Getting divorced in Maryland just got a little easier.
New laws that went into effect Sunday will streamline the process, shaving months of mandatory waiting times, eliminating the at-fault requirement, and doing away with"limited" divorce, which didn't completely end a marriage but allowed the couple to legally live their lives apart from one another while setting conditions for custody, visitation, child support, and the use of a family home.
The biggest change is getting rid of the at-fault requirement, which eliminates six rigid reasons needed in order to file for divorce in the state. Under Maryland's previous law, a person could only be granted a divorce for adultery, desertion, criminal convictions, insanity, cruelty, and after a mandatory 12-month separation period.
“Those require the employment of private detectives and very difficult testimony, very embarrassing testimony in court,” state Sen. Chris West, a Baltimore County Republican who sponsored the bill, said. “It’s been shown that it really destroys families, especially it destroys children.” Rama Taib-Lopez, an attorney in the family law practice at Rockville-based Stein Sperling, told WTOP that by"repealing default grounds for divorce, the Maryland Legislature has taken the step forward to turn the temperature down a notch and permit couples to start moving on without the time and expense of having to show who was at fault.
“You could be living under the same roof and still file for divorce on the grounds of separation if you can show the court that you and your spouse have simply pursued separate lives,” Taib-Lopez added.
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