In light of the Jon and Kate’s recent news and Kate Gosselin’s filing for a no-fault divorce, I have received many questions asking what is a “no-fault” divorce? Although the Gosselin’s divorce proceedings will be held in Pennsylvania, the law in Pennsylvania is similar to Maryland, in that a party filing for divorce may elect to proceed on fault (contested) or no-fault (uncontested) based grounds.
As a practicing family law attorney in Maryland, I am often asked if Jack and Jill who have been living together for ten years now in the State of Maryland, but have never had a lawful marriage ceremony, are legally married under the doctrine of common law marriage? The answer is no, Maryland does not recognize common law marriages. Therefore, if Jack wanted to end his relationship with Jill, no legal action would be required on his part. Also, if Jill wanted to inherit from Jack, or participate in his health benefits, this may pose a problem as they are not married under the laws of the State of Maryland.
A common law marriage, by definition, is a marriage formed between two individuals who have lived together for a specified amount of time, rather than participating in a lawful ceremony. However, the parties must be of the legal age to be married, must mutually intend to take on the status of husband and wife, and must not only live together, but represent to the community that they are husband and wife.
Although Maryland does not recognize common law marriage, it will accept as a legal marriage a common law marriage validly entered into in another state. These marriages will be treated just like any other valid marriage in the Maryland court system, requiring a filing for divorce when one party wants to terminate the relationship.
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On June 3, 2009, in the case of Barrett v. Ayres, the Maryland Court of Special Appeals found that Sharon Barrett did not need to show a material change in circumstances in order to modify the current set visitation schedule between her daughter and her daughter’s paternal grandparents, Bryan and Helen Ayres. Sharon Barrett had agreed to a visitation schedule between her daughter and the Ayres after her husband was seriously injured in a car accident in 2004. However, the relationship had become strained and Sharon believed that it was no longer in her daughter’s best interest to visit with her grandparents. The Court stated a parent’s decision that their child’s visitation with a third party should be modified is a material change in and of itself. The burden then shifts to the third party to establish that the parent is unfit or other exceptional circumstances exist. In this case the grandparents now have the burden to prove the parents are unfit or exceptional circumstances exist.
Maryland Divorce Lawyer Blog