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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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There are child support guidelines that govern how child support is awarded in Maryland. The guidelines require that a trial court determine each parent’s monthly adjusted income.

Before October 1, 2010, the child support would be calculated with the guidelines only if the parents’ monthly income did not equal $10,000 or more when added together. If the parents had more than $10,000 monthly income, the court exercised its discretion. After October 2010, the sum was increased to a $15,000 monthly income.

Under Maryland law, a child who is eighteen and enrolled in secondary school has the right to receive support until one of the follow occurs: (1) he or she graduates, (2) he or she turns 19, (3) he or she is emancipated or (4) he or she marries. While the conditions are relatively clear, a 2012 case considered what the statute means by “secondary school”. Continue reading

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The Court of Special Appeals recently agreed to hear a child custody case and then dismissed the case for being moot. One justice dissented, noting that the case presented an issue that is likely to pop up repeatedly, but this issue will not be able to be reviewed in a timely fashion by the appellate court because of procedural timelines. Even though the dissent is not precedent that can be cited, it is important because it highlights a potential problem in child custody cases that the public needs to have resolved.

In the instant case, the court was asked to decide whether it is appropriate for a circuit court to pursue a termination of parental rights case when a child in need of assistance (CINA) order was issue, but was being appealed. A child in need of assistance is a child that needs intervention (1) because of abuse or neglect or a developmental disorder and (2) because his or her parents, guardian or custodian are not able to give proper care.

In this case, a baby boy was born prematurely. He had severe health problems, including prenatal exposure to HIV, which required him to stay at the hospital. The mother had been diagnosed and hospitalized for multiple psychiatric conditions and had used drugs and alcohol. When the baby was born, she was brought to a psychiatric unit. The baby’s father had a substance abuse problem and was convicted for more than once drug-related crime. Continue reading

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In Guidash v. Tome, the Court of Special Appeals of Maryland ruled on whether a circuit court had erred in its factual findings in a child support case. The case arose from a couple’s 1991 marriage. The couple had two children. By 2001, the marriage was over and the couple entered into a separation and property settlement agreement. The separation agreement gave the parties joint legal and physical custody of the kids such that they lived 3 days with their father and 4 with their mother.

The agreement also permitted the mother to live in the marital home for 10 years, during which time the father was responsible for the mortgage, taxes and insurance. The father kept the kids on his medical insurance policy and paid half their medical expenses. The mother agreed to transfer her interest in the marital home to the husband for $25,000 and waived any interest in his pension for $20,000. The parties agreed there would be no child support because of the decisions made regarding the marital home. The agreement expressly provided a court could not modify this agreement.

Afterward, the husband filed a divorce complaint with the separation agreement attached as an exhibit. The court granted the divorce and incorporated the separation agreement into its judgment. From 2001-2011, the mother and the kids lived in the marital home. The husband abided by the terms of the agreement, paying the requisite sums. Continue reading

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The Maryland Court of Special Appeals recently determined in Dapp v. Dapp that certain retirement benefits may not be assigned or split in a divorce agreement. The case arose from a dispute between a couple who married in 1968. Amtrak employed the husband starting in 1981 and the couple separated about five years later. Two years after the couple separated, the wife was granted a divorce. The judgment of divorce incorporated the couple’s Marital Separation and Property Settlement Agreement.

The Agreement mutually waived alimony and other spousal support, but one paragraph provided that if the wife did not remarry within five years of the divorce, she would be entitled to half of the husband’s pension accrued with Amtrak. The wife did not remarry.

The husband had worked for Amtrak for 88 months before the divorce and 243 months after it. When he retired, he started to receive monthly retirement benefits as required by the Railroad Retirement Act (RRA) of 1974. $1950 of that monthly sum was “Tier 1” benefits. The Tier 1 benefits that the RRA provides are structured to substitute for Social Security benefits. $1163.13 was “Tier II benefits” and supplemental annuity payments. Mr. Dapp did not inform Mrs. Dapp of his retirement when he retired and she did not receive any retirement benefits.

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In a recent case, a Maryland appellate court looked at whether it retained jurisdiction over a custody dispute of a girl who lived all her life in Florida. The case arose from a marriage in 1997. The couple lived in Maryland until the woman became pregnant, at which point, the couple separated. The mother gave birth to her daughter in Florida in 2006. They divorced in 2008, agreeing that the mother would be the primary physical custodian, but the father would be allowed liberal visitation.

The mother raised her daughter in Florida with the help of her parents. In 2011, the mother was detained for shoplifting. The officers found a bottle of hydrocodone on her; it was labeled with a prescription for someone else. The mother was arrested for theft and drug trafficking.

The father decided to take the daughter to Maryland. He filed an emergency motion for custody, in which he stated his belief that the mother was using drugs and would probably take her daughter to Switzerland, where the mother was a citizen. The court granted him sole custody on a temporary basis. Continue reading

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In the case In re Victoria C., the Maryland Court of Special Appeals considered the question of sibling visitation by an adult sibling. The girl in question was born in 1993 and became an adult while the instant case was pending. Her mother passed away and her father married her stepmother in 2005. She has two half-brothers who are small children and an older brother. She lived with her father from birth until her father was accused of abuse, at which point she was sent to live with her mother’s sister in Texas in 2009, for one year before returning.

Upon her return from Texas, George wouldn’t allow his daughter to live with his family. She was taken into the custody of the county’s social services department. The court judged her a child in need of assistance (CINA) in 2010. Continue reading

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In Tshiani v. Tshiani, a Maryland appellate court ruled on the question of whether the trial court was right to recognize a marriage that occurred in the Democratic Republic of Congo, formerly Zaire (hereafter “Congo”). In that case, both the husband and wife were from the Congo.

The wife was 18 and her husband was 35 when they met. They married five months later. However, the husband was not actually present at the marriage because he was on assignment in a different country. His cousin stood in for him at the wedding. They followed the customs of the Congo.

After the wedding, they lived together in Virginia and then Maryland and represented themselves as husband and wife. They bought property in Maryland 1994 and had three kids. They renewed their vows later that year, obtaining a proof of marriage from the Congolese embassy. Continue reading

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Recently, our office assisted a client in drafting and finalizing a prenuptial agreement between him and his fiancée.   While our office has drafted prenuptial agreements and voluntary separation agreements for many of our clients, this client’s situation was a bit unusual.  He needed the agreement negotiated and signed within a few days because he and his fiancée were planning to get married in less than two weeks.

Our client’s family had been encouraging him to speak with an attorney about drafting a prenuptial agreement for several months, but our client waited until just before his wedding to finally seek legal advice.  Once he came in for his initial consultation, our office strongly advised him that his family was right – he should enter into a prenuptial agreement with his fiancée to ensure all his rights were protected if they were to ever divorce.

Our client earned a substantial yearly income working for the government.  Additionally, he owned his own business in Washington DC, had a substantial retirement account, owned several automobiles, and had almost no debt to his name.   In contrast, his fiancée was in the US on a student visa, she was not employed, she had several student loans, and she owned no property other than one automobile which was over a decade old.

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In March 2013, the Maryland Court of Appeals issued an opinion in the divorce and child custody case of Reichert v. Hornbeck that illustrated the broad leeway courts have in making child custody determinations. The case arose out of the rocky romantic relationship that ensued when Jeffrey, a recent law school graduate, met Sarah, who was preparing to go to law school. The couple broke up after three years. They reunited in 2008 and got engaged. By then, Jeffrey had moved up the corporate legal ladder. Sarah had also succeeded professionally, earning about $120,000 a year at a firm.  However, she later left her firm for a new job that paid only $68,340 a year.

Jeffrey and Sarah moved into a three-story rental in Baltimore and got married. During their honeymoon however, they experienced the same kind of conflict they had in the earlier incarnation of their relationship.  These issues continued through the rest of their marriage. Continue reading

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In 2012, Governor O’Malley led a campaign for the legalization of same-sex marriage. This led to the General Assembly passing a law permitting same sex marriage in February 2012. 52.5% of Maryland voters approved the law in a referendum on November 6, 2012. This was the first time marriage rights have been given to same-sex couples through a popular vote. It was a particularly significant change because Maryland was the first state to specifically define marriage as a union between a man and a woman in the early 1970s. The law took effect on January 1, 2013.

In 2007, the court found that the statutory ban on gay marriage was constitutional. However, last year, the Maryland Court of Appeals issued a decision in the case Port v. Cowan, which suggested the tides of opinion were changing.

Port v. Cowan arose when two women, Jessica Port and Virginia Anne Cowan, married in California in 2008 at a time when California recognized domestic same-sex marriages. The couple separated voluntarily for more than a year. About two years later, Port filed for divorce in the Circuit Court for Prince George’s County where she lived then. Cowan did not contest the divorce. Continue reading

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