Legal Question in Family Law in Maryland

Re: What can he do?

Child support is set by the Maryland Child Support Guidelines. The Court can take into consideration, both child support and alimony, the fact that one party has impoverished themselves. Please feel free to contact me at [email protected] to see if my fees are more reasonable than your current attorney. You also should check with the local lawyer referral service to see if there is a more reasonably priced attorney in your area.

Re: What can he do?

Wanting $5000/month in alimony, child support, etc. and getting it are two different things. The court will award child support based on a formula which considers each parent's income and certain expenses such as work-related child care, necessary job-related expenses such as union dues, and high medical costs for the children. If one parent is unemployed, or underemployed, the court can consider that, also, and base child support on what the parent COULD earn rather than what he actually earns. As for alimony, it is very rare that anyone gets alimony, unless the person is unable to be self-supporting and the other party has sufficient income to pay alimony and have enough left to support him/herself. If your boyfriend can't afford a lawyer, I doubt very much that he will be ordered to pay alimony.

I understand that he is trying to work things out without going to court, but it does help to know what the court WOULD do. If he is trying to negotiate with his wife and her attorney, he is at a major disadvantage without either that knowledge or his own lawyer. He can save himself a lot of future financial damage by spending what it takes now. And there are a lot of good lawyers out there whose fees are reasonable. He should look for one in your part of the state. Regarding the grounds for divorce, the lies, etc., that isn't worth wasting time on. The wife does have grounds for divorce, adultery, whether he was getting ready to leave before you met or not. The divorce will happen, and it seems that the only issues worth worrying about have to do with money. If they own the home, she is generally entitled to three years use and possession as long as there are minor children. At the end of that time, the house is usually sold, or one party buys out the other's interest. In the meantime, if your boyfriend is paying the mortgage payments, he can get at least a fraction of that money back in a tax deduction, and he is increasing the equity in the house which may benefit him when (or if) it is sold. His mortgage payments, or at least a part of them, should be counted towards his child support obligation. And of course child support is one obligation he can not avoid, and shouldn't want to. One bit of advice for you - try to avoid getting too much involved in the divorce negotiations. It really is a matter between your boy friend and his wife, and new girl friends in your situation can actually make it harder to reach a reasonable agreement if they appear to be too closely involved in the decision-making.