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?

Dovorce YouTube Style

It’s all over the Internet.  You know what I’m talking about: that YouTube video by Tricia Walsh Smith who is being divorced by her older husband.  In the video Smith announces that they’ve never had sex, despite the fact that she found his stashes of prono, viagra and condoms.

Still — posting it on YouTube?  Is nothing private?

 

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!

 

Husband Charged With Rape of Wife

This is a crime that you don’t see pressed very often — but one that probably occurs much more frequently than reported.

A man in Maine was charged with raping his wife last week.  The wife kept a journal of other assaults and says that she has suffered abuse for a long period of time.

The husband denies the charges.

Divorce Court Explained With Circles

What a simple way to explain things.

Don't Disclose Your Address At Abuse Hearing If Fearful Of Your Spouse

Sadly, today’s paper reports again about a Maine man facing murder charges after shooting his wife last Friday at her brother's home in Fairfield, Maine.  It appears that the man learned of his wife’s whereabouts after she disclosed in open court — with her husband standing just a few feet away — where she was living.  A few days later he got a gun and killed her while their two young children were in the home.

Now people are asking why his wife was ordered to disclose where she would be living during the protection from abuse hearing.  A Press Herald columnist wonders:

“[A] vexing Catch-22 hangs over this tragedy -- one that has long troubled those who work to prevent domestic violence in Maine.

 

It goes like this: How can the state tell a man to stay away from a woman without specifying where that woman is living so the man will know where to stay away from?

 

Put more simply, how do we prevent a protection-from-abuse order, complete with home address, from becoming a road map to murder?”

 

This flawed system of letting an abuser know where his victim will be staying must be changed to prevent this tragedy from happening in the future.

 

How Do You Get Your Name Changed?

How Do You Get Your Named Changed In A Divorce?

Many times, a woman wants to return to her maiden name after a divorce becomes final -- how is that done?  Maine law provides that upon request, either spouse can have his or her name changed when the court enters the final divorce judgment. 

It's interesting that either spouse can request a different name, and the name doesn't have to be a return to a previous name or maiden name. 

Typically, this is done by simply requesting the name change in the final divorce judgment that is submitted to the court for the judge's signature.  No formal motion is necessary and I've never seen a court refuse such a request.

What Are The Consequences of Leaving The Marital Home First In A Divorce in Maine?

I’m often asked by a new client if he or she loses any rights by leaving the marital home first.  It’s a good question.

 

If you leave the family residence, are you less likely to get a favorable award of parental rights and responsibilities (child custody)?

Under Maine law (Title 19–A M.R.S.A. §1653(5)), the court may not consider departure from the family residence as a factor in determining parental rights and responsibilities when: (1) the departing parent has been physically harmed or seriously threatened with physical harm by the other parent and the harm or threat of harm was the reason for the departure, or (2) when one parent has left the family residence by mutual agreement or at the request or insistence of the other parent.

What this means is that in the majority of circumstances — when you leave your home due to threats of harm or my mutual agreement — the court won’t consider that fact against you in determining whether you ultimately obtain some type of custody of your children.

I’ve previously posted on many factors that go into obtaining custody of children.  As long as you properly maintain contact with your children and actively parent them after moving out of the family home, it shouldn’t adversely affect your parental rights with them.

Leaving the family home may affect the strength or your argument to have the home awarded to you as part of the divorce — but that’s a different question that I’ll deal with in another post.

 

How Quickly Can You Get Divorced In Maine?

How Quickly Can You Get Divorced In Maine?

Sometimes both parties want to get an uncontested divorce as soon as possible.  They’ve agreed to all the issues, and the only question is how quickly they can get divorced.

In Maine, you need to wait at least 60 days after you’ve served the summons and complaint on your spouse before you can obtain an uncontested divorce.

In some counties, uncontested divorces are scheduled in district court nearly every day.  In courts serving areas of the state with a more limited population, divorces may be scheduled only a few times a month. 

What this means is that depending upon where you live in Maine, it’s likely to take at least 2 months — and perhaps even 3 or 4 months — before you can obtain an uncontested divorce.