Blogs from 2016

Everyone knows that divorce can be expensive. Many people are tempted to reduce that expense by representing themselves in a divorce. In certain circumstances, such as a very short-term marriage in which there are no children and no property to divide, that can work out. Much more often though, representing yourself is a bad idea. Sometimes, it's a disastrous one.

Your divorce is a life-changing event. How much it changes your life, and whether the change is positive or negative, depends heavily on your lawyer. It's important to look at your attorney's fees not as an ordinary expense, but as an investment in your own future. Not only can a good attorney save you money in the long run by getting you a better property settlement or more favorable support terms, your attorney can also save you stress, expedite your divorce and help you divorce on better terms with your ex. This is critical if you need to co-parent.

It's never a bad idea to have an experienced divorce attorney, but here are some situations in which you absolutely need one.

You Need Representation in Your Divorce if You Have Children

If the custody, parenting time, or support of children is at issue, you need a highly-qualified Maryland divorce attorney. Even when divorces begin amicably, they can go south quickly as partners disagree about their children's future. The more contentious the divorce becomes, the more bitter and expensive it becomes.

A divorce attorney will help you negotiate a custody arrangement and parenting time schedule that is beneficial to your children and right for you. These issues are highly emotional and can be difficult to resolve without the help of an experienced, objective advocate, especially if the other party digs in their heels. A divorce attorney will also make sure that you are not receiving too little, or paying too much, child support based on the facts of your case. That alone could save you a significant amount every month for years.

You Need Representation in Your Divorce if You May Need (or Expect to Pay) Spousal Support

The purpose of alimony, also known as spousal support, is generally to help the recipient until he or she has the ability to become self-supporting. Sometimes, in circumstances such as a long-term marriage where one spouse will likely never be able to become self-supporting, spousal support may be awarded indefinitely.

Unlike child support, which is determined according to statutory guidelines, spousal support is agreed on between the parties or awarded by a judge based on largely subjective factors. For this reason, an attorney who is an experienced negotiator and litigator can move the needle quite a bit when it comes to whether, and how much, you pay or receive in spousal support.

You Need Representation in Your Divorce if You Have Marital Assets

In Maryland, marital property is to be divided equitably. An equitable division means fair under the circumstances, but often does not mean exactly equal. An attorney's advocacy can make a difference to the percentage of property you receive. If you and your spouse have assets, especially if they are extensive or complex (like a family business), or if you believe your spouse may be hiding assets, you need a lawyer.

A Maryland divorce attorney will help you identify all marital and separate assets (some assets, like those acquired before the marriage and not commingled with marital assets are not subject to division). Your lawyer will help you negotiate a division of assets that's equitable. He or she will advocate for you to get what you want, but will also help you avoid unnecessary legal expense by helping you understand when fighting over something would cost more than it's worth.

You Need Representation in Your Divorce if Your Spouse Has an Attorney

Some people believe they can save money in their divorce if they let their spouse hire an attorney to "do all the legal work," and then they can just sign on the dotted line. The spouse may encourage this belief. It's possible that your spouse is honorable and wouldn't cheat you, but how much are you willing to bet on that?

Attorneys are bound by ethics rules that require them to act in their client's best interests. While your spouse's attorney shouldn't act unethically, they are not obligated to protect your best interests, especially if those conflict with their client's. The only way to make sure your divorce settlement is aboveboard and fair to you is to have your own attorney review it, or better yet, to help negotiate and draft it.

Of course, having the right attorney is as important as having an attorney in the first place. The right attorney is one who will advocate strongly for your best interests and help you work toward a successful resolution, while not doing anything to unnecessarily increase the cost of your case.

If you are considering filing for divorce, or have been served with divorce papers, contact the Law Office of Shelly M. Ingram, LLC. We welcome the opportunity to schedule an office consultation to discuss the facts of your case and explain how an attorney's representation can benefit you.

What makes a parent a parent? The question is not as simple as it sounds. Most of the time a parent-child relationship is determined by biology, but we all know biological parents who don't act like parents, and adoptive parents or stepparents with no biological relationship to their child who do.

What happens, though, when there is neither a biological relationship nor a legal (adoptive) relationship between a child and someone who acts as a parent? Does that person have any rights if the child's legal parent decides to withhold access to the child?

This is a scenario that arises in the case of same-sex couples who break up, if one of the partners has given birth to a child who is not biologically related to the other partner. However, it happens even more commonly in a situation where a grandparent or stepparent has been actively involved in raising a child.

Conover v. Conover: A Change in Maryland Law

A recent case in the Maryland Court of Appeals, Conover v. Conover, addressed the issue of what right a third party who had served in a parental capacity should have to contest custody or visitation decisions. In Maryland, a biological parent has a constitutionally-protected interest in the care and control of her child. Custody determinations are intended to serve the best interests of the child. A mother's right to control, and a child's best interests, can conflict, and the law must somehow accommodate both.

