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Landmark Case to Define Child Support Rights in Same-Sex Divorce
The Hawaii Supreme Court is currently considering a case that raises the question of how consent to having a child is determined in same-sex marriage, as well as the implications of this determination on parental rights. It represents the first Supreme Court case in the country addressing the issue of child support for same-sex couples.
The case involves a lesbian couple that was married in 2013. Between January and September of 2015, one member of the couple was deployed on military duty. While she was away, her then wife got pregnant. After returning from military duty, the woman filed for divorce and sought to relinquish her parental rights.
The debate now is whether the woman in question gave consent to her wife about getting pregnant. Under the Marriage Equality Act in Hawaii, if a woman gives birth to a child, her spouse is presumed to be the parent—irrespective of their gender.
Tips for Avoiding Distracted Driving
Distraction on the road can have serious consequences. A mere moment of losing focus at a critical time can lead to an accident and serious injury.
While you obviously cannot guarantee yourself a ride completely free of any distraction whatsoever, you can take steps to minimize the chances of your attention wandering. Advance planning to avoid distraction can make your commute much safer.
Minimize or Cut out Cell Phone Use
Today, cell phones pose a major distraction hazard for drivers. In Maryland, the law prohibits drivers from using a handheld phone to talk or text. While the law allows motorists with unrestricted licenses to use a phone via hands-free technology such as Bluetooth, these uses can also be quite distracting. They still occupy your mental focus, if not your hands. The safest practice is to avoid any type of phone use while driving.
How Distractions Lead to Car Accidents
It is not uncommon for you to see people texting and driving when you are on the streets in Bowie. It happens so often that you probably think you can do it, too. As boring and tiresome as driving can be, it is not worth risking your life or the lives of others because of distractions. You should avoid distractions and pay attention to the roads and traffic around you.
Each year, the number of motorists who die in car accidents where distractions are a factor increases. In order to drive your vehicle safely, you must have your eyes on the roads and hands on the steering wheel. When you use distractions, you cannot drive safely. Each day you make through traffic to your destination without incident is one where you were fortunate. Here is a brief overview of how dangerous distractions are.
Distracted Driving Is a Common Activity
Distracted driving car accidents happen all the time. Unlike drunk driving incidents that are more likely to occur at night and on the weekends, people use distractions all day. Keep in mind that texting is not the only form of distraction that motorists use. Eating, putting on makeup, looking at something outside of the road and on the inside of vehicles, reading, talking on phones, playing games on cellphones and using social media are other popular forms of distractions that drivers tend to use when operating their vehicles.
Will Maryland Eliminate Parental Rights for Rapists?
The Maryland Senate is poised to pass some landmark legislation early next year—which many say is long overdue. The proposed bill has failed nine times before, but this time, members of the General Assembly are optimistic that the bill has built up sufficient support to pass. The subject of the bill: paternal rights for rapists.
It could be said that Maryland is behind the times when it comes to developing laws surrounding rapists’ paternal rights. It is one of only six states with no official law on the subject. Under the proposed legislation, a woman who becomes pregnant due to a rape would not be forced to give any parental rights to her attacker. Regardless of whether the attacker is convicted, the rape victim can expunge his parental rights.
Both chambers of the General Assembly approved different variations of the bill earlier this year but were unable reach an agreement. Some items in the bill that still need to be ironed out include:
A New Way out Of Marriage in Maryland: Mutual Consent Divorce
In a recent law that was enacted in Maryland, couples seeking to dissolve their marriage now have a quicker option: mutual consent divorce. Under the terms of this amendment, couples have an easier way of divorcing amicably without extended waiting periods.
Under the previous law, divorce could be a fast process for marriages in which one spouse committed serious offenses—such as adultery, cruel treatment, or excessively vicious conduct—against their partner. Understandably, the court determined that a spouse in a potentially dangerous partnership should be able to dissolve their marriage as quickly as possible.
However, under less egregious circumstances—in situations where couples simply grew apart, for example—the law required them to spend a full year living in separate residences before they could legally begin the process of moving on with their lives. Under the new law, a couple doesn’t have to be separated for any amount of time before they can file for divorce.
