To get a divorce in Maryland, you file a Complaint for Absolute Divorce in the circuit court for the county where you or your spouse lives, after meeting the state’s residency rule and choosing one of three no-fault grounds. From there you serve your spouse, exchange financial information, settle or litigate issues like property, support, and custody, and attend a hearing where a judge signs the final decree. Maryland rewrote its divorce law effective October 1, 2023, removing fault grounds and limited divorce, so every new case runs through the no-fault process below.
Confirm You Can File in Maryland
Residency depends on where the reasons for the divorce arose. If those events happened outside Maryland, at least one spouse must have lived in the state for six months before filing.1Maryland General Assembly. Maryland Code Family Law 7-101 If the events happened in Maryland, you only need to be a current resident when you file. Most people living in the state when they submit paperwork can meet this requirement without a wait.
Choose Your Ground for Divorce
Maryland now recognizes three grounds for absolute divorce, all no-fault.2Maryland General Assembly. Maryland Code Family Law 7-103
- Six-month separation. You and your spouse have lived separate and apart without interruption for at least six months before filing. You can share a roof during that period if you have genuinely pursued separate lives.
- Irreconcilable differences. Either spouse believes the marriage should end for reasons that cannot be resolved. No separation period is required, which makes this the fastest unilateral path when the other spouse will not sign an agreement.
- Mutual consent. Both spouses sign a written settlement that resolves every issue, including property, alimony, and anything involving minor children. No separation period is required. Neither spouse can file a written objection to the agreement before the hearing, and the court must find that any terms affecting children serve their best interests.
Mutual consent is the smoothest route when you and your spouse agree on everything. Irreconcilable differences, added in the 2023 reform, lets one spouse move forward alone without proving any separation period.
File the Complaint
You start the case by filing a Complaint for Absolute Divorce, form CC-DR-020, in the circuit court for the county where either spouse lives.3Maryland Courts. Complaint for Absolute Divorce The complaint identifies both spouses, lists any minor children, states your ground, and requests the relief you want, such as property division, custody, or alimony. Most courts accept filings in person, by mail, or through the Maryland Electronic Courts (MDEC) system.
Filing fees typically run $165 to $185, depending on whether you have an attorney. If you cannot pay, file a Request for Waiver of Costs (form CC-DC-089), which asks for household income, assets, and debts under oath. The court grants the waiver if you meet the Maryland Legal Services Corporation financial eligibility guidelines or are otherwise unable to pay by reason of poverty.
If children are involved, your initial filing must include identifying information about each child’s current living arrangements, as required by Maryland Rule 9-202.4New York Codes, Rules and Regulations. Maryland Rules Rule 9-202
Serve Your Spouse
Once the complaint is filed, you must formally deliver copies of everything to your spouse. Maryland allows three methods:5New York Codes, Rules and Regulations. Maryland Rules Rule 2-121 – Process Service In Personam
- Personal delivery, usually through a sheriff or private process server.
- Abode service, by leaving copies at your spouse’s home with someone of suitable age and discretion who lives there.
- Certified mail with restricted delivery, which requires your spouse to sign personally.
Your spouse then has 30 days to file a written answer.6New York Codes, Rules and Regulations. Maryland Rules Rule 2-321 – Time for Filing Answer A spouse served elsewhere in the United States gets 60 days; service abroad allows 90 days.
If your spouse never responds, you can request an Order of Default. That does not grant the divorce on its own. It strips your spouse of the ability to contest the case going forward, but you still have to attend a hearing where the judge confirms the grounds and reviews any requested relief before entering a final decree.
Exchange Financial Information
Both spouses have to put their finances on the table. If either spouse is seeking alimony and there is no existing support agreement, each must file a sworn financial statement in the format Maryland Rule 9-203 requires.4New York Codes, Rules and Regulations. Maryland Rules Rule 9-202 A separate financial statement is also required when child support is at issue. These statements cover income, expenses, assets, and debts, and they drive the court’s financial decisions.
Either side can also use the discovery process to go further: written questions answered under oath, document requests for tax returns and bank records, and depositions. Discovery matters most in contested cases where one spouse suspects the other of hiding income or undervaluing assets.
Many couples try mediation to resolve the open issues without a trial. A mediator does not