Legal Question in Family Law in Maryland
Consent Order validity
My ex-wife has recently engaged an attorney to force me to abide by the provisions of a consent order executed in Montgomery County Maryland in 1991. The original 1991 consent order included a provision to include the terms of the 1989 sepratation agreement that were not addressed by the consent order. These 1989 terms are the ones they are trying to force me to abide by.
However, in 1997, we went back to court and agreed to a new consent order that does NOT include the previous agreements in the order. It is a stand alone order and all terms of the order are now completed, since our son (who I had custody of) is now almost 21.
My expectation at the time, and my lawyer's advice at the time (since deceased) was that the previous agreements were now null and void, and the final consent order was the only legally binding instrument in effect.
Is there some loophole that my ex-wife's lawyer can use to enforce the previous agreements? I'd like to know my legal standing prior to responding to their threats.
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: Consent Order validity
It is difficult to answer your question without knowing the precise language contained in the 3 documents. For example, if the '91 order incorporated the '89 agreement and merged the two, then the '89 agreement lives or dies with the '91 agreement. In this instance, to the extent the '97 order superceded the '91 order, it would also supercede the '89 agreement.
However, if the earlier order incorporated but did not merge the '89 agreement, then by law the '89 agreement can be independently enforced outside of the court orders. The subject matter of the various documents that you are dealing with should provide a more precise answer.
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