How Do I Pay Child Support in Maryland?
If you’ve been ordered to pay child support in Maryland, here are the basic steps for submitting payment:
If You’re Employed
If you are employed, Maryland law requires you to pay child support through wage garnishment. This is to say that the amount you owe for child support will automatically be deducted from your paycheck and redirected to your child’s custodian.
When you submit your child support income withholding notice to your employer, they should deduct the necessary amount from your paycheck beginning on the following pay period. It is your responsibility to monitor that this withholding goes into effect. For any pay period in which your employer has not withheld the requisite amount, you are required to pay the necessary child support directly to the address below, including your nine-digit case number with your payment:
Maryland Child Support Account
P.O. Box 17396
Ways to Prepare for A Custody Evaluation
If you are embroiled in a custody dispute with your soon-to-be ex-spouse, or the other parent of your child, the prospect of dealing with a custody evaluator probably is not welcoming. Custody evaluators are essentially investigators appointed by court or mutually agreed upon by the parties to review a number of aspects of the child’s life and issue a recommendation to the court regarding legal custody, physical custody and parenting time.
For any parent, the notion of being judged can be a very emotional experience. This is especially true if a parent has shortcomings they may not want a custody evaluator to discover (i.e. alcohol use, drug abuse). However, a custody evaluation is about what is best for the child, not about who presumably has the better parenting skills.
With that, we offer some helpful tips to so that you can be prepared for a custody evaluation.
Refrain from parent bashing – Your meeting with the custody evaluator is not the time to voice your frustrations about the other parent. After all, he or she already knows that you two don’t get along, as well as the nature of your conflict. The questions to be answered are about how you will resolve future conflict.
3 Crucial Steps to Take Before Divorcing in January of 2018
If you are planning to file for divorce as soon as 2018 hits, you are not alone. According to Time Magazine, January is one of the most common months for people to split up. If you are dead-set on making 2018 the year you become single again, you should do some preparing before you officially announce your divorce.
Divorce can be expensive, and the costs can blindside you if you jump into it without preparation. Here are some things you should accomplish before you tell your spouse you want out.
1. Organize important documents
Start gathering your financial information as soon as possible. Gather bank statements, tax returns, real estate deeds and retirement account statements – anything that verifies your assets, debts, income and expenses. This is crucial to determine how the courts will split your property and whether there will be spousal or child support. Getting these documents ready now will mean you do not have to try and get any of this information from your spouse later. This will save you time, stress and money.
Three Things You Should Know About Same-Sex Divorce in Maryland
Since 2013, Maryland has proudly held the title of the first state to legalize same-sex marriage. With it has come the less illustrious—but nonetheless important—legalization of same-sex divorce, which allows for divorce between same-sex couples on the same grounds as it does for heterosexual couples.
However, the laws surrounding divorce in Maryland have not been amended to encompass circumstances unique to same-sex marriage. Consequently, same-sex couples seeking to dissolve their marriage will encounter a few roadblocks:
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Adultery: Adultery is grounds for divorce under Maryland law. However, the law set forth limits on what is considered adultery, defining it as cheating through the act of sexual intercourse between a married person and another person to whom the offending person is not married. Therefore, when a spouse in a same-sex marriage cheats—by engaging in sexual acts other than intercourse—this does not constitute adultery in the eyes of the law.
Could Your Drinking Water Be Making You Sick?
In a recently published report, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) conducted a two-year study (from 2013 to 2014) on the drinking water in 19 U.S. states—including Maryland. The results of the study identified 42 outbreaks of waterborne diseases in drinking water, from which at least 1,006 people became ill, 124 were hospitalized and 13 died.
The most severe disease identified in the study was Legionnaires’ Disease, which accounted for over half of the outbreaks, 88 percent of the hospitalizations and all of the deaths. In Maryland, the CDC found five outbreaks of waterborne disease during this period—four of Legionnaires’ Disease and one of Nitrite.
Legionnaires’ Disease is a serious, potentially fatal form of pneumonia. While mainly an infection of the lungs, infection can also spread in wounds and other organs on the body, including the heart. The disease can also cause life-threatening complications, including:
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