Annapolis Family Law Blog

On Jan. 30, 2012, the Maryland Department of Human Resources announced that it collected nearly $400,000 in overdue child support from a "single non-custodial parent."

The department says the delinquent child support collection is the largest such payment of its kind in the state's history.

Some married couples who no longer choose to live together are finding a legal separation works better for them than an actual divorce -- and it may be easier on the wallet.

Many couples considering divorce begin with a trial separation before they actually file the paperwork. Maryland couples planning to live apart should consider a separation agreement for protection. Without a written separation agreement, spouses are still responsible for the other person's debts and legal issues.

After a divorce, joint debts do not magically disappear. Residents of Maryland, beware! If you share a credit card with your soon-to-be ex-spouse or co-signed for a mortgage, make sure to address those debts as part of the property division process during your divorce.

Even if you divide your debts in a fair and rational manner, keep an eye on your former spouse's debt payments. If your former spouse suddenly stops paying his or her bills, you could still be responsible for that money.

As custodial parents throughout Maryland know all too well, a divorce decree that orders child support payments does not guarantee children will actually get the financial support they deserve. In fact, data gathered by the U.S. Census Bureau indicates more than half of the parents who are supposed to be collecting child support are not receiving their full payment.

While it is clearly in the best interests of the child to pay child support, roughly one out of every four divorced parents is not getting any of the financial support he or she is entitled to receive. Actually, it is estimated that one out of three divorced parents receives only a portion of the support spelled out in the divorce decree.