Maryland Divorce and Children’s College Expenses

College Expenses in Divorce Cases

Every divorce agreement is a little different.  The longer marriages usually involve a longer divorce agreement.

Frequently when parents are involved in a divorce with adult, or near adult, children they wish to include provisions for those children in their divorce agreements.  I strongly advise my clients to leave adult or near adult children out of their divorce agreements but some, nevertheless, desire to include provisions for them in the divorce.

I remind you again of my general advice against such agreements.  Where parties do insist upon such provisions I will point out some potential pitfalls and advise minutes.  Also, the context of this article is limited to agreements because the Maryland divorce and custody courts cannot order college savings or special expenses for emancipated children.

Provisions for such children in divorce agreements range a great deal from case to case. In some cases it may be as simple as a provision similar to a will. For example, a directive that the eldest daughter get grandmother’s china and/or a particular son gets a pocket watch  or shotgun etc...  In most cases, where the parents include these types of provisions it generally deals with either an automobile or money for college.

With respect to automobiles, if parents must buy the children an automobile in the terms of their divorce I strongly advise it be purchased outright. As a general rule, maintaining any recurring obligations between divorced parties is a recipe for friction and potential disaster. One must also bear in mind which parent will cover the vehicle under his/her insurance.  A separate policy for teenagers is nearly never something people can afford.

With respect to college savings or college funds parents must keep a few things in mind.   First, including such provisions in their divorce can have a ripple effect upon their children’s eligibility for college financial aid and any potential tax implications.

College financial aid offices are being worked over pretty hard in this economy.  They want the income of parents AND stepparents as well as a declaration of assets for college.  Parents who insist on including college obligations in their divorce agreements generally want the funds in the student’s name.  If there is such an account, or a proviso regarding college, the school may not give as much financial aid.

Second, be careful that your child(ren) are not “3rd party beneficiaries” by being in the divorce agreement.  In a similar way you want have language that constrains the student to remain on task.  For example, a provision that the grades have to be a C+ or better and that the degree be obtained four years etc….

Lastly, you are going to want to set a ceiling for these expenses.  It’s customary to have language that says “the parents’ contribution will be defined as the expense for in state tuition at the University of Maryland…”  In my opinion the parents are either going to work together on something like this or they are not.  Yet, every case and circumstance is different.

Tim Conlon, Esquire for The Custody Place

From Child Custody Attorneys for Frederick County Maryland

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Frederick County Family Court Postponements

Justice delayed is justice denied. 

When people talk to me about court postponements, I always think about that expression about cops. 
It goes something like "when you want one you can't get one, but when you don't want one you can get rid of them."  

No disrespect to cops because I find that pens are the equivalent in my life and I curse them whenever I a scrambling to write something down but can't find anything to write with.  Postponements are like that. 

The likelihood that you will get a postponement often seems to be inversely proportional to how much you want one.  That is really no joke, because many Frederick lawyers will act accordingly and feign not wanting a postponement in the hopes they will therefore get one.

All kidding aside, many things can cause your case to be postponed and lately most have nothing to do with you, or your lawyer.

Of late the Frederick County Family Court has experienced at least five snow days, two holidays and and a bomb scare in about 7 weeks.  

Apart from raining frogs, that is as much as this court has ever seen.  As such, this means about 20% of the January and February case were just outright cancelled.  That means the court docket will be at 120% of capacity until that stabilizes.

The court has internal deadlines called “differentiated case management.”  Those deadlines mean that of the 120% of the cases scheduled to be completed many NEED to be completed.  Yet those standards do not apply to custody visitation or child support modifications.

Therefore, when presented with 2 cases set for the same day and one has an approaching deadline of completion per Annapolis, the one that does not have a deadline is gonna get bumped.  Simple.

The result is that child custody, visitation and child support modifications in Frederick are going to be running on a good chance of at least one postponement.  This condition will continue into the early summer by my guess, but should abate as the year rolls on.



Tim Conlon, Esquire for The Custody Place

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Ice and Snow Closing Frederick County Courthouse

It is surreal today, in a pretty way, at the Frederick Courthouse.  That is a marked departure from the usual surrealism of a courthouse.  The ice and rain which appeared overnight have frozen on the branches of the trees and everything else.

Snow closings are plaguing the divorce and custody courts in Frederick and the rest of Maryland this year.  I cannot remember a year when the courts were closed more often than this season. 

Of particular note is the closings have occurred sometimes several days in a given week.  The court offices just begin to figure out how to jockey the cases around when BAM it is another closing.  This week the courts were closed Monday and Wednesday of the same week.

