There is a time for debating and discussing one’s novel beliefs or opinions… and that time is not while attempting to litigate your divorce case. This is one area, among many, where having an experienced Maryland divorce lawyer represent you can be extremely helpful. Your knowledgeable attorney can save you from making the sort of mistakes that, no matter how important, useful, or valuable they may seem to you, are doomed to fail with the court and make you look unserious in the process.
In 2022, spouses H.M. and V.M. negotiated a Marital Settlement Agreement, which a Prince George’s County trial court approved and incorporated into the couple’s 2023 judgment of absolute divorce. One of the agreement’s clauses stated that the ex-spouses would sell the residence after their minor child graduated from high school, splitting any profits generated by the transaction.
After the child graduated in June 2023, the ex-wife was reluctant to sell the home. The ex-husband eventually returned to court to request that the judge appoint a trustee to oversee the sale of the house. The trial court ruled in favor of the husband. The wife took several post-judgment steps, but they were unsuccessful. The reasons for her lack of success are our focus today.
In her post-judgment filing with the trial court, the wife argued that “all court actions are commercial transactions that deprived her of due interest and commercial payment due,” that the court “had not proved that it had jurisdiction over the living women [sic] who is an United States National,” and the court “was not a holder or holder in due course or a real party of interest and therefore had no right of usage of the private special priority estate trust property.”
The trial judge handled the filing as a motion to alter or amend the judgment, which the court denied without holding a hearing. The wife appealed, but her appeal was equally unsuccessful.
If you read the wife’s arguments listed above and thought they made little sense, that is reasonable. Many of the arguments the wife presented were rooted in the “sovereign citizen” movement, a variety of anti-government groups and individuals who believe that existing federal, state, and municipal governments are illegitimate and have no authority over them.
The purpose of this piece is not to analyze or debate the Sovereign Citizen movement. When you are in a divorce case in Maryland, the reality is simple: it does not matter. No trial court and no appellate court is going to rule in your favor based upon your argument that is rooted in Sovereign Citizen beliefs and concepts. Arguing that your trial court or an appellate court lacks jurisdiction over you because it has not proved that it has “jurisdiction over” you as a “United States National” is simply a direct ticket to defeat.
Arguments that Courts Will Never Accept as Valid
As the Appellate Court explained, several of the ex-wife’s “arguments appear to be based on legal theories advanced by the proponents of the ‘sovereign citizen’ movement.” The Appellate Court said those arguments “have not, will not, and cannot be accepted as valid.” That is notably broad, sweeping, and absolute language that appellate courts rarely use.
As a party in any court case or appeal, it is vital to understand a few things. You need to have a sense of what approaches may succeed, which ones are likely to fail, and what arguments are absolute non-starters that judges will not even take remotely seriously. Knowledgeable legal counsel can help immensely in this situation. They can tell you what works, what does not, and what the court will invariably consider to be, no matter how somberly, formally, and politely they say it, utter absurdity.
For the answers you need to your divorce-related questions, reach out to the skilled Maryland absolute divorce attorneys at Anthony A. Fatemi, LLC. Contact us today at 301-519-2801 or use our online form to schedule your consultation and get the skillful representation your case deserves.