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Divorce

Divorce Lawyers La Plata, Maryland

Achieving the most desirable outcomes for our clients is our top priority at Mudd, Mudd & Fitzgerald, P.A.

Divorce is most often an adversarial process. In many cases, the legal intricacies of divorce proceedings can prove daunting. Mudd, Mudd & Fitzgerald, P.A. helps you choose the appropriate grounds and the type of divorce that best meets your objectives. Our experienced, aggressive and compassionate divorce attorneys are committed to your case and listen to your concerns. That is why our top priority is achieving the most desirable outcomes for each one of our divorce clients.

Two types of divorce remedies are available to Maryland residents:

Absolute divorce

This means the marriage is terminated. Assets and liabilities, child custody and visitation, child custody and alimony awards are decided by the court. Each spouse is free to remarry.

Grounds for absolute divorce include:

  • Adultery
  • Desertion without interruption for 12 months consecutively
  • Separation of the spouses without cohabitation and without interruption for 12 months or more
  • Cruelty directed toward the petitioner or the petitioner’s minor child
  • Vicious conduct directed toward the petitioner or the petitioner’s minor child
  • Felony or misdemeanor conviction and imposition of sentence including a minimum of three years’ imprisonment or receipt of an indeterminate sentence in a penal institution, with 12 months of the criminal sentence has been served by the defendant
  • Mental impairment that confines one spouse to a hospital, mental institution, or another facility for a minimum of three years, provided additional conditions also have been met

Limited divorce

This is a legal separation decreed by the courts. The marriage is intact. The court can award alimony, but does not have property division discretion.

Grounds for limited divorce include:

  • Cruelty directed toward the petitioner or the petitioner’s minor child
  • Vicious conduct directed toward the petitioner or the petitioner’s minor child
  • Desertion
  • Voluntary separation, where the parties are no longer living together, and the possibility of reconciliation is not reasonably expected

The courts generally require the parties in an absolute divorce to make a good-faith effort to achieve reconciliation through means established by the court. The parties in a limited divorce are seldom ordered to engage in court-established reconciliation efforts.

Call for your La Plata divorce consultation today

Mudd, Mudd & Fitzgerald, P.A. is conveniently located two blocks from the Charles County Circuit and District Courts, and our office is handicapped-accessible. Our firm has been selected for the prestigious AV® Preeminent™ Peer Review Rating by Martindale-Hubbell® Peer Review Ratings™.  Please contact our family law, criminal law and personal injury law firm by calling 240.776.5078 or contact us online to schedule an appointment to discuss your rights and obligations in divorce. We are one of the oldest and largest law firms in Charles County, Maryland, and we are also competitively priced.

We are leaders, litigators and trial attorneys who fight for your rights.