Online Divorce in Maryland

Maryland Online Divorce provides a low-cost, convenient tool to prepare for the filing process. Using this website, you can save yourself the hassle of selecting and filling out all the necessary papers and documents, as well as the need to spend money on lawyers.

Although online divorce services do not provide legal advice and cannot be recommended in contested divorces, they are very useful in the case of a divorce based on mutual consent.

Each divorce requires proper paperwork, no matter how simple it is, and even a minor mistake in court forms may lead to the case rejection. To avoid such problems, the divorcing spouses can take advantage of the following Maryland Online Divorce benefits:

For an uncontested no-fault divorce, Maryland Courts provides the following legal forms:

To complete the required divorce forms on their own, the spouse initiating the case 
(the plaintiff) must take the following steps:

As long as the parties can agree to the terms of their divorce, divorces can be conducted without lawyers involved. In such a case, the spouses can either prepare all the needed divorce forms independently or use Maryland Online Divorce to make this process more straightforward and hassle-free.

This online divorce service allows receiving your full divorce packet in only two business days for just $139.

However, completing all the further steps of the divorce procedure is the spouses' responsibility if they arrange a DIY divorce.

Thus, to start the divorce, the plaintiff must pay filing fees. It is worth contacting the local Court Clerk's office to know the exact amount and form of payment accepted, but the average filing fee in Maryland is about $165.

Then, the plaintiff must make at least two copies of all forms and file their completed and signed Complaint for Absolute Divorce and other initial divorce papers with the appropriate Circuit Court.

The clerk provides the plaintiff with a case number, which must then be written on each of the copies.

That is how to complete the initial divorce filing process without an attorney. For more information, self-represented litigants may use General Instructions (Form CC-DRIN).

Although do-it-yourself divorce is not generally advisable for contested cases, couples who do not have remaining disagreements regarding the basic divorce issues can get a divorce without a lawyer.

Generally, such a DIY divorce involves the same steps as a legally assisted process:

1. Complete the initial divorce forms:

2. File for divorce

The plaintiff needs to file the above papers in the Circuit Court in the county where either spouse currently resides. Besides, the plaintiff must pay court fees at the time they file papers.

3. Serve the divorce papers

When the case is filed, the plaintiff must serve the other spouse (the defendant) with copies of the Complaint, the Writ of Summons, and other documents to notify them about the lawsuit.

In the state of Maryland, the following ways of serving divorce papers are available:

Whoever serves the defendant must file the proof of service (Affidavit of Service form) with 
the Court Clerk before the case can proceed.

4. Once served with divorce papers,

the defendant has 30 days to file an answer. However, if the defendant lives in another state, this period is prolonged up to 60 days. Filing the Answer to Divorce Complaint form allows the defendant to agree or disagree with the provisions contained in the Complaint.

5. Maryland Family Law

does not require any waiting period before a dissolution of marriage can be finalized. Thus, the court can generally schedule a final hearing right after receiving the defendant's response.

An uncontested divorce hearing is a fairly simple procedure. The judge reviews the submitted divorce forms and asks questions related to the content of the Complaint and the couple's Settlement Agreement. If the agreement is fair and everything is completed correctly, the judge can sign a divorce decree (Judgment of Absolute Divorce).

If the divorcing spouses have minor children, they can agree on the terms of custody, visitation rights, child support, and other child-related issues out of court. Otherwise, Maryland courts decide custody based on the child's best interest and after considering multiple factors of 
a particular divorce case.

Whether decided by the parents themselves or the judge, child custody includes legal and physical custody.

Both legal and physical custody may be sole or joint, i.e., shared between the spouses.

Joint physical custody applies when the time a child spends with each parent is shared precisely in half but not necessary (typically, more than 35% of the year, or at least 127 overnights).

Besides, the court can order divorcing parents of minors to take Parenting Class, 
an educational program designed to help the ex-spouses reduce the impact of divorce on their children.

As for child support, it must be determined following the Maryland Child Support Guidelines in most cases. An exact amount of child support is calculated based on the Income Shares Model, which considers the relevant factors, including the number of minor children, parents' income, health insurance costs, and extraordinary medical expenses.