“If your guy doesn’t pay his alimony, we’ll file a motion for contempt and you can tell him we’ll be asking for jail time,” said Sobel, who was representing the ex-wife.  He didn’t like the ex-husband’s attorney, Caster, ever since he had yelled at Sobel and hung up on him in another case years ago.  Sobel had a long memory.

“Come on, Sobel,” Castor said.  “The judge is not going to put my guy in jail.  It’s contractual alimony, not court ordered alimony.”

“Whadya mean, Castor?  The Agreement is incorporated into the Divorce Decree.  That makes it a court order.  And your client has failed to comply with it.”

“Well there is no imprisonment for debt in Maryland.  Check the state constitution, Sobel.”

“You check it, Castor.  I’ve got it right here.  Section 398 of Article III says ‘No person shall be imprisoned for debt, but a valid decree of a court of competent jurisdiction or agreement approved by decree of said court for the support of a wife or dependent children or for alimony shall not constitute a debt within the meaning of this section.’

“Sobel, me and my client will, as they say, see you in court.”

“Tell your client to bring his checkbook or a toothbrush, Castor, for when he goes to the slammer.”

A bill has been introduced in the Maryland House of Delegates to extend child support to age 21 if the child is enrolled in college.

A similar bill was defeated last year.

Under current law, a Maryland divorce court cannot order a parent to pay for college, but can enforce an agreement that provides for this.

Do you think the court should make parents pay for their children’s college?

See House Bill # 986.

When I Get It
by Craig Campbell

My ex-wife’s at the door a-knockin’
Lord that woman won’t leave me alone
Same question, where’s my money
Well, honey, you can’t get blood from a stone

When I get it, you get it
Times are tough, get in line and wait
When I get it, you get it
And that’s all you’re gettin’ today, yeah.

Like many people in today’s economy, James Knott’s income decreased from $69,000 to $25,000 a year when he was laid off in October of 1999.  Unfortunately for him, he had agreed by Consent Order to pay monthly child support for his daughter, Mallory, in the amount of $1,316 in his divorce the month before.

With his new income, James had $454 a month left after he paid his child support.  James moved to modify but the trial court upheld the amount.

The Maryland Court of Special Appeals, in  Knott v. Knott, 146 Md. App. 232 (Md. Ct. Spec. App. 2002),  reversed saying that the test was what was in the child’s best interest.  It is usually difficult to convince a court that a decrease in child support is in the child’s best interest, but here the appeals court said:

“The court failed to assess the impact of the payments under the Consent Order on the financial resources of appellant and appellee, or on the needs of Mallory. This was reversible error.  The court should have applied the guidelines because they are presumptively correct as to the appellant’s child support obligation. See Md. Code (1984, 1999 Repl. Vol., 2001 Suppl), § 12-202(a)(2) of the Family Law Article.”

“It is not difficult,” Judge Green said, “for this court to see that requiring appellant to live on $454 per month, while requiring $1,216 per month in support of Mallory, may very well not be in her best interest.”

If you are in the process of divorce or separation, you might be a little down in the dumps for the holidays.  But it’s the season for giving, so we thought we might cheer you up with these twelve free and useful gifts we pulled together from the Internet for you.

1. Free Visitation Schedules and Percentages
2. Free Child Support Calculator
3. Free Alimony Calculator
4. Free Online Financial Calculators
5. Free Interest Calculator for Judgments
6. Free Alimony Recapture Calculator
7. Free New Blog on Coping Strategies for Divorce Emotions
8. Free Notes from the Universe
9. Free Calendar and Messaging for Co-Parenting After Divorce
10. Free Sample Parenting Plan (PDF)
11. Free Divorce Coaching Interactive Program
12. Free Divorce Email Newsletter (Upper Right Corner of This Page)

If you are curious about how the rich and famous settle, TMZ.com has posted the Stipulated Judgment which contains the settlement agreement between Charlie Sheen and Brooke Mueller.  They will have joint legal custody and Brooke will have primary physical custody of their two children.  Charlie will have them on the first, third and fifth weekends of the month from Saturday at 10 AM until Monday at 10 AM.

Charlie will pay Brooke $55,000 a month for child support, plus other expenses, but not less than the child support paid to Denise Richards.

No alimony, but Brooke will get a million dollars for her share of the house, several bank accounts and other assets.  Both agree not to disparage each other in front of the kids.

Following reconciliation of the house and senate bills, the Maryland Legislature has passed HB 500 – Child Support Guidelines Revision.

The bill has a new matrix for child support, which goes into effect for new cases filed on or after October 1, 2010, and it will increase the amount that most non-custodial parents will have to pay.  The new guidelines will go up to $15,000 in combined income instead of the old cap of $10,000.   However, you cannot petition for an increase in old cases just because the new law has passed.  There would have to be some other change in circumstances.

The legislature did not pass two other proposed bills discussed here:

SB 577 – Family Law – Grounds for Absolute Divorce – Time Requirements.  This bill would have shortened the required separation period from one year (voluntary) and two years (involuntary) for no fault divorces to six months and one year respectively.

SB 578 – Family Law – Grounds for Divorce.   This bill would have allowed people to obtain no fault divorces while separated but living in the same house.

Senate Bill

The Senate passed a bill by a vote of 44 to 2 that would increase Maryland Child Support Guidelines for the first time in more than two decades, increase the matrix from a combined gross income of $10,000 to $30,000, effective October 1, 2010, and permit recalculation of past child support awards if the new law would make a substantial difference in payments.

House Bill

On Saturday, the House voted 114 to 25 to pass its own revision to the guidelines.  The differences are that the combine gross income is capped at $15,000, the changes would not take effect until October 1 of 2011 and the new guidelines by themselves would not be a reason to recalculate past child support.

The bills will now go to conference to reconcile these differences.

A Maryland bill to revise the state’s twenty year old Child Support Guidelines has passed in the  Senate by a vote of 43-2, and is up for a vote today in the House Legislative Subcommittee.   A similar bill died in committee last year.

The new guidelines would go up to a combined gross income of $30,000 a month instead of the current level of $10,000 a month.  They would also increase child support payments from the non-custodial parent.

Some lawmakers are asking, however, whether it is a good time to increase child support payments in the middle of a recession.  Since Maryland uses a shared income model, proponents note that the custodial parent is already paying increased costs and the new guidelines would only cause them to be shared more fairly.  The new guidelines would apply to new cases and cases where parents ask the court for a modification.

Read more.

In Greenwich, Connecticut, publishing mogul Peter Brant has filed new pleadings in his divorce from Victoria’s Secret model Stephanie Seymour.

He alleges that she is spending $257,000 per month.  Her clothing bill alone is $50,000 a month.  She must have a big closet.

I can’t feel too sorry for Brant, though.  He is worth about $489 million.

Read more here.