Maryland Divorce Tips

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A divorce case gives rise to many challenges and couples find it difficult to face these challenges. They look for support from friends and family, and try to understand the divorce laws in their state. People who are filing for a divorce case in Maryland, must be aware of the Maryland divorce laws. But understanding the divorce laws can at times, be a daunting task. So, you need some Maryland divorce tips that will help you to approach the court proceedings in a convenient way. A careful study of these simple tips will help you do this.

Basic Maryland Divorce Tips:

• For filing a case, a couple must meet residential requirements as specified by the Maryland court. A couple married or residing in Maryland at least for a period of 1 year is eligible to go for a divorce case. Sometimes, the duration may be extended to 2 years depending on the grounds of divorce.

• Grounds for divorce accepted by Maryland Family Law are:
  • Adultery
  • Voluntary separation or desertion for at least 1 year
  • If a spouse is admitted in a mental hospital on account of insanity for a period of 3 years
  • Imprisonment for a period of at least 3 years and 1 year already served
  • Bad conduct like physical or sexual abuse by one spouse towards the other spouse or a minor child with no chance of reconciliation between the two partners.

  Any of these grounds must be proved in the case through testimony and proper evidence.

• Maryland divorce case also put emphasis on child custody and child support. With the exclusion of cases of shared physical custody, in other cases every parent's child support obligation is calculated by the addition of every parent's respective share of basic child support obligation, work related child care expenditure, extraordinary medical expenses and additional expenditure.

• The court may issue orders or an agreement may be made between the partners regarding the following expenditure incurred on behalf of a child:
  • Transportation of child between the residences of the parents
  • Attending a special or private elementary or secondary school to fulfill the specific educational requirements of the child

  These expenditures are distributed between the parents in ratio of their adjusted actual incomes.

• If there are any extraordinary medical expenses due to the child, these are added to the basic child support obligation. These expenses are distributed amongst the parents in ratio of their adjusted actual incomes.

• For the following types of parents, a determination of potential income is not done:
  • The parent is not able to work due to mental or physical disability
  • The parent has a child, who is aged less than 2 years, for whom the parents are severally and jointly responsible

• The amount of maintenance or spousal support is regarded as the actual income of the recipient of maintenance or spousal support. This amount is deducted from the gross income of the payer as per Section 12-201(c)(2). After this addition and subtraction is done, then the court proceeds further to determine the amount of child support.

• The documentation of actual income comprises of the following:
  • Pay Stubs
  • Employer statements otherwise admissible under the rules of evidence
  • If self employed, then, the receipts and expenses
  • Copies of each parent's 3 most recent federal tax returns
  • If a self employed parent has experienced a raise or drop in income of 20 percent or more in a 1 year span within the past 3 years, the court then demands copies of federal tax returns of the 5 most recent years

• Shared physical custody implies that both parents contribute to the expenditure of the child/ children in addition to the payment of child support and each parent retains the child/ children overnight for more than 35 percent of the year.

• Adjusted actual income is calculated in the following manner. The below mentioned amounts are subtracted from the actual income:
  • The amount of health insurance coverage for a child for whom the parents are severally and jointly responsible
  • Amount of alimony or maintenance that has been actually paid, except as mentioned in 12-204(a)(2)
  • Pre-existing reasonable child support obligations that have been paid

• Depending on the various conditions in the case, the court regards the following items as actual income:
  • Prizes
  • Gifts
  • Capital Gains
  • Severance Pay

• Benefits received from means-tested public assistance programs like those mentioned below are not included in actual income:
  • Housing assistance
  • Medical assistance
  • Food stamps
  • Supplemental security income
  • Temporary cash assistance

While going through the divorce process, the mental agony makes couples so tired that they tend to take wrong decisions that can ruin their life post-divorce. To protect yourself from this, you must follow the Maryland divorce tips and act accordingly.

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