An Act of Abandonment or Of Agreement?
In any divorce or separation, the actual physical separation of the parties is one of the first issues to address.
Parents may not want to separate from their spouse (move out of the marital home) because they do not want to leave the kids behind, and may not have somewhere suitable to take the Children. Additionally, Maryland law may consider one party moving out of a marital or family home to be an act of abandonment or deserting the other party.
Maryland Law discusses one party moving out or vacating the marital home at Maryland Family Law Article Sec 7-103. According to Maryland Law, an absolute divorce may be granted for “desertion” when the other party moves from the marital home for 12-months. Often, divorce lawyers utilize this section to escalate an otherwise amicable or low drama divorce into expensive divorce litigation when that escalation may not be necessary.
At Maryland Divorce Mediators, our divorce attorney mediators help couples to reach an agreement on the terms of a physical separation. This negotiation can include financial repercussions (for example, who will pay for moving expenses, mortgage or rent, and utilities), as well as custody considerations. An agreement to separate from one another in furtherance of a divorce can be a mutual decision that is in both parties’ best interest, not a unilateral decision by one party to the detriment of the other.
Until recently, parties that wanted to take advantage of Maryland’s no fault divorce needed to physically separate from one another for a 12-month period (Maryland’s 12-month separation). Now, couples can engage in an out-of-court divorce process with a mediator or collaborative divorce attorneys and obtain a divorce with no waiting period. We still recommend that couples negotiate a physical separation from each other.
If you have questions about the physical separation process in Maryland and need help getting a resolution without escalating your case to expensive divorce litigation, please contact us today.