Maryland Family Law Maryland family law opinions and commentary

CINA — Change in permanency plan — Custody/guardianship to adoption This appeal arises from an order issued by the Circuit Court for Prince George’s County, sitting as a juvenile court, which changed the permanency plan for J.J. (born November 2012), ...

Divorce — Monetary award — Dissipation of marital assets On December 6, 2017, the Circuit Court for Montgomery County granted Lisa M. Baughman, appellee (“Ms. Sundquist”), a Judgment of Absolute Divorce against Byron A. Baughman, appellant.1 As part of the ...

CINA — Dismissal by Social Services — Need for a hearing Whenever the placement of a minor is at issue, the guiding light of our analysis is the best interests of the child. In this appeal, we are asked to ...

Divorce — Torts — Email harassment Barry E. Hill (“Appellant”) appeals from the Circuit Court for Prince George’s County’s ruling, dismissing Appellant’s tort claims against Nichola Martin Lane (“Appellee”) sua sponte. Appellant presents two questions for our review, which we ...

Alimony — Motion to Extend — Abuse of discretion In this appeal, Robert E. Day, Jr. (“Husband”), appellant, contends that the Circuit Court for Howard County erred and abused its discretion in both granting the motion to modify alimony filed ...

Divorce — Attorney’s fees — Standard of review Although appellant Marcus Reese-Shaw (“Husband”) and appellee Karine N. Shaw (“Wife”) were able to amicably resolve all of the substantive issues arising from the dissolution of their marriage, they are unable to ...

Child custody — Special Immigrant Juvenile status — Adoption D.C.-M. was adopted in 2015. Following the adoption, D.C.-M. filed a motion seeking to reopen his adoption proceeding to enter factual findings regarding his eligibility for status as a Special Immigrant ...

Child custody — Custody evaluator — Fraud This is an appeal from a judgment of the Circuit Court for Montgomery County, the Honorable Gary E. Bair, presiding, which dismissed William F. Feller’s multi-count civil action against William B. Zuckerman, Ph.D., ...

Divorce — Settlement agreement — Consent This appeal arises from a judgment of absolute divorce of the Circuit Court for Baltimore County. Barbara A. Davis, appellant, claimsthat she did not consent to the terms of a settlement agreement that the ...

CINA — Trial home visit — Documentation In September 2018, the Circuit Court for Calvert County, sitting as the juvenile court, found that R.V., Jr. (“Child”) was a child in need of assistance and placed him in the care and ...