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Issues Facing Unmarried Couples and Child Custody
Often a person may associate child custody issues with those who are going through a divorce, but that is not always the case. Around 40 percent of babies born today are born to unwed mothers. It’s not surprising that there are many custody issues for these families in the Bowie area.
Custody disputes among unwed mothers and fathers, grandparents or other relatives are common. When parents are not married, both parents have the right to pursue custody. Custody is awarded in both physical and legal custody. Legal custody involves decision making regarding the child and physical custody is where the child will live. The court will decide what is in the child’s best interest and who has been the child’s main caregiver. They can award sole custody to one parent, or joint custody, or award visitation rights to a parent.
Is Seeking a Child Support Modification Right for Your Family?
If you are thinking of seeking a child support modification, then you have been through the process of determining child support before. It isn’t exactly a quick process. There are a lot of factors to consider when determining how child support should be handled for parents of a child living in separate households. However, child support agreements cannot always account for changes in income or changes in a child’s situation. Should a parent in Maryland seek to modify their child support agreement if it is no longer functioning?
There are a few reasons why a person might want to seek a modification of their child support agreement. One reason is a drastic change in income. If a parent is no longer making what they once did, or if they are making a lot more than they once were, it may be time to update the child support agreement. Also, if the needs of the child have changed drastically, child support should be modified to reflect that change as well. Whether you are the paying parent or receiving parent, or you wish to increase or decrease the child support amount, parents have the right to seek modification to the child support agreement.
Contributory Negligence and Maryland Car Accidents
Did you know that Maryland state law can have a huge impact on the result of a personal injury case after a car accident? Maryland is one of only a handful of states to recognize contributory negligence laws in cases of personal injury. For car accidents, the law applies to situations in which a person is even the tiniest bit responsible for causing the accident.
In most states, the law revolves around a 50/50 or similar split of responsibility of both parties when determining fault. However, under contributory negligence law, a person can be affected if they are found to be even the smallest percent responsible for causing the car accident. This means, for example, that if a person is even as much as 1 percent responsible for causing the car accident (and its resulting injuries) that person could be totally barred from recovering damages or the damages may be reduced to reflect her role in the resulting injury.
Contributory negligence is most often brought up as a counter-claim against a personal injury suit. That is, a person will cite contributory negligence on behalf of the plaintiff since Maryland is what’s known as a contributory negligence state. For those who have been injured in a car accident, contributory negligence law can have a huge impact on the outcome. If the injured is even the smallest amount responsible for causing the accident, it’s possible their damages could reflect that.
3 Important Factors in Maryland Child Custody Cases
As you go through divorce, one of the most pressing issues on your mind is child custody. How much will you get to see your child? Will you get sole, joint or no custody? Regardless of your marital problems, you still love your child and want to be an involved parent. While it is impossible to predict how a judge will rule in your custody case, you can get an idea by knowing the judge has the best interests of your child in mind.
Aiming for the best interests of your child sounds good, but what exactly does it mean? This is confusing legal jargon for many parents. Continue reading below for some factors considered in Maryland custody decisions.
1. Your Relationship with Your Child Before Divorce
Who has been providing the most care for your child up to this point in time? Consistency is one factor in determining the best interests of your child. If one parent has been disproportionately providing care for your child while the other one travels a lot, the judge will certainly consider this.
What to Do when You Are Afraid of Your Spouse
The foundation of any successful marriage is a combination of love, trust and respect. Unfortunately, these feelings can sometimes transform into aggression and even violence. According to the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence, one in three women has experienced violence at the hands of an intimate partner. If you are one of these people or afraid you might become one, you are not alone, and you can get help.
There are several important principles to keep in mind when you are dealing with a spouse you are afraid of. Consider the following three tips for responding to abuse and taking action that will help you become safe in the long-term.
Report Any Physical Abuse
It is imperative to make the authorities aware of any physical abuse that takes place in your home. If and when you later separate from your spouse, this will likely be a major issue, but it will be even more complicated if no official record of the abuse exists. Contact the police and create as much documentation as possible any time you are a victim of violence.
How Does Contributory Negligence Affect Car Accident Cases?
Car crashes might be an everyday occurrence in Maryland, but that doesn’t make it any easier to deal with when you find yourself the victim of a car accident. Even seemingly minor fender-benders can cause injuries that can take a long time (and a lot of money) to recover from. In these situations, car accident victims may wonder if they have any recourse. One option that might be available to some is to pursue a lawsuit based on negligence.
In general, in order to prove negligence, it must be shown that a person had a duty of care toward the victim, which was breached (that is, broken) and subsequently both actually and proximately caused the victim’s damages, meaning that but for the defendant’s negligence the victim wouldn’t have been harmed and also that it was the defendant’s actions (not another cause) that lead to the victim’s damages. However, there may be instances in which, through what is known as “contributory negligence” more than one party might be held liable, or conversely, a person may be barred from obtaining compensation.
Stay Organized when Spousal Support Is Awarded
Alimony, or spousal support, is not guaranteed in every divorce. When it is awarded, there are a bevy of factors that are considered by a judge. The length of the marriage, the health of the spouses, the financial situations of the spouses, the earning potential of the spouses — the list goes on and on. If it is awarded, spousal support instantly becomes one of the most important parts of a post-divorce arrangement. And this isn’t just because of the money involved.
The former spouses involved in a spousal support arrangement should keep track of the payments, whether they are paying or receiving the money. One of the key reasons for this is the tax implications of spousal support. The paying spouse can deduct the payments from their taxes, while the receiving spouse must include it as part of their taxable income.
This means that recordkeeping becomes an important responsibility after alimony is awarded. Both spouses should keep meticulous notes on a wide array of information included in their payments, such as:
Set Yourself up For Financial Success During and After a Divorce
Many couples might balk at the idea of drafting marital planning documents such as prenuptial or post nuptial agreements, but financial planning could be one of the main elements in securing an efficient, financially stable divorce.
No one gets married expecting to soon get divorced, but the reality is that many marriages end – – and for a multitude of reasons. There are some things you can do, though, to fully understand the financial impact a divorce can have on your future and make preparations that help you avoid devastation.
A recent Forbes piece notes numerous strategies that can be employed to reduce disputes, reduce costs and help divorcing couples avoid financial disaster.
Understand your financial situation. By taking a careful inventory of your assets and liabilities, you can effectively negotiate your way through divorce mediation. From carefully examining bank statements, retirement statements and stock portfolios, you can gain a clear understanding of financial assets. Taken in conjunction with credit card statements, medical bills, car loans or mortgages you will have a more thorough picture of the assets and debts that need to be divided.
Determining the ‘Best Interests of The Child’ in Maryland
No matter how much acrimony and ill-will two parents going through a divorce may have between them, as parents it is their job to protect their child and give their child the love, stability and support they need during what is a difficult time. For these reasons, in Maryland any child custody and visitation orders must meet the standard of the “best interests of the child.”
There are numerous factors a judge will consider when determining what is in the child’s best interest, and no one factor trumps another. The following are a sampling of the factors that may go under consideration in child custody and visitation cases.
First of all, who the child’s primary care giver is may be considered. Also, the court may consider which parent (or both) can financially care for the child. Furthermore, how old the child is and the child’s health and gender may be considered
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