Howard County Family Law Blog

According to news sources, Vice President Joe Biden and Maryland Lieutenant Governor Anthony Brown will help lead the push to reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA). The Act was created in 1994 and is up for reauthorization this year.

In 1994, VAWA was accepted by both Republicans and Democrats, with little opposition. Today, some conservatives believe that VAWA unnecessarily gives immigrants the ability to stay in the U.S. by allowing them to claim battery, does not use safeguards to ensure grants are properly spent, and expands protections to too many groups.

VAWA expands financing for domestic violence programs. It supports grant programs for battered women shelters as well as for local law enforcement agencies. The current legislation would expand the definition of domestic violence to include stalking, provide training, and offer free legal help to domestic violence victims.

Children are the most important assets that spouses have in a divorce. That is why divorce issues involving children can be very contentious. Even if you and your spouse both want what is best for your children, you may disagree on what "best" is.

Some questions you and your spouse will need to answer during your divorce include:

• Who will your children live with (child custody)?
• How many days and/or nights will the children be with the other parent (visitation)?
• How much will the noncustodial parent pay the custodial parent (the parent with whom the child lives) in child support?
• Where will the children go to school?
• Who will take the children to and from school activities?
• How will you and your spouse deliver the children to each other? What will happen if one spouse is late?
• Will you make all significant decisions together or will one of you have principal authority to make healthcare and schooling decisions?
• Whose health insurance will cover the children?
• Should additional money be allocated for the children to participate in sports and other activities?

In this blog post, we will address some of the general questions people have about the Maryland divorce process. Please keep in mind that every divorce is unique and many of the answers to these questions will vary depending on the facts of your divorce.

Where can I file my divorce papers?

You or your spouse can file for divorce in Maryland if at least one of you has lived in Maryland for the last year or if the specific grounds for divorce happened in Maryland. You should file divorce papers in the county where you live or your spouse lives or works.

How long will it take to get a divorce?

The amount of time it takes to resolve all of the issues in your divorce will depend entirely on the facts of your divorce, as well as the ability of you and your spouse to work together. Generally, divorces with extensive marital property and children take longer than other divorces. If both parties are able to come to an agreement on all of the issues, the divorce will be much quicker than if you dispute issues and need to have multiple court hearings.

In the last blog post, we discussed the effect of online coparenting tools on divorcing and divorced couples. This post will examine the use of Facebook in divorce proceedings.

It is no surprise that many marriages end by Facebook. An affair is discovered, or one spouse badmouths the other in "public." Facebook recently made news when it recommended that a woman befriend someone that turned out to be her husband's second wife. Yet, Facebook's impact on divorce doesn't stop once the divorce papers are filed. Facebook and other social media outlets are prime places to find evidence during the divorce.

Maryland divorce lawyers and attorneys throughout the country are telling their clients to shut down their Facebook accounts during divorce proceedings, or at least boost privacy settings.

Why?