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United States District Court for the District of Maryland
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Bar Association of Montgomery County, Maryland

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Maryland divorces can be very stressful, having consequences for extended families, including grandparents. A 26-year study released last year found that the rate of divorce may depend at least partly on the strength of the relationship with one’s in-laws. The study found that a husband who has a close relationship with his wife’s parents has a risk of divorce that is decreased by 20 percent. On the other hand a wife with a close relationship to her husband’s parents has an increased risk of divorce.

The study conducted by Terri Orbuch, a research psychologist at the University of Michigan, looked at the relationships of 373 couples in their first year of marriage in 1986 and followed up with them. Orbuch explained that this study could be explained by the perceptions of husbands and wives. Women valued their close relationship to the in-laws, but saw them as interfering, whereas men did not take their in-laws actions as personally. Conversely, women felt taken care of when a husband made an effort to get along with her parents.

When a divorce happens, it may have an effect on how often grandparents visit with their grandchildren. In Maryland, since 2000, a grandparent seeking visitation must show (1) that there is parental unfitness or circumstances that show a detriment to the child without the grandparent’s visit, and (2) that visitation is in the child’s best interest. This is a tougher standard than many other states. Continue reading

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For many years, a difficulty in Maryland family court has been figuring out a workable system of visitation for parents when one parent moves out of state. Many families face this challenge when one parent gets a job out of state. Since the rise of video conferencing technologies and electronic communication, a common trend in other states has been judge-approved “virtual visitation.” Virtual visitation is essentially cyber-parenting in which a non-custodial parent uses personal video conference, a video phone or a webcam to visit with a child.

This type of visitation is used as a supplement to in-person visitation over holidays and the summer break, but is not a replacement for those real visits. However, a non-custody parent can virtually read a child a story or talk about his or her daily adventures or disappointments, thereby strengthening their relationship.

The concept of virtual visitation was first codified in the state of Utah and next to follow was Wisconsin. The latter encourages courts to use the availability of electronic communication as a factor in decisions regarding custody and parenting time. Virtual visitation has been codified in at least six states. Many other states are revising their legislation to incorporate virtual visitation.

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Our office was retained to assist with a divorce matter in Baltimore County.  The client was older, in her sixties, and made her living working with children on their religious studies.  Although she loved teaching her students, due to serious health problems, she was forced to retire.   Her only source of income was the small disability check she received each month.  Since the separation she had received no support from her husband.

On the other hand, her husband had been earning a substantial yearly income.  He had been employed by this same company for a number of years and earned significant benefits in addition to his income.   The client actually helped her husband secure this job after he obtained a two year conditional legal permanent resident card (also known as a conditional green card) on the basis of their marriage.

However, shortly after filing for divorce, the husband was laid off because he no longer had a valid immigration status and work authorization.  Instead of seeking assistance from qualified immigration attorney like the attorneys in our office, the husband attempted to apply for citizenship on his own before he was eligible.   Believing it was unnecessary, he never filed to remove the condition from his green card.  Upon learning he no longer had a valid immigration status, the employer had no choice but to lay the husband off.

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What is “limited divorce” in Maryland? The state recognizes both “limited” and “absolute” divorce. The latter is a true divorce. The former is a legal separation that may be pending the absolute divorce judgment. There are only certain issues in a limited divorce that a court can rule upon. Among these are custody, access to children, child support, how the family home is used and possessed, alimony and attorneys’ fees. Unlike absolute divorce, limited divorce does not deal with distribution of property.

Maryland courts grant a limited divorce for a no-fault voluntary separation that lasts less than a year. It also grants a limited divorce on the grounds of: extreme cruelty towards a spouse or child, excessively vicious conduct to a spouse where minor children exist, and a desertion shorter than 1 year.

As with absolute divorce, you generally may not live with your spouse during a limited divorce, even though you are legally married. The court has ruled, however, that there are certain circumstances in which it may be possible to live with your spouse during a limited divorce. You also may not have sexual relations with your spouse or have sexual relations with somebody else. If you do have sexual relations with somebody else while holding a limited divorce status, you will have committed adultery in the court’s eyes. The court might also require you to try to reconcile with your spouse, unless you both petition the court to say that you don’t want to do so. Continue reading

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In Maryland and elsewhere, disagreements over alimony can be the subject of very heated lawsuits. In a recent case, an appellate court looked at the marriage of a couple that married in 1990. The husband adopted the wife’s son from a prior marriage. At the time of the wedding, the wife was working as a medical secretary and she had a high school diploma and some community college. The couple decided she could resign and take on part time work in order to be a primary caretaker for the son. The wife also managed the finances and lived a fairly active life, in spite of fibromyalgia.

They satisfied a 30 year mortgage in ten years. They didn’t have outstanding debts and lived a comfortable middle class lifestyle. They purchased a second home from the husband’s parents and amassed $200,000 in a joint savings account. They started to have marital problems within the first five years of their marriage. The wife disapproved of the husband’s disciplining of their son.

Because of the wife’s issue with the husband losing his temper and disciplining the son, she and the son moved out of the house and moved in with her parents for a period. She came back to the marital home and they sought counseling from a pastor. Shortly after moving into the second house, the wife woke up with severe back pain, caused by a ruptured disc. This worsened her fibromyalgia. She couldn’t care for her son or the house the way she could before. Continue reading

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Couples who are getting a Maryland divorce often fight over marital property, especially the marital home. Once a court decides what property is marital property (such things as pension, retirement, or a deferred compensation plan) it may transfer ownership in order to adjust the equity of the parties with respect to the marital property. However, a trial court cannot order that the title of a marital home be transferred if the parties have already agreed in a formal agreement that the home is non-marital property.

In a 2010 case, an appellate court considered, among other things, whether a divorce court had the authority to transfer ownership of a jointly owned marital home that the parties had agreed would be non-marital. The couple in the case were a cardiologist and an attorney in their fifties with no children.

The parties filed a joint proposed statement regarding marital and non-marital property. They owned their residence as tenants by the entirety, but listed the property as non-marital on the statement. At trial, the husband did not appear because he was incarcerated for an earlier domestic violence altercation. Meanwhile the wife testified and called the husband abusive, describing how he humiliated her, criticized her, slapped and restrained her freedom of movement. Continue reading

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One of the most difficult situations within Maryland family law is parental child abuse. A 2012 appellate case dealt with the question of a child abuse charge against a father. In the case, the department of social services received a report that a father had held one of his two children by the arm to make sure he finished eating spaghetti with mushrooms.

When the mother, who shared custody with the father, came to pick up the kids, she saw there were bruises on her son’s neck and a scratch under his chin. She took him to a pediatrician who reported the possible abuse to the department of social services. The police investigated and the son told them that the father had grabbed him by the neck and pulled him down.

The investigation led to a social worker finding that indicated child abuse. The father provided a substantially similar account as the son and the mother. Under Maryland law, child abuse is the physical or mental injury of a child by a parent who has care, custody or responsibility for supervising a child such that the child’s health or welfare may be harmed. Continue reading

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During a Maryland divorce, custody of the children can be one of the most heated topics. A custody case from last year illustrates how seriously Maryland takes these cases and the importance of working with an experienced attorney through the process.

A couple was married in Tennessee in 2001 and had two daughters. They separated in 2006 and the children alternated between which parent they lived with. The mother relocated to Jacksonville the next year. In 2008, the mother found out that one of the daughters had been sexually assaulted while in Florida by someone with whom the mother had a personal relationship.

The children went to live with their grandmother in Tennessee and came back to Florida later that year. Shortly thereafter, the mother’s cousin attacked her at her home and murdered someone nearby. The kids went back to Maryland to live with their father and his fiancé for the 2009-10 school year.

The hearing judge decided that the parties had actually agreed to allow the kids to live with the father indefinitely, though the mother insisted it was just for the year. The father filed for divorce and sought sole custody. The mother fabricated stories trying to take the children away from the father, including trying to obtain an order for emergency custody. Continue reading

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What happens when a Maryland child wants to be adopted, but his biological parents are still hoping for reunification? Usually courts assume that continuing a parental relationship and eventual reunification is in the child’s best interests, but there are some circumstances in which it is appropriate to terminate the relationship.

In a recent case, the parent and child had different goals. The child in question was a five-year-old boy with two older siblings. The mother had been granted a protective order against the abusive father, and this prompted an investigation by the department of social services. Meanwhile, the mother expressed numerous paranoid claims to the police and jumped out of a window. She was sent to a psychiatric unit and when asked, claimed that the father and his mother had been trying to poison her. The kids were placed in a shelter.

The child and his siblings were found to be children in need of assistance (“CINA”) and he was separated from the other two when they were all placed in foster care. CINA proceedings happen when a department of social services is called regarding child abuse or neglect. The court must determine whether the allegations are true and determine which of five “permanency plans” is appropriate with reunification being the preferred plan. The court reviews this permanency plan every six months.

The social services department worked hard towards reunification. But the child spent 27 months in foster care (the majority of his life), and he did not progress towards reunification with his parents. Nor did his relatives get actively involved. As a result, the court changed the permanency plan to one of adoption by a non-relative. Continue reading

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Divorce is favored over annulment when ending a marriage in Maryland, but unlike some other states, Maryland divorce laws sometimes present more hurdles. When ending a marriage, it is wise to consult a family law attorney to see whether divorce or annulment is more appropriate for your particular situation. The requirements for divorce and annulment vary from state to state.

An annulment is essentially a decree that renders a marriage null and void. The court is required to hear testimony from the plaintiff (person bringing the annulment proceedings) in open court in order to make a final determination as to whether annulment is proper.

A valid marriage in Maryland is one in which both parties were competent when they got married and both understood and consented to the change in marital status. Maryland requires individuals to apply for a license from the clerk of the county in which they marry. At least one of the partners must provide information about the full names of the couple, their residence, age, degree to which they are related (if any), their marital status and social security number. Occasionally, in spite of these precautions being taken, a couple will get married under circumstances that are different than their perceptions. Continue reading

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