Contempt in Divorce in Maryland Child Support

A child support order in a Maryland divorce action can be enforced by way of contempt. There is a statute of limitations on when the contempt proceeding must be initiated. § 10-102. Statute of limitations for contempt proceeding. A contempt proceeding for failure to make a payment of child or spousal support under a court order shall be brought within 3 years of the date that the payment of support became due. Under section Rule 15-207. Constructive contempt; further proceedings. Subsectio (2) Petitioner's burden of proof.- Subject to subsection (3) of this section, the court may make a finding of contempt if the petitioner proves by clear and convincing evidence that the alleged contemnor has not paid the amount owed, accounting from the effective date of the support order through the date of the contempt hearing. ) When a finding of contempt may not be made.- The court may not make a finding of contempt if the alleged contemnor proves by a preponderance of the evidence that (A) from the date of the support order through the date of the contempt hearing the alleged contemnor (i) never had the ability to pay more than the amount actually paid and (ii) made reasonable efforts to become or remain employed or otherwise lawfully obtain the funds necessary to make payment, or (B) enforcement by contempt is barred by limitations as to each unpaid spousal or child support payment for which the alleged contemnor does not make the proof set forth in subsection (3) (A) of this section.

As such the court only needs to find that there was an order in place that the order was not followed and the person obligated to follow the order had the ability to follow the order. In this circumstance the larger issue is the purge provision of the court's order finding contempt. The purge must be consistent with the contemptuous individuals ability to meet the purge provision.

Use and Possession Affecting Stepchildren Divorce in Maryland

Use and possession in a divorce in Maryland involves the custodial parent having access to use the marital home or personal property acquired during the marriage for the benefit of the minor children in their custody. Often times an issue will arise as to whether or not a child is a child of the family. This occurs in a situation where there is a stepchild for example. Initially, a stepchild was found to be a child of the family the Court of Appeals in Maryland addressed the definition of child of the family to say a child of the family is the natural or adopted child of each of the parties to the divorce litigation. The statute does not include stepchildren within its scope. see Bledsoe 448 A2d 353 (1982).

Alimony New Changes in Divorce in Maryland

The Maryland courts have had the opportunity to consider the issue of whether guidelines as produced by computer programs should be considered by the judge when determining the issue of a person's eligibility for alimony and the duration of the alimony payments. The court addressed this issue in Thomas Boemio v. Cynthia Boemio . The court made clear in their decision that the statutory factors that have always been taken into consideration in determining alimony must still be consulted and must still be followed. However the statute does not preclude a judge from consulting with the computer calculated guidelines. I attended a recent settlement conference in Howard County and the settlement judge specifically requested both parties to submit computer calculated alimony guidelines. Sometimes the legal issues may be as simple as a mathematical formula. Sometimes maybe not. If you have questions regarding alimony in a Maryland divorce please feel free to give my office a call as I am more than happy to discuss those issues with you over the phone at no cost to you. 1-888-760-7339