From 2014-02-09

If you want to appreciate the impact of this situation think about this.  With some variation the life of a divorce or custody case in Maryland starts 1st the  “Initial conference.”  The initial conference takes about 2-10 minutes once they call your case.  The sole purpose of the initial conference is to select the other dates in your case including dates for the final hearing.

When your lawyer appears for that initial conference the dates which the court offers are usually months away at best.  Yet because the initial conferences don’t take a long time they are scheduled 10-25 at a pop.  So if the court is closed on a date when they had scheduled  25 cases to set court dates and there are 2 courtrooms doing initial conferences that is 50 cases.

That means 50 cases are going to have a rescheduled initial conference and each one has at least 2 people involved. Those cancelled initial conferences will be re-set after the already scheduled initial conferences so the “new initial conference will be at least a month.  So will ALL the court dates the court offers for the case. 

Enjoy the day with your kids and admire the icy wonderment.  The hangover will last at least one month for 100 people who just want it to all be over:(

The Custody Place

19 North Court Street Frederick Maryland 21701

301 865-1101

Dealing With The Sale Of The Marital Home

A frequent problem in divorce cases is that the parties are unable to agree on what to do with their house after the divorce is over. The Maryland law dislikes keeping unmarried persons as co owners to real property after a divorce. The solution is reached sometimes by agreement, and other times by court order.

As with virtually everything else in a divorce, an agreement is the best way to go. In an agreement resolving issues of the marital home usually one spouse purchases the interest of the other. This is usually accomplished by both spouses taking the appraised value, minus the mortgage and splitting that equity.  Some can refinance.

Another solution sale of  the property to someone other than spouses. In such an event with a traditional sale, the home is placed on the market, real estate agents charge 6 percent, and the parties sell to a third party keeping whatever profits there are, after the mortgage and other closing costs are paid . As is so often the case on the issues contained in a divorce, there maybe no agreement as to how to dispose of the home.  What happens then?

When the parties are unable to agree what to do with the house, the court orders a trustee.  The trustee is essentially the new court appointed owner.of the property.  He has the powers of an owner.  He can make repairs to the property, determine who comes and goes from the property and to sell or dispose of the property anyway he believes would bring the highest and best gross proceeds to the sale.  That trustee is also paid a commission.

This brings us back to the beginning and my recommendation that people reach agreements on their homes. Imagine the following scenario:  Two divorced parties are lucky enough to have a modest 75k of equity in their 500k home, despite the current economic times.

They are not able to reach an agreement on who has the house or how to sell the house. A trustee is appointed who gets 5% off the top.  There goes 25k. The trustee appoints a realtor who gets 6%.  There goes 30k.  Then there is the appraisal....the closing costs...a small repair...and thats it zero!!

The Custody Place

19 North Court St Frederick Maryland 21701

301 865-1101

Why Do Women Get Custody More Often Than Men?

Divorce and Custody Lawyers Answer Questions

How Lawyers and Judges Determine Custody in Frederick, Maryland

In "Don't Women Always Get Custody?" we said that women get custody much more often than men, But, I have contradicted that and said that judges don’t favor one gender over the other. What gives? First, parents are greater than the sum of their gender. Second, just being a good or even a great parent does not make the same person an equally good litigant and/or witness.

As a Frederick custody and divorce lawyer I have observed that parents with time for the children have a distinct advantage. Even in the modern world, there are more stay at home moms than stay at home dads so, that accounts for some of the advantage. Status as a “primary caregiver” does get favorable treatment. Even in the modern world, women more commonly work on a schedule that is conducive to parenting; eg. getting home and picking the kids up before dinner. Men work longer hours outside the home on average and that accounts for a great deal of the disparity between fathers and mothers winning custody.

There are also certain occupations which lend themselves to custody. These are occupations where the parent works only while the children are at school or sleeping. For example, nurses often work from 7p.m. to 7a.m. three days of the week. Teachers are at work while the children are at school and off work when they are not. Those occupations traditionally employ a greater percentage of women than men. Once again accounting for some of the disproportionality.

As a Frederick custody and divorce lawyer,I find women can be better litigants than men in custody cases. They tend to create more witnesses and wider networks such as play dates, volunteering at school etc. In part because of the time advantages stated above. In part because women talk about their children at work more than men. In contrast men’s co-workers and casual friends may not know they have children at all. How can you get a co-worker to testify on your behalf at a custody hearing, if he/she does not know you have kids?

