will
think of everything. You set the course; your
lawyer navigates. If you anticipate any problems
with custody or visitation, we suggest you own Child
Custody Strategies.
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Alimony/
Maintenance/ Spousal Support
Alimony
(also known as spousal support or maintenance)
may be awarded to either party by the court if
there is a request for alimony, or as part of
a decree that grants: 1. an annulment; 2. a limited
divorce; or 3. an absolute divorce. Such awards
can be for specific periods of time, or permanent.
Factors that lend themselves to a fair and equitable
award can be: the
ability of the party seeking alimony to be wholly
or partly self-supporting; the
time necessary for the party seeking alimony to
gain sufficient education or training to enable
that party to find suitable employment; the
standard of living that the parties established
during their marriage; the
duration of the marriage; the
contributions, monetary and non monetary, of each
party to the well-being of the family; the
circumstances that contributed to the estrangement
of the parties; the
age of each party; the
physical and mental
condition of each party; the
ability of the party from whom alimony is sought
to meet that party's needs while meeting the needs
of the party seeking alimony; any
agreement between the parties; the financial needs
and financial resources of each party, including:
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all
income and assets, including property that does
not produce income; any
award made under §§ 8-205 and 8-208
of this article; the
nature and amount of the financial obligations
of each party; and the right of each party to
receive retirement benefits; and Alimony
can be awarded for an indefinite period if the
court finds that: due
to age, illness, infirmity, or disability, the
party seeking alimony cannot reasonably be expected
to make substantial progress toward becoming self-supporting;
or even after the
party seeking alimony will have made as much progress
toward becoming self-supporting as can reasonably
be expected, the respective standards of living
of the parties will be unconscionably disparate
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For a FREE email series on "The
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to www.HappilyDivorced.org
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Grounds
For Divorce
The court may decree
an absolute divorce on the following grounds:
1. adultery; 2. desertion, if: the desertion has
continued for 12 months without interruption before
the filing of the application for divorce; the
desertion is deliberate and final; and there is
no reasonable expectation of reconciliation;
It will be considered
voluntary separation, if:
the parties voluntarily
have lived separate and apart without cohabitation
for 12 months without interruption before the
filing of the application for divorce; and There
is no reasonable expectation of reconciliation; Conviction
of a felony or misdemeanor in any state or in
any court of the United States if before the filing
of the application for divorce the defendant has: been
sentenced to serve at least 3 years or an indeterminate
sentence in a penal institution; and served
12 months of the sentence; 2-year |
separation, when the parties have lived separate
and apart without cohabitation for 2 years without
interruption before the filing of the application
for divorce; Insanity
if: the insane spouse has been confined in a mental
institution, hospital, or other similar institution
for at least 3 years before the filing of the
application for divorce; the
court determines from the testimony of at least
2 physicians who are competent in psychiatry that
the insanity is incurable and there is no hope
of recovery; and 1
of the parties has been a resident of this State
for at least 2 years before the filing of the
application for divorce;
Cruelty of treatment
toward the complaining party or a minor child
of the complaining party, if there is no reasonable
expectation of reconciliation; or 8. Excessively
vicious conduct toward the complaining party or
a minor child of the complaining party, if there
is no reasonable expectation of reconciliation.
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Marriage
Annulment
Marital Annulment
A marriage
annulment in Maryland is a court decree voiding
or invalidating the marriage as if it never occurred.
Marriage annulments (sometimes referred to as
a marital annulment) in Maryland require a greater
degree of "proof" than do fault divorces
or petitions for legal separation. Acceptable
grounds for annulments in Maryland courts include: |
Consanguinity-Incest,
a marriage with a blood relation like parent,
child, stepchild, grandparent, grandchild, aunt,
nephew, uncle or niece; Bigamy- a prohibition
from marrying a person already married; Impotency-
your spouse is unable to meet your physical and
sexual needs; Mental Disability- your spouse has
some kind of mental disability both temporary
and permanent and Duress- if you have been forced
into a marriage, you may petition for an annulment.
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Marriage
Counseling/
Mediation
The court can require the
parties to seek counseling for themselves or for
a child of the parties under such terms and conditions
that the court considers appropriate if: either
party makes a motion for counseling in an effort
to improve conditions of their marriage; a
party, the child of the parties, the child's guardian
ad litem or court appointed special advocate,
or the court makes a motion for counseling for
the child, or
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the
court makes a motion for counseling for parties
who are the parents of a child less than eighteen
(18) years of age.
Joint counseling. The
court may not require joint counseling of the
parties: 1. without
the consent of both parties; or 2. if
there is evidence that the other party has demonstrated
a pattern of domestic or family violence against
a family or household member.
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Legal
Separation/
Marital Separation
In Maryland, if a couple
are living separate lives, are not having sexual
relations and are not sleeping under the same
roof (in the same residence), then they are separated.
A formal legal separation (sometimes referred
to as a marital separation) is not necessary in
Maryland to have a couple considered separate.
Couples |
are wise
to put together and agree upon a separation agreement
that settles all of their marital property rights,
alimony claims, and other issues. A separation
or "legal separation" is usually sought
by one of the parties that wants to terminate
the relationship but wishes that the marital status
not be interrupted for religious or health care
insurance coverage reasons.
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Waiting
Period
The parties may be required
to participate in good faith in reconciliation
efforts prescribed by the court. No waiting period
exists.
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Divorce
Settlement
Do you want to fashion your
own divorce settlement? If the answer is yes,
Maryland affords you the opportunity to come to
a divorce settlement with your spouse, or the
court will impose its own divorce settlement of
the marital assets. The court will divide those
marital assets in an equitable manner. It will
determine which property is marital property,
determine the value of the marital property, and
may transfer ownership of an interest in property,
grant a monetary award, or both, as an adjustment
of the equities and rights of the parties concerning
marital property, whether or not alimony is awarded.
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The
court may transfer ownership of an interest in:
A pension, retirement, profit sharing, or deferred
compensation plan, from one party to either or
both parties; and subject to the consent of any
lien holders, family use personal property, from
one or both parties to either or both parties.
Did you come into this marriage
owning a house? Concerned about the equity in
that house that you brought into the marriage?
Worried a pre-marital asset may end up in the
divorce settlement? Here's how it works: What
you brought into the marriage is usually all yours.
However, any appreciation of the house or the
property value is normally treated as a "marital
asset", meaning that you will likely forfeit
a third to a half of that appreciation to your
spouse in the divorce.
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Residency
Requirements
If the grounds for the
divorce occurred outside of this State, a party
may not apply for a divorce unless one of the
parties has resided in this State for at least
one year before the application is filed.
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