The 2017 legislative session saw only one bill concerning the Mutual Consent ground for divorce. To eliminate the requirement that both parties attend the uncontested divorce hearing. The bill failed. In the 2016 session, there was a failed attempt t…
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Short Answer: Apparently not. This post follows up on my previous post about Maryland’s Failure to Increase the Minimum Age to Marry. I first wondered about this when referred a case for settlement involving a married minor. Could the minor par…
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If the parties have co-guardianship of a minor child, do they have a “child in common” that would exclude them from being eligible for a divorce based on the ground of mutual consent? Short answer: No. Spouses, who have a signed settlemen…
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In two prior posts, I discussed court and private custody evaluations. But a few of the other types of evaluations in contested custody cases are: Psychological Evaluations: A psychological evaluation provides a psychological profile of a parent, bas…
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In contested custody cases, there are many types of evaluations that the court can order or parties can agree to undergo in order to assess the fitness of the parents and the living and decision-making arrangements that suit the best interests of the…
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Co-parenting requires acceptance of and respect for the other parent and the child’s relationship with that parent. Co-parents organically succeed at reinventing what it means to be “family” despite separate households. They share the same beli…
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There has been much ado online recently about successful co-parents. Shared family vacations, shared family photos, shared holiday celebrations…even matching t-shirts. This is the ideal when two parents, despite their differences, co-parent organic…
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Since 2016, there have been multiple failed attempts to pass legislation increasing the minimum age to marry in Maryland. The 2017 Maryland General Assembly Session was no exception. This year saw two. HB484, sought to increase the minimum age from 1…
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This New York Times piece features a parent’s perspective on nesting, 3 years down the road. Nesting involves parents separating, the children remaining in the home, while the parents rotate in and out of the home. In my experience, nesting is…
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A recent article in The Atlantic brings to mind the issues that may require an attorney (and the courts) to think differently about custody cases involving LGBTQ children. There are physical/residential custody implications if a parent and child are…
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