Family Law Update
Non-modifiable
Alimony Terminates on Remarriage
February 27, 2003
The Court of Appeals of Maryland has held that unless a
separation agreement contains a clear and express provision
to the contrary, the obligation to pay alimony terminates on
the remarriage of the recipient spouse.
[Read more]
Jurisdiction in
Child Visitation Dispute
January 14, 2003
The Court of Special Appeals of Maryland
was recently asked to determine which state had jurisdiction
over a visitation dispute between a Maryland mother and an
Illinois grandfather. The grandfather was originally given
visitation by an order of the Illinois court with the
consent of the mother.
[Read more]
Denial of
Permanent Alimony Must be Explained by Trial Judge
January 2, 2003
The Court of Special Appeals of Maryland
remanded a case to the trial court with instructions for
the judge to explain why he had denied permanent alimony.
[Read more]
Ex-spouse
Entitled to Share in Post-Divorce
Increase in
Value of Pension
June 6, 2002
The
Court of Special Appeals ruled that a Baltimore County woman
is entitled to share in the substantial increase in the
value of her ex-husband’s pension that accrued between the
date of the divorce and his retirement 18 months later.
[Read more]
Divorce
Court “Reserves” Ruling on Alimony, “Imputes” Income to
Husband
May 21, 2002
In Durkee v. Durkee, the Court of Special Appeals
reviewed the circumstances under which a court granting a
divorce may reserve ruling on the issue of alimony, and the
factors that permit the court to “impute” income to a
spouse.
[Read more]
Court of
Appeals Denies Review in Potts v. Potts.
May 20, 2002
The Court of Appeals has denied
Petitions for Certiorari in Potts v. Potts, which, as
previously reported in Family Law Update, dealt with pension
survivor benefits.
[Read more]
Court of Appeals
Reverses Ruling Terminating Parental Rights of Father With
Limited Intellectual Ability
May 17, 2002
A divided Court of Appeals has
reversed a trial court's
ruling that would have terminated the parental rights of a
father who had limited intellectual abilities, commenting
that child rearing rights are fundamental constitutional
rights that
"can
only be completely terminated upon the clearest and most
convincing evidence that the parent, however poor,
uneducated, or disabled, cannot and will not, even with
proper assistance, be able to sufficiently parent his
children in the reasonable future."
[Read more]
Husband is Too
Slow in Challenging Acceleration Clause in Divorce Judgment
May 8, 2002
The Court of Special Appeals
ruled that the Circuit Court for Baltimore County erred when
it granted the request of Edwin Hale to revised his divorce
decree twelve years after the judgment became final.
[Read more]
Court Rejects
Husband's "Tortured" Construction of Separation Agreement
Regarding Alimony
May 8, 2002
The Court of
Special Appeals of Maryland ruled that a husband who had
agreed that his obligation to pay alimony for a term of
years was “non-modifiable” was not relieved of that
obligation by the wife’s remarriage.
[Read
more]
Unemployed
Father Held Not to Have Voluntarily Impoverished Himself.
May 8, 2002
The Court of Special Appeals of
Maryland held that a father’s unemployment was not
voluntary, and that the trial court had consequently been
wrong to impute additional income to the father for purposes
of calculating child support.
[Read more]
Parents Disagree
on Child’s Surname
February 7, 2002
When a mother and father
cannot agree upon the last name to be used by their child,
the court will seek to divine the best interest of the child
in resolving the dispute.
[Read more]
Pension Survivor
Benefits are Marital Property Separate and Distinct From
Pension
February 7, 2002
In a divorce action, the court
has the power to divide pension benefits and direct payment
to someone other than the plan beneficiary. The benefits to
the employee spouse are divided with a share paid to the
non-employee/former spouse. In a case handled by Warfield
Meredith & Darrah, the Court of Special Appeals reviewed
claims related to survivor benefits.
[Read more]
DNA test nullifies child support arrearage
January 25, 2002
After a DNA test proved conclusively that
Nicholas Walter was not the biological father of a child,
the Court of Appeals ruled that any outstanding child
support arrearage was discharged.
[Read More]
Assertion of Fifth Amendment
January 16, 2002
Although a court is permitted to draw an adverse inference if a spouse asserts the Fifth Amendment in
refusing to answer whether tax returns have been filed, that inference alone is not sufficient evidence to support findings of voluntary impoverishment.
[Read more] |
