Family Law

New laws are focusing on joint custody when a mother and father divorce or separate. However, the laws have always pushed toward the best interest of the child or children when determining custody in a separation or a divorce. No laws in Maryland or elsewhere in this...

Family law courts are usually the ones to make the final decisions regarding how spouses split their assets and even their time with their children when they divorce. However, mediation is often less costly, more effective and can lead to a final resolution more...

Some people work hard to defraud others for financial gain, and paternity fraud is probably one of the most vicious ways of doing this. All too often a mother will claim that a child's father is someone who is not biologically the father, leaving that man responsible...

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the number of cohabitating unmarried couples in America has risen from 1 percent in the 1960s to 12 percent in 2011. That alone gives a reason for a new look at how unmarried couples in Maryland and elsewhere deal with issues such...

Recently, a group of six fathers sued five family law judges from a nearby state in a federal U.S. District Court because, the fathers say, they were unjustly denied custody of their children. Maryland fathers facing similar child custody issues may want to follow the...

Residents of Maryland could find some information regarding name changes following divorce interesting. The question has arisen among wives who took their husband's last name when they got married as to how to change it back when they get divorced. It's fairly simple...

Families in Maryland could potentially benefit from learning more about the requirements that govern grandparents' visitation and custody rights. When a child is adopted by another individual, the grandparents' visitation rights may be terminated. In some states, the...

Some adoptive parents may be familiar with adoption fraud. Also known as wrongful adoption, adoption fraud is typically defined as illegal acts or misrepresentation during the adoption process for financial gain. Generally, an adoption agency or a mother who promises...

Grandparents in Maryland who have been denied visitation of their grandchildren by the children's parents legally have the option of petitioning the court for visitation time. Before taking legal steps, however, they may want to try other methods for resolving the...

If a non-custodial parent is not in compliance with a child support order, the Maryland Child Support Enforcement Administration, a division of the state Department of Human Resources, has a variety of enforcement tools that it can use to obtain the funds. Before any...