Women tend to keep better ”custody type” records than men. In particular calendars showing when the other parent was late, when the child(ren) were sick, what clothing did or did not come home with the kids, when the homework was or wasn’t done etc. Calendars are so important, that I give every new Custody Place client , father or mother, a pocket daytimer for the express purpose of keeping child centered daily notes. I get them back filled in by more women than men.

Is there something about women that makes them keep such journals more often than men? Maybe keeping diaries as little girls? I claim no answer. As a Frederick divorce and custody lawyer, I see that the party with the most time for the children and who gives the better presentation is the one who gets primary custody. To men I say, forewarned is forearmed. Timothy Conlon, Esq. The Custody Place.

Custody Attorneys in Frederick Maryland

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Child Abductions Usually Involve Family Members

Child Abductions Issues in Frederick Maryland

Sadly, most child abductions involve family members or household members according to custody lawyers in Frederick, MD. A child is considered to be anyone under 18 years old, while a family member is legally defined as someone who is a relative of a child by marriage, blood or adoption. 

Other abductors are typically people who have actual contact with the child, like a babysitter, or a stranger who happens to see an opportunity to snatch a child, like at the mall or carnival.

When Parents Can't Agree

Custody lawyers are often involved in locating abducted children because so many cases involve parents who are in disagreement. For example, there are arguments about custody during a divorce so one parent abducts the child.

In some instances, one parent will abduct a child just to scare the other parent or to blackmail the other parent into agreeing to certain visitation terms.

There are also many cases in which a parent or relative abducts a child when the custodial parent intends on relocating out of the area or relocates without telling the non-custodial parent or other relatives. The resentment a family member feels may translate into a desperate act of abduction.

It is not humanly possible to protect a child 24 hours a day unless you never allow the child to leave your side. Custody lawyers Frederick, MD clients retain are familiar with the guilt and grief parents feel when a child is abducted, but unfortunately it is becoming a more frequent occurrence.

One of the best steps you can take is to consult an attorney as quickly as possible, after notifying the police, once you discover a child is missing. The attorneys have resources that enable them to call upon the full power of the law to locate an abducted child.

These resources include the United States Department of State, the Center for Missing and Abducted Children, the local and state police, and international agencies dedicated to locating abducted children.

Full Power of the Law

The custody lawyers in Frederick, MD are also familiar with the many laws that are applicable to child abduction and relocation. For example, the Uniform Child Custody and Enforcement ACT and the Parental Kidnapping Prevention Act protect a child who has been abducted or kidnapped. In other words, there are federal, state and international laws that protect parental rights and the rights of a child.

It is unfortunate that non-custodial parents sometimes feel their only recourse is the abduction of a child. The truth is that custody lawyers can represent either custodial or non-custodial parents. Non-custodial parents may also have rights in terms of visitation, and the best way to protect those rights is in court and not through an illegal action.

If you are concerned about protecting access to a child or believe your child is at risk of abduction, consult one of the custody lawyers in Frederick, MD.

There are right ways and wrong ways to settle these issues, and the right way is legally.
 

Timothy Conlon, Esquire for The Custody Place.

The Custody Place

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Where Do I File For Custody in Frederick Maryland?

As a Frederick custody and divorce lawyer sometimes jurisdiction is a consideration.  When clients come to see a divorce and custody lawyer they  tend to meet him or her in the city or county where they live.  They may take for granted that where you file a divorce or custody case can have a great impact upon the expense and/or the success of the case.

Jurisdiction is a two (2) part legal question that determines if you are in a court that can help you get what you want.  If the court can’t give you a custody or divorce order why bother?

First, does that “type”  of court have authority to order the parents/parties to do “what” the filing parent/party wants.to have done eg. the granting of a divorce.   For example, the small claims court cannot hear a custody case.  In Maryland our “Circuit Courts”decide all questions of “family” law including divorces, custody and child support.  This is called ”jurisdiction over the subject matter” eg. custody.  So we can conclude that if Maryland is the place, Circuit Court is the court.

Second, does the court have authority over these persons?  That is called “jurisdiction over the person.”   For example, if a person has never been to Frederick Maryland a party cannot just move to Maryland and file for divorce when they get there. With notable exceptions the person filing for divorce needs to have lived in Maryland twelve (12) months before they can file for divorce in Maryland.

In custody cases the court also  has  to have jurisdiction over the child.  Jurisdiction over child(ren) is an EXTREMELY delicate and intricate legal question that can’t be answered in this article.  Contact a custody lawyer who should be able to answer that question.

Timothy Conlon, Esquire for The Custody Place.

The Custody Place

  OUR PHONES ARE ANSWERED 24/7

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301-865-1101

19 NORTH COURT STREET

FREDERICK MARYLAND 21701