Learn How to File for a Maryland Divorce and What to Expect in Court for Your Hearing

Residents of the State of Maryland must be extra careful while filing a divorce lawsuit against their respective spouses. The court scheduled to hear the case must actually have the legal power of presiding over the case in that particular county. If you are initiating your divorce file in a court beyond the jurisdiction of the area, your divorce petition runs the risk of being cancelled at an early juncture.

You have the responsibility of citing specific grounds which have compelled you to move the legal court to get a divorce from your husband/wife. These grounds for setting a Maryland divorce lawsuit into motion vary over a wide range. Some of the most pertinent grounds for asking for the divorce are as follows:

•    Desertion (without any hope of reconciling with your partner within the foreseeable future)
•    Detected cases of adultery or criminal actions by your spouse
•    Abusive behavior towards either you or your minor child
•    Impotency
•    Incest
•    Felony

You and your estranged wife/husband can also mutually agree to be separated from each other. In order to get a divorce in the State of Maryland, the grounds that are presented in the court have to be substantiated with adequate evidence. If your partner is medically detected to have permanent mental problems, you can also seek divorce from him/her on that count.

In order to increase your familiarity with legal procedures for getting a divorce at the court, you need to be aware of certain terminologies in this context. If you are the one who has initiated the divorce motion, you are the plaintiff of the case, while your partner (who receives a copy of the divorce petition from the court) is named the respondent. The court that will hear the MD divorce cases is called the Circuit Court.

Divorce in Maryland – The Paperwork

The Maryland Circuit Court would give you a certain case number that refers to your petition for seeking divorce. You then at all times need to keep with you the Bill of Divorce as well as the Decree of Divorce document.

Apart from these two extremely important divorce documents, the Financial Statement, the document for Marital Settlement, as well as the Complaint-related Service document are some of the papers that can be required for the court proceedings at any point in time.

The court in Maryland that would be handling your divorce case appoints a Court Clerk. This clerk, together with his/her assistants, are responsible for taking care of the numerous and often rather intricate papers of your divorce case. In case you or your spouse need to do any further paperwork to further the case, that information will also be conveyed to you by the office of the clerk.

How is Property Divided in a Divorce Case in the State?

The legal authorities in Maryland hold the sole discretionary power in deciding what portion of the property should accrue to you and what portion to your spouse, once the two of you are formally separated.

The prime focus in this context is attaining a fair and justifiable division of the assets rather than an equal one. Hence, it can be said that, ‘equitable distribution of marital properties’ is what the divorce authorities in Maryland emphasize.

While determining the relative shares of you and your spouse over the marital property, the current economic status of both the spouses are checked by the court. In addition, the actual value of the property items, together with the individual contributory shares to the properties is also considered before a decision is arrived at.

Alimony Regulations in Maryland

The specific circumstances of your particular divorce case actually determines whether any arrangements are required for alimony payments. There are two ways of resolving such alimony-related disputes. You can sit down with your partner and settle the issue out of court. Alternatively, the two of you can decide to accept whatever the court’s ruling might be on that matter, and take it as binding.

The alimony that is granted to you (or your partner, as the case may be) can either be of a temporary nature or a permanent one. For example, if your spouse has severe financial problems, suffers from disabilities, and has little chance of earning enough to support him/herself in future, (s)he is granted  permanent alimony. Broadly speaking, too big a discrepancy between the financial status of estranged couples call for alimony arrangements.

In cases where the divorce court of Maryland grants an absolute divorce to you and your spouse, either of you can seek special permissions to revert back to using your maiden name. However, the court has to be convinced that such requests are made only for purposes of legalized usage.

Children and Divorce

Custodial rights of any child that you and your wife/husband might have out of your marriage are another matter that is closely dealt with by the Maryland court. Either you or your spouse may get sole custody rights of your child, while a joint custody arrangement is also possible. The legal arrangements are such that the interests of the child are in no way hampered by your separation with your spouse.