Prior to Conover, Maryland case law dictated that in order to contest custody, a third party would have to show parental unfitness on the part of the biological parent, or some sort of exceptional circumstances. Even if a person had been a de facto parent—acting as a parent for all practical purposes—they had no special legal right to challenge custody or visitation. The de facto parent status was not legally recognized.

Conover involved a lesbian couple in which one partner was artificially inseminated while the couple was together, but prior to their marriage. Within a year after their divorce, Brittany, the biological mother, began denying Michelle access to their child, Jaxon, whom Michelle had never legally adopted.

The Conover court reversed previous case law, ruling unanimously that an adult who is considered a de facto parent is in a position to contest custody or visitation decisions and need not first prove that the biological parent is unfit, or exceptional circumstances. This applies to grandparents who meet the criteria for de facto parents, as well as stepparents who have been acting in this capacity.

What Defines a De Facto Parent?

In giving de facto parents standing to contest custody decisions, the Court of Appeals also addressed the question of how a de facto parent is defined. They chose to adopt a four pronged test set forth in another case by the Wisconsin Supreme Court:

(1) that the biological or adoptive parent consented to, and fostered, the petitioner's formation and establishment of a parent-like relationship with the child; (2) that the petitioner and the child lived together in the same household; (3) that the petitioner assumed obligations of parenthood by taking significant responsibility for the child’s care, education and development, including contributing towards the child’s support, without expectation of financial compensation; and (4) that the petitioner has been in a parental role for a length of time sufficient to have established with the child a bonded, dependent relationship parental in nature.

These factors require a biological parent to have been an active agent in fostering the relationship between the de facto parent and the child, and set a high enough bar that other parties in the child's life cannot easily qualify for de facto parent status. Grandparents who are raising, or helping to raise, their grandchildren, may meet this test. So might stepparents who have treated a stepchild as their own.

If you are interested in pursuing custody or visitation of grandchildren or stepchildren you've been involved in raising and wonder how this change in Maryland law may affect you, contact the Law Office of Shelly M. Ingram, LLC. We look forward to speaking with you.

If you are seeking a divorce in Maryland, you might think that you and your spouse are in the best position to tell the court whether you have valid grounds for divorce. It might surprise you to learn that until very recently, couples were often required to have a corroborating witness testify as to whether they had lived separate and apart for twelve months.

This twelve-month separation allows couples with no minor children and no written agreement to qualify for an uncontested divorce in Maryland if they do not qualify for divorce on other fault grounds. The lengthy separation is intended to keep couples from divorcing without careful consideration. If the couple spent so much as one night together or resumes marital relations, the clock would start all over again, and they would need to live apart for another twelve months,

Because courts could not, by law, accept only the testimony of the husband and wife as to the length and completeness of their separation, a third party (or some other type of evidence) was required to corroborate, or confirm, their testimony. If you are asking yourself right now, "How could the witness know with certainty that the couple never spent a night together during their separation?" you're not alone. That was one of the problems with the law, which has been amended effective October 1, 2016.

The Problem with Requiring Corroborating Witnesses in Maryland Divorce

In addition to the obvious problem of a witness not having the opportunity to provide constant surveillance to one or both parties, there were other issues with requiring corroboration. Chief among these is...who will act as the witness?

One of the things corroborating witnesses were often asked to testify about was their knowledge of whether the divorcing couple had had marital relations within the previous twelve months. As you can imagine, asking someone to serve as a witness about such personal issues is tremendously uncomfortable for most people. Often, the witness in question would be a parent, sibling, neighbor or friend of one of the divorcing parties—someone who would probably prefer not to think, much less talk about, such private matters.

People might be willing to endure some awkwardness if it served a reasonable purpose. Perhaps the biggest knock on the requirement of a corroborating witness for Maryland divorces is that it did not necessarily do what it was intended to: assure that couples had been truly separated for twelve months. As mentioned, witnesses might testify regarding facts they couldn't know with certainty, or they might deliberately testify to a separation in order to help a friend or family member get out of a marriage sooner. It would be very difficult for a court to know if a witness were telling the truth on this issue if no one contradicted the witness' testimony.

Change in Maryland Divorce Law Effective October 1, 2016

Effective October 1, 2016, parties to a Maryland divorce will no longer need to produce a witness to testify to the length of their separation. The requirement of the twelve-month separation is still in effect, but the amended law means that a third-party witness will no longer be required to testify to it. Although some attorneys fear eliminating this requirement will make it too easy for couples to divorce, most agree that the change is a long-overdue change that simplifies an already difficult and stressful process.

To learn more about recent changes in the Maryland divorce law and how it may apply to you, contact the Law Office of Shelly M. Ingram, LLC. We look forward to speaking with you.