Maryland Family Law Maryland family law opinions and commentary

Protective order — Consent — Right to appeal This appeal arises from the issuance of a final protective order. Following a domestic dispute, Appellee Lori Kaufman filed a petition for protection against her husband, Appellant Richard Kaufman. After the District ...

Divorce — Settlement agreement — Mediation clause In 2013, Natasha M. Byus, appellant, and her ex-husband Paul G. Byus, appellee, executed a Property Settlement Agreement that was incorporated, but not merged, into a Judgment of Absolute Divorce issued by the ...

Child support — Contempt holding — Need for a hearing A father defaulted on his court-ordered child support obligations. The child’s mother filed and served a petition for contempt. The father did not appear at the contempt hearing, and the ...

CINA — No-contact order — Best interests of children The Baltimore County Department of Social Services (the “Department”) filed, in the Circuit Court for Baltimore County, petitions on behalf of five children, alleging that they were children in need of ...

Child support — Calculation — Voluntary impoverishment In 2006, the Circuit Court for Montgomery County entered a judgment of absolute divorce in favor of appellant, Ishtiaq Malik (“Husband”), and ordered him to pay appellee, Zahira Malik (“Wife”), indefinite alimony in ...

Child custody — Judicial bias — Denial of custody request Eric Lappi, appellant, and Cynthia Kamga Nenkam, appellee, are the parents of S.L., a minor child. On August 13, 2018, the Circuit Court for Montgomery County entered an order granting ...

Child custody — Modification — Failure to raise claims of error Angela Speight, appellant, and Lee Williams, Jr., appellee, are the parents of H.W., a minor child. On February 1, 2016, the Circuit Court for Prince George’s County entered a ...

Guardianship — Eligible disability — Need for a hearing This appeal is from an order of the Circuit Court for Baltimore County that appointed Stephen Stralka as a guardian of the property and John Stralka as a guardian of the ...

Child support — Affidavit of parentage — Best interest of child On July 31, 2017, the Circuit Court for Prince George’s County ordered the removal of Daniel Donnelly’s (“Appellee”) name as father on the birth certificate of a minor child. ...

Guardianship — Hearing — Due process On October 30, 2018, the Charles County Department of Social Services (the “Department”), appellee, filed a Petition for Guardianship with the Right to Consent to Adoption or Long-Term Care Short of Adoption, in the ...