Nelson A. Garcia will present Divorce Legal Seminar in Spanish at the Commission for Women’s Counseling and Career Center in Rockville Maryland on October 13, 2009, from 6:00 to 9:00 pm.  This seminar will help you to learn the different aspects of the process of separation and divorce. You will learn how to choose an attorney, how property is distributed, and how to get a restraining order, in case of domestic violence. How to obtain custody and alimony for your children will also be discussed. At the end of the session, you will have the opportunity to ask questions.  The cost is $30.  Here is the seminar announcement in Spanish.

SUS DERECHOS LEGALES EN EL DIVORCIO:

RESUMEN GENERAL Y TEMAS RELACIONADOS CON LOS HIJOS

Martes, 13 de Octubre, 2009, 6-9 pm

Este seminario, presentado en español, le ayudará a conocer los diferentes aspectos del proceso de separación y divorcio. Se discutirá cómo escoger un abogado, cómo conseguir separación de bienes y la forma de obtener una orden de protección en casos de violencia doméstica. También se discutirá cómo obtener la custodia de sus hijos y asistencia para su manutención. Al cierre de la sesión, habrá oportunidad para preguntas y respuestas.  Costo: $30

Nelson A. García, a family law attorney in the firm of Thyden Gross and Callahan, LLP has volunteered for several years at the Commission for Women as a presenter.  Mr. Garcia also volunteers in free legal clinics at a number of organizations including CASA de Maryland in domestic violence, child custody and divorce matters.  He received his J.D. from Boston College Law School and his B.A. in English and Business co-majors from Florida State University.  He is a member of the Maryland and District of Columbia Bar and is currently Secretary of the Maryland Hispanic Bar Association and a member of its Legislative Committee.

Most people are pretty clear that they want to get divorced by the time they see me.  But I tell them that everything I do is reversible, in case they change their minds.

Once in a while some of them do.  How do you “unfile” a complaint for divorce?

Maryland Rule 6-205 has the answer.  Paragraph (a) says that if your spouse has not filed an answer, you can dismiss a complaint by filing a Notice of Dismissal.  If your spouse has filed an answer, you will need him or her sign a Stipulation of Dismissal.

If you cannot get your spouse to sign, then paragraph (b) requires you to ask the court for an order dismissing the case.

The first dismissal, according to paragraph (c), is without prejudice, meaning you can refile your complaint later, if you change your mind again.

It may not be a good idea to try to increase child support during a recession.  House Bill 1401 which would have increased Maryland Child Support Guidelines, for the first time in 20 years, did not make it out of committee.  The House Judiciary Committee plans do a “summer study” of the bill.

Although same sex couples cannot be married in the District of Columbia, The DC Council has voted to recognize gay marriages performed in other states.  This is a preliminary vote with the final vote expected May 5th.  However, DC laws must be approved by Congress.

“I fully support today’s action and look forward to signing the legislation once the Council takes final action next month,” said DC Mayor Adrian Fenty.

The vote occurred on the same day as Vermont recognized same-sex marriages and a week after Iowa legalized them.

DC already has a domestic partnership law.  A bill to allow same-sex marriages in DC is expected soon.  Virginia and Maryland do not recognize same-sex marriages.

Read more.

In Lee v. Andochick, discussed in “Going Broke on 1.76 Million a Year”, the Maryland Court of Special Appeals reversed a $10,000 a month alimony award because the numbers just didn’t add up.  But the Court also found the trial judge erred in awarding indefinite alimony on the basis of unconscionable disparity.

Section 11-106(c)(2) of the Maryland Family Law Article provides that alimony may be awarded indefinitely if the court finds that even after the party seeking alimony will have made as much progress of  becoming self-supporting as can reasonably be expected, the respective standards of living of the parties will be unconscionably disparate.

Mr. Lee made $1,760,282 and Dr. Andochick made $267,000 in 2006.  But the appeals court said a disparity in income is not the same as a disparity in standards of living.

Dr. Andochick, the court said, did not explain or prove how her standard of living would be unconscionably disparate from Mr.  Lee’s if she did not receive alimony.  The court also said the trial judge did not discuss his analysis of why the respective standards of living of the parties would be unconscionably disparate.  Therefore the case was sent back to the trial judge to make further findings.

Interrogatories are written questions that must be answered under oath.  The number of interrogatories you can ask are limited in the three local jurisdictions.

• Maryland.  Thirty interrogatories.
• Virginia.  Thirty interrogatories.
• District of Columbia.  Forty interrogatories.

Responses are due in writing within a certain time period in compliance with the Court Rules.

• Maryland.  Thirty days from service plus three for mailing.
• Virginia.  Twenty days from service plus three for mailing.
• District of Columbia.  Thirty days from service plus three for mailing.

?Tom Clancy ought to write a book about his divorce.  He would have plenty of material.  The litigation between him and Wanda King, formerly Wanda Clancy until the divorce in 1999,
continues.

In 1992, the Clancy’s formed the Jack Ryan Limited Partnership, to write, sell and publish books and engage in related activities.  The partnership entered into a joint venture in which Tom Clancy’s name was used on a series of books written by another author.  Wanda and Tom agreed to continue the partnership in their Marriage Property Agreement and Tom would be the managing partner.

After the fourteenth book, Clancy withdrew the permission to use of his name.  Wanda sued for breach of contract and asked the court to make her the general partner.  The Circuit Court for Calvert County, Maryland, agreed and also awarded her over $500,000 in attorney fees.  The Maryland Court of Special Appeals affirmed.

But the Maryland Court of Appeals sent the case back for the Circuit Court.  The appeals judges told the court that it must determine whether or not Tom Clancy breached the Marital Property Agreement in order award attorney fees.  It must also decide whether Clancy acted in bad faith in canceling the use of his name to spite his ex wife for the divorce.  The Court quote a Seinfeld episode, in which Jerry tries to return a shirt because he didn’t like the sales clerk.

Bob: You can’t return an item based purely
on spite.
Jerry: Well, so fine then . . . then I don’t want it and then
that’s why I’m returning it.
Bob: Well you already said spite so . . . .
Jerry: But I changed my mind.
Bob: No, you said spite. Too late.

Read the case (PDF).

We used to only have fault grounds for divorce like adultery, desertion and cruelty. Maryland and Virginia have added no fault grounds based on a period of physical separation. DC has done away with fault grounds and gone all the way to no fault grounds.

Maryland has the longest waiting period for a no fault divorce. It is one year if you both agree and two years if one of you does not agree.

Virginia is six months if there are no children and a full agreement, otherwise one year.

D.C. is six months if you both agree, and one year if one of you disagrees.

Here is a chart showing the waiting requirements in all the states. Interestingly, there is no correlation between waiting period and number of divorces. DC still has the lowest divorce rate at 1.7 per thousand people.

If you don’t have fault grounds for divorce in Maryland, there are two no-fault grounds — one year voluntary separation and two years involuntary separation. One defense to a complaint based on one year voluntary separation is that the separation is not voluntary. This means it will take two years to get divorced instead of one. I call this the I Love You Defense. You say that you still love your spouse and want the marriage to continue. At the same time, you let the other side know that you will relunctantly agree to a divorce within one year if the price is right. In order for this to work you must show that you have made some attempts at reconciliation.