Family Law
What legal areas are addressed in Family Law?
Family Law encompasses a broad scope of legal areas which include the following:
- Divorce
- Child Support
- Child Custody
- Visitation
- Alimony or Spousal Support
- Adoption
- Pre-Nuptial Agreements
- Post-Nuptial Agreements
- Separation
- Property Division
- Post Decree Modification
- Paternity
- Name Changes
- Grandparent Rights
- Domestic Violence Protection
What are child support guidelines in Maryland?
Using parents’ actual income as guidelines for calculating child support, the following is taken into consideration in adjusting the amounts:
- Pre-existing child support paid
- Health insurance premiums that include the child
- Alimony deducted from the party paying and added to the recipient
Actual income includes the following income sources:
- Salaries
- Wages
- Commissions
- Bonuses
- Dividend income
- Pension income
- Interest income
- Trust income
- Annuity income
- Social Security benefits
- Worker’s compensation benefits
- Unemployment insurance benefits
- Disability insurance benefits
- Alimony received
- Self-employment income
- Overtime pay
How do the courts in Maryland determine child custody?
Decisions the courts render for child custody depend on what are called “Best Interests of the Child Standard.” The court weighs the following factors when determining child custody:
- Who is the primary care-giver
- Physical and psychological fitness of the parents
- Character and reputation of the parents
- Existing custody agreement
- Ability to maintain family relationships
- Child preference (depending on child’s age)
- Material opportunity based on financial resources
- Age, health, and gender of the child
- Parent’s residences and opportunities for visitation
- Length of parents’ separation
- Prior abandonment or surrender of custody
- Religious views (as affecting the well-being of the child)
- Domestic abuse or violence
What factors do the Maryland Courts use to arrive at property division?
As an equitable distribution state, Maryland bases property division on the following factors:
- The value of all property interests
- Economic circumstances
- Duration of marriage
- Age of spouses
- Mental & physical condition
- When and how property was acquired
- Efforts in acquiring property
- Circumstances contributing to estrangement/separation/divorce
- Contributions to the family – monetary and non-monetary
If you are seeking legal counsel regarding family law, please call our office at 301-262-5500 to arrange a consultation.
When does a spouse have to pay alimony?
Alimony is based on the resources and needs of the spouses involved. It is rare for a man to receive alimony in Maryland, but legally, either spouse can receive alimony. Maryland recognizes three types of alimony, one which is temporary, one which is rehabilitative, and one which is indefinite. Temporary alimony, called pendente lite is spousal support that is paid during the period when divorce is being litigated. Rehabilitative alimony is awarded after divorce and is paid until the spouse has become self-supportive and no longer needs to receive it. However, indefinite alimony may be ongoing and is paid under circumstances where the ex-spouse cannot become self-sufficient, such as spouses with disabilities.
If you are seeking counsel, please call our office at 301-262-5500. We will be happy to arrange a consultation to discuss your concerns regarding family law.
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