Legal Question in Family Law in Maryland
Custodial Parent-Error in Divorce Decree
1) At the divorce hearing the husband was named as the custodial parent. When the decree was issued the husband did not read it, and as it turns out, the decree names the wife as custodial parent. The children have always lived with the husband, not the wife. It has been 3 years, can the decree be corrected?
2) The husband initially filed the divorce paper work on his own, but because of disagreement he had to get an attorney. As part of the initial filing he agreed not to go after the wife's retirement if she did not seek any of his. Because of disagreement, the husband had to get an attorney, and the attorney told him he was barred from seeking any of her retirement because of his initial filing, and that it could not be amended. Is this correct, and/or does he have any recourse?
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: Custodial Parent-Error in Divorce Decree
As to the custody issue, he should file a motion to modify the judgment, but if there is no written record supporting what the judge or master ruled at the hearing, he may have to get a transcript of the proceedings, unless the ex-wife consents to the modification. If he needs the transcript, he should check with the court clerk to see how long they keep recordings of these hearings. If they have a recording, they can prepare a transcript.
As to the retirement benefits, if there was no agreement on property (which includes retirement benefits), he could have filed an amended complaint before the divorce hearing to go after those benefits. But since he didn't, it's now too late--once a certain amount of time goes by after the divorce becomes final, all property issues are settled. If he had an attorney during the divorce proceedings, the attorney should have known this.
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