Rockville, Maryland, Family Law Blog

Maryland is an equitable distribution state, which means that you and your spouse will need to divide your property equitably upon divorce. Since there is no law to require you to split your property equally, there is no guarantee that you will receive half of the marital assets. To protect your interests, it's a good idea to inform your attorney about your divorce and to begin working on negotiations right away.

Some people are able to come up with property division agreements very quickly. For example, if you and your spouse agree that you both invested into your marriage and would like to split everything 50-50, it might be simple for you to divide your property. However, in other cases, you or your spouse might want to fight for more of your property based on the needs you'll have in the future or the amount of money you put into your marriage.

One thing that many couples don't want to talk about during a divorce is alimony. Alimony, which is also known as spousal support, is an important factor in some divorces. It is particularly common for a couple to have to discuss alimony if they have a large discrepancy in income.

For example, if you were a stay-at-home mom and gave up your career to watch your children, it may be very difficult for you to return to the workforce. Even if you can return to the workforce right away, you may not be making as much money as you would have if you had been working instead of staying home with your children. Regardless of your reasoning for staying home, your spouse may need to pay spousal support to you until your income improves.

There is never a time when parents want to see their children in danger or getting hurt. Sadly, there are cases of domestic violence that involve children. One parent may be verbally abusive, physically violent or be harmful in other ways.

If you find out that your child is in harm's way, you will likely stop at nothing to keep them safe, but can you break the custody order without the potential to lose custody completely? The answer is yes, so long as you have reasonable concerns.

When you and your spouse struggled to agree on how to raise your child while you were married, you thought that the issue was down to different parenting styles. Today, as you go through divorce, you believe it's more to do with control.

However, you and your ex-spouse can't continue to fight and raise your child. It's not fair, and it won't give your child the security they need to grow up strong and independent. You and your ex-spouse should consider a firm parenting plan long before you finalize your divorce, so you know what you expect from one another.