Maryland Divorce Lawyer Blog

Case Summary: Client to be paid rehabilitative alimony even though husband was not presently working

September 19, 2013 | by Anthony A. Fatemi, LLC

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.

Limited Divorce in Maryland

September 17, 2013 | by Anthony A. Fatemi, LLC

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

When is Indefinite Alimony Appropriate in Maryland?

September 12, 2013 | by Anthony A. Fatemi, LLC

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

Can a Maryland Judge Transfer a Marital Home to One of the Parties?

September 2, 2013 | by Anthony A. Fatemi, LLC

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

Child Abuse Charges in Maryland

August 21, 2013 | by Anthony A. Fatemi, LLC

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

Maryland Appellate Court Invites Attorney General to Explain Policy in Custody Case

August 9, 2013 | by Anthony A. Fatemi, LLC

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

Terminating Parental Rights in Maryland

August 6, 2013 | by Anthony A. Fatemi, LLC

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

When is annulment permissible in Maryland?

July 24, 2013 | by Anthony A. Fatemi, LLC

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

When May a Child Custody Arrangement Be Modified in Maryland?

July 23, 2013 | by Anthony A. Fatemi, LLC

Child custody arrangements can be difficult under the best of circumstances, but when one parent’s circumstances change, arrangements that may have been appropriate just after the marriage or separation may no longer be suitable. In Maryland, the circuit court may modify a custody order when a parent’s circumstances change. What circumstances warrant a modification?

A two-step process is used to determine whether it is appropriate to modify a custody arrangement. First, is there a material change? By “material change,” the court means is there a change that affects the child’s welfare If so, the court must ask, what are the best interests of the child just as it did during the first custody hearing.

One material change that has occurred in some cases is the mental well-being of a parent. A parent with a major psychiatric condition may face more challenges parenting with the level of care than a parent who does not. Of course, since around 1 in 5 Americans have a diagnosed psychiatric condition, there are many parents with psychiatric conditions who need no intervention. There are, however, some who may be erratic in how they interact with their child and those cases require special attention and understanding from attorneys and judges. Continue reading

Case Summary: Client’s Wife successfully located and served in Bangkok, Thailand

July 19, 2013 | by Anthony A. Fatemi, LLC

Recently our office was retained by a busy professional who had been separated from his wife for several years. After the separation, he had continued to reside in Maryland, but his wife had returned to Thailand to live permanently. By the time he came to our office, the client had accepted that there was no hope of reconciliation and he wanted help filing for an absolute divorce on the basis of a one year separation.

Serving a Party who is residing outside of the United States can be tricky. If not accomplished in the proper manner, it’s not only money that’s wasted, but also months and months of valuable time. Our knowledgeable family law attorneys have extensive experience successfully serving Parties in countries all over the world and have spared countless clients the headache of attempting this on their own.

The first step in serving a Party who resides overseas is to thoroughly research the rules governing proper service in that country. In Maryland, if the person being served resides outside of the state, service is proper if done by any method allowed under the Maryland Rules or by any method that is considered proper by the foreign jurisdiction.