MD Bar Family Law 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: In Maryland, what is the standard waiting period for an absolute divorce based on six-month separation under the 2023 divorce law reform?
- Six months of separation, which may occur under the same roof if leading separate lives (Correct answer)
- Twelve months of continuous separation in different residences
- Two years of separation with no exceptions
- No separation is required for any divorce
Correct answer: Six months of separation, which may occur under the same roof if leading separate lives
Maryland's 2023 reform allows absolute divorce after six months of separation, even if the parties live under the same roof, provided they lead separate lives.
Question 2: Which grounds for divorce were eliminated in Maryland effective October 1, 2023?
- Fault-based grounds such as adultery, desertion, and cruelty (Correct answer)
- Mutual consent
- Six-month separation
- Irreconcilable differences
Correct answer: Fault-based grounds such as adultery, desertion, and cruelty
The 2023 reform abolished fault-based grounds like adultery, desertion, cruelty, and criminal conviction, leaving separation, irreconcilable differences, and mutual consent.
Question 3: A Maryland court dividing marital property may transfer ownership of which asset directly between spouses?
- Retirement interests, family use personal property, and real property held as the family home (Correct answer)
- Any asset titled in one spouse's name
- Only bank accounts
- No assets; Maryland courts may only grant monetary awards
Correct answer: Retirement interests, family use personal property, and real property held as the family home
Maryland is a monetary award state, but courts may transfer title to pensions/retirement interests, family use personal property, and jointly owned real property used as the family home.
Question 4: Under Maryland law, property acquired during the marriage by one spouse through inheritance is classified as what?
- Non-marital property, unless commingled so it cannot be traced (Correct answer)
- Marital property subject to equitable division
- Community property owned equally
- Presumptively marital unless the will says otherwise
Correct answer: Non-marital property, unless commingled so it cannot be traced
Gifts and inheritances to one spouse are non-marital in Maryland, but they can become partly marital if commingled and untraceable.
Question 5: In Maryland, what standard governs a court's initial custody determination between two fit parents?
- The best interests of the child, with no presumption favoring either parent (Correct answer)
- A presumption in favor of the mother for young children
- A presumption of equal 50/50 physical custody
- The preference of any child over age 10 controls
Correct answer: The best interests of the child, with no presumption favoring either parent
Maryland applies the best-interests-of-the-child standard using factors from Montgomery County v. Sanders and Taylor v. Taylor, with no gender-based or 50/50 presumption.
Question 6: What must a Maryland parent show to modify an existing custody order?
- A material change in circumstances affecting the child's welfare, and that modification serves the child's best interests (Correct answer)
- Only that the child is now older
- Only that the parent's income has increased
- Nothing; custody may be relitigated at any time de novo
Correct answer: A material change in circumstances affecting the child's welfare, and that modification serves the child's best interests
Maryland uses a two-step test: a material change in circumstances affecting the child, then a best-interests analysis.
Question 7: In Maryland, indefinite alimony may be awarded in which situation?
- When the recipient cannot reasonably become self-supporting, or the parties' standards of living would be unconscionably disparate (Correct answer)
- Whenever the marriage lasted more than five years
- Only when the payor committed adultery
- Never; Maryland abolished indefinite alimony
Correct answer: When the recipient cannot reasonably become self-supporting, or the parties' standards of living would be unconscionably disparate
Maryland favors rehabilitative alimony but permits indefinite alimony where self-support is not reasonably attainable or post-divorce living standards would be unconscionably disparate.
MD Bar Family Law 2
In Maryland, what is the standard waiting period for an absolute divorce based on six-month separation under the 2023 divorce law reform?