Maine Divorce Law Blog

California Says No to Gay Marriage Ban

The California Supreme Court has struck down the ban against gay marriages in that state.  Now both Massachusetts and California allow same-sex marriages.

Will Maine be far behind?

Forced Incrimation By Password

The Washington Post has an interesting article today about a Vermont man having suspected child pornography on his computer.  The government wants the court to order the man to type his password into the computer to unlock files they suspect contain porn.   

The man claims that doing so would constitute self-incrimination. The judge has ruled that he doesn’t have to give his password.

"If [he] does know the password, he would be faced with the forbidden trilemma: incriminate himself, lie under oath, or find himself in contempt of court," the judge said.  The government has appealed.

Does the Fifth Amendment prevent this type of intrusion?  What do you think?

Maine Divorce Law Blog Is Tops

This blog was recently featured as one of the top family law blogs on-line by the website prenuptialagreement.org.  Check it out here.

It’s an honor to be mentioned with the other highly informative sites!

 

Maine Allows Divorce Without Personal Jurisdiction

In the case of Van Shack v. Van Shack our Law Court has ruled that a person can get a divorce without the court having any personal jurisdiction over the defendant.  In this case Supreme Court found that the district court had jurisdiction even though it was undisputed that the defendant had “no contacts” whatsoever with the state of Maine and that the court lacked personal jurisdiction under Maine’s Long Arm Statute.  

Before you jump to conclusions, the Law Court only found that the district court had jurisdiction to dissolve the marriage — nothing more.  In other words, there still must be personal jurisdiction in order to determine what happens with the children, property rights, and finances.

Still, it’s very unusual for a court to find jurisdiction over someone with no contacts to the state.  

Can You Be Ordered To Pay Child Support For College In Maine?

Can You Be Ordered To Pay Child Support For College In Maine?

In other words, does the court have the ability to order you to pay college support expenses?  The short answer is no!

In 1986, the case of Adams v. Adams was decided and the Maine Supreme Court ruled that there is no authority for a court to order child support for college expenses. 

This doesn’t mean that the parties can’t voluntarily agree to pay for or contribute to college expenses — they just can’t be ordered by the court to do so.

Family Law Case -- Unilateral Modification of Parties' Divorce Judgment

In the case of Thorne v. Leask the Case Management Officer signed a stipulated divorce judgment that the parties had agreed to but unilaterally ordered the parties to attend a parenting course at Kid’s First. 

The defendant appealed and the Law Court ruled that the divorce court must afford the parties the opportunity to be heard on matters that are disputed.  Since that wasn’t done, the case was sent back to the divorce court.

Filing For A Divorce in Maine

The first question often asked is where does a person file for a divorce in Maine?

Generally, a divorce complaint can be filed in either the Superior Court or the District Court – though the vast majority of divorces are filed in the District Court.  In either case, you should file in the county or district where you or your spouse lives.

Who can file for a divorce in Maine?

Either the husband or the wife can file – it doesn't matter.  Regardless of who files, it also doesn't give one party an advantage over the other party.  In order to file, one of the following must be true:

· The person filing for the divorce must have resided in Maine for at least six months prior to bringing the complaint; or

· The person filing the complaint is a legal resident of Maine or the parties were married here; or

· The person bringing the complaint for divorce is a resident of Maine and the parties lived in Maine when the cause of the divorce arose; or

· The other person is currently a resident of Maine.

These are statutory requirements that can be found in Title 19-A M.R.S.A. § 901. 

What are the grounds for divorce in Maine?

There are lots of grounds for filing a divorce in Maine – adultery, impotence, extreme cruelty, gross and confirmed habits of intoxication from the use of liquor or drugs, cruel and abusive treatment – and others. 

The most common ground by far is simply irreconcilable marital differences.  In order to prove irreconcilable differences, one of the parties usually testifies that the marriage has irreconcilable differences and that the parties attempted to work out those differences but they were unsuccessful in doing so.

How long does it take to get divorced in Maine?

It all depends.  If it's an uncontested divorce, you can schedule a hearing 60 days after the other party has been served with a summons and complaint.  If it's contested, it depends on what the issues are and what court you've filed the divorce in.  If your issues are complex – for example you have children and have a disagreement about who the children will live with after you divorce – your final hearing will probably not be scheduled until after you have mediation or after a guardian ad litem has been appointed.  The guardian ad litem will make a recommendation regarding where the children will reside after the divorce. 

It often takes a guardian ad litem several months or longer to make such a recommendation. Don't forget that some courts have a busier calendar than others so that the wait time before scheduling a final hearing can vary depending on where you've filed your complaint.  It's not uncommon for contested divorces to take a year or longer before they reach trial.

Can you represent yourself in a divorce?

Sure – but generally I wouldn't advise it unless you have no children, few assets and have been married only a short period of time.  If your divorce is contested in any respect, you probably should get an attorney. 

Even if your divorce is uncontested and you think that you have a satisfactory agreement, I'd suggest you have an attorney look over your agreement before your final hearing. A divorce is a form of civil litigation in which all the rules of evidence apply.  Unless you're an attorney trained in trial practice, you'll have a difficult time knowing how to go about representing yourself.  If the other side has an attorney and you don't – you're at a considerable disadvantage. 

An old legal proverb reads as follows: "He that is his own lawyer has a fool for a client."

For all but the simplest divorce case, don't be a fool.  Hire an experienced lawyer to represent you.