Maryland Divorce

Phone

571-328-4950
Maryland for

Uncontested
divorces

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Maryland does require a court hearing to obtain an uncontested divorce but for now the hearings
are virtual. You do not need a witness nor does your spouse need to appear for the hearing. To
qualify for a divorce you must be a current resident. If the grounds for divorce occurred outside
of Maryland then you must be a Maryland resident for at least 6 months before filing for divorce.
If the grounds for divorce occurred in Maryland then there is no residency waiting period. For
an explanation as to what makes a case uncontested please go to my “Divorce Law” page.

Divorce Law

There are 2 types of no-fault divorces in Maryland, a) mutual consent, and b) 12 months of
separation. A mutual consent divorce does not require a separation period to file for divorce.
You can file right away (even if you are still living in the same house), but you need your spouse
to sign a separation agreement and other court documents. A divorce based on 12-months of
separation can be filed without your spouse’s cooperation or signature but as the name implies
you must wait 12 months after separation before you can file.

It’s fine. We don’t need their cooperation but you must be separated for a year before you can file for divorce.
You can still get divorced. We would have to serve him/her notice of the complaint for divorce by publishing a notice in a local newspaper and mail him/her a certified copy of the complaint to their last known address. Having to serve them in this way does delay the divorce a little.
There is no separation time period if you are filing for divorce based on mutual consent. If you do not have your spouse’s consent to the divorce then you will need to file for divorce based on one year of separation. The clock of separation starts ticking when you have decided that the marriage is over and there is no hope of reconciliation combined with no longer cohabitating together. However, if the two of you resume sexual relations, cohabitate or engage in marriage counseling the clock of separation resets and you must start the separation period all over again.
Once all the paperwork is filed with the court, the court takes about 2 weeks to set a hearing date. The hearing date is usually within 4 weeks. The divorce decree will not be signed for an additional 3 weeks after the hearing. Sometimes it’s sooner but plan on a total of about 8 weeks. This does depend on the court’s docket and there may be unforeseen factors outside of my control.
For a mutual consent divorce we need your spouse to sign a separation agreement, an answer, and a joint request to schedule a hearing. We need nothing else from them.
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    Content by McDevitt Law Office. McDevitt Law provides legal advice and representation for residents of Vienna, Virginia, and Northern Virginia (NOVA) and Hampton Roads communities, including Fairfax, Alexandria, Arlington, McLean, Clifton, Manassas, Leesburg, Loudoun, Reston, Herndon, Ashburn, Falls Church, Centreville, Sterling, Tysons Corner, Fair Lakes, Fair Oaks, Oakton, Chantilly, Rosslyn, Virginia Beach, Norfolk, Hampton and Richmond, Virginia, as well as the Washington, MD, metro area.

    Address:

    Vienna, VA

    make a call:

    571-328-4950

    Email me:

    lisa@easy-divorce.net
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