New Maryland No Fault Divorce Law effective October 1, 2011

 

 

Maryland currently has two “no-fault”

 

grounds for an absolute divorce: a mutual and

 

voluntary separation of one year, or a separation

 

of two years. As of October 1, 2011, the new

 

law eliminates voluntary separation as a ground

 

for absolute divorce and shortens the

 

period the parties must be living separate and apart

 

from two years to one year.

 

This is a major change in Maryland Divorce Law. It shortens

 

the time a spouse, who does not have an

 

agreement to separate or a fault ground for

 

divorce, has to wait for a divorce to one year

 

down from two years.

 

Maryland’s  no fault ground requires

 

that there be no sexual relations during the one

 

year separation and that both spouses live in separate

 

residences for the entire year.