Thank you for joining me. My name is LaSheena Williams, and I am a Maryland family law attorney. My firm helps our clients take control of out-of-control domestic situations. Today we will be discussing domestic violence, divorce, and criminal cases and how they intertwine in America.
Timeline Considerations: Pre-Divorce Filing
If you have a divorce, domestic violence matter, and criminal charge pending, it’s very, very important that you speak with an attorney to understand how the different phases of each action can impact your choices. It’s important for you to understand the timeline for what phases of litigation you’re in and what your options are. For example, if you haven’t yet filed for divorce, it may make more sense for you to file a petition for protection in the district court because you leave yourself the option to refile in the circuit court if for some reason the district court fails to Grant you a petition for protection. if you’ve already had a petition for protection granted, but you have not yet filed for divorce and criminal charges are currently pending you may want to get the criminal charges addressed while you’re still married because you have certain options available, such as spousal privileges, when it comes to criminal charges and you might want to get those issues addressed prior to you filing or obtaining a divorce. There’s a lot of interconnected and moving parts, that may not necessarily be readily clear to someone who has not spoken with also a domestic attorney and an attorney familiar with criminal cases and it’s important that you speak with someone so that you know your rights and know what options you may have regarding settlement agreements or even pleading to certain issues. You really need to know before you kind of get mashed in the miasma that is the divorce protective order and domestic violence kind of triumvirate.
Timeline Considerations: Post Divorce Filing
So, if you’ve already filed a divorce, you have some limitations when it comes to what you can do in a divorce and what your options are regarding obtaining a petition for protection or the criminal charges. So, if you’ve already filed for a divorce, you’re likely to be limited and whether you can actually complete mediation that’s court ordered because the court typically does not order court ordered mediation in the event where parties have a history of domestic violence. If you’ve already got litigation pending regarding your divorce, you are likely to not have your hearing in District Court it might be added to your ongoing divorce litigation because you’ve already got a matter pending before the court and typically the courts take the position that it’s better for the judge to have a comprehensive understanding of what’s going on with your family if more than one issue is happening so that they’re not making decisions that impact your family in a vacuum. In a post-divorce filing situation, the options you may have for settlement or even at your disposal in a protective order might be impacted based on what the requirements are of any pre-trial release conditions for the criminal charges. All these issues can intertwine and a failure to abide by the terms for any protective order or any criminal charges can negatively impact your divorce case and it could make it so that you may be liable for violating a petition for protection which is another criminal charge, or it may be a violation of your release conditions for the criminal case. You really need to have a good understanding of what your options are and what your obligations are to avoid falling victim to additional criminal charges, additional infractions, and even a negative connotation or implication when it comes to getting the divorce requests you’re seeking.
If you have any questions about how divorce, domestic violence, and criminal charges intertwine in Maryland or any other family related issues, contact the Law Office of LaSheena M. Williams at (301) 778 – 9950 or leave an online request for a consultation.
