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Towson Divorce Lawyer | Grounds For Divorce | Court Papers.

Divorce Court Papers 

If you retain Amar Weisman as your Towson Divorce Lawyer, your pleadings and motions filed with the court clerk will be timely and crafted with excellence and precision and advance your case based on the over-arching strategy. The following family law court papers are commonly filed in matrimonial litigation:

The Complaint for Divorce 

  • The Complaint For Divorce must establish jurisdiction, grounds for divorce and request appropriate relief.
  • Grounds for divorce include adultery, Mutual Consent, Cruelty/ excessively vicious conduct, and your separation.
  • If there are marital children, the petition should address custody, visitation, and child support. 
  • If there is a marital home, then the pleading should potentially request the use and possession of the home and a disposition of the house stating who gets it and under what circumstances.
  • Parties may request the use and possession of all property in the marital home.  
  • The Complaint for Absolute Divorce is also the appropriate vehicle to request temporary alimony, rehabilitative alimony, and indefinite alimony. 
  • The grounds for limited divorce include a separation that is lasted for less than one year. As a general proposition, the parties should be separated when filing a complaint for divorce. Still, case law allows a party to file for a divorce while residing together on the grounds of constructive desertion under minimal conditions. The Maryland rules require that parties sign the Complaint and verify its contents through an affidavit conforming to a specific language.

The Answer to the Complaint 

  • The Answer to the Plaintiff’s Complaint For Divorce, responding line-by-line to each paragraph of the Complaint; raising affirmative defenses and opposing defenses as required by statute; and simply rebutting lies and distortions within the Complaint. Time restrictions for filing answers are specified in Md. Rule 2-321. Maryland Residents must file a response with the Clerk of the Court no later than thirty (30) days after valid service of the process When service has occurred inside the state of Maryland; however, parties were served outside of Maryland but inside the United States have 60 days to respond with an answer and party do outside of the United States have 90 days. As a best practice, filing a response as quickly as possible will move the case faster.
  • The Answer should set forth Preliminary Motions under Rule 2-322, including potentially requesting dismissal based on lack of jurisdiction, improper venue, or failure to state a claim for which relief may be granted, i.e., not providing facts necessary to support ground grounds for a limited or absolute divorce.

Other Divorce-Related Court filings 

  • Service of Process & Jurisdiction
    • Motion For Alternative Service
    • Motion to Dismiss For Lack of Jurisdiction
  • Financial Matters
    • Financial Statements
      • Long Form Financial Statement that is accurately supported with exhibits and is consistent with your position. Long-form financial statements are required in matters involving the above guidelines—child Support cases involving alimony. The long-form financial information includes numerous categories that can be confusing, including utilities, mortgages, and all matters of routine household expenditures that occur every month. It must be apportioned between the party filing the financial statement and the children based on their respective shares. In addition to more than 100 categories of expenditures, there is a detailed section listing property and debt and breaking down the filing party's pay check, including any deductions. The long-form financial statement can be amended and changed as circumstances and facts require. Therefore, completing long-form financial statements with care and precision is essential.
      • Short-Form Financial Statement.
    • Motion To Freeze Assets to prevent the dissipation of assets.
  • Custody-Related Filings
    • Motion to appoint Best Interest Attorney.
    • Motion to appoint Nagle v. Hooks attorney.
  • Discovery Requests
    • Discovery Requests
      • Interrogatories command your spouse to answer difficult questions about their living situation, finances, spending, real estate, pensions, other assets, extramarital sex life, parenting plans, and witnesses.
      • Request for Production Of Documents
      • Subpoenas and Depositions Duces Tecum to banks, retirement fund administrators, the social services department, schools, employers, key witnesses, telephone companies, private detectives, neighbors, government agencies, and the opposing party, including subpoenas to appear at a deposition.
      • Request for Inspection of Real Property
    • Discovery Responses
      • Answers to Interrogatories
      • Response to Request for Production of Documents
      • Trial Subpoena Responses.
    • Discovery Compliance
      • Motions To Compel Discovery
      • Motions For Sanctions
      • Motion to compel appraisal
      • Motion to Shorten Time
  • Pre-Trial Filings
    • 9-207 Joint Statement Concerning Marital and Non-Marital Property. Submitted before trial & categorizes property in three ways:
      • The property the parties agree is marital;
      • The property the parties agree is non-marital
      • The property the parties dispute, whether it is marital or non-marital.
    • Trial Memorandum
    • Motion in Limine to determine evidentiary issues before the trial.
    • Stipulations concerning exhibits clarify which exhibits are mutually agreeable to save trial court time.
    • Motions to postpone hearing/trial/scheduling conference/settlement conference
  • Post-Trial Filings
    • Exceptions to Master’s Recommendation
    • Motion For New Trial
    • Motion For Reconsideration
    • Motion to Enforce Judgment
    • Stipulations of Dismissal
    • Earnings withholding Orders

Call (410) 321-4994 For a Consultation With Towson Divorce & Child Custody Family Lawyer Amar S. Weisman.

Please Call (410) 321-4994 during business hours to schedule a free consultation to decide whether you want to retain Amar S. Weisman. The firm does not accept pro bono clients at this time. To have legal services and advice, you must pay a retainer, See Policy on Fees/Costs. The law firm is located in the heart of Towson near The Circuit Court For Baltimore County, Towson Town Center, Goucher College and Towson University, at 1018 Dulaney Valley Road (MD-146), Second Floor Towson, MD 21204. We represent clients throughout the Baltimore area, including Aberdeen, Abingdon, Baldwin, Bel Air, Bowleys Quarters, Brooklandville, Carney, Catonsville, Cockeysville, Edgewood, Essex, Garrison, Glen Arm, Greenspring Valley, Homeland, Hunt Valley, Hydes, the Joppa Road Corridor, Kingsville, Long Green, Lutherville, Middle River, Nottingham, Owings Mills, Parkville, Pikesville, Perry Hall, Reisterstown, Riderwood, Rodgers Forge, Rosedale, Ruxton, Sparks, Sparrows Point, Stoneleigh, Timonium, Towson, West Towson, White Hall, White Marsh, and the York Road corridor. We have also represented several out-of-state clients. The law firm does not guarantee the results in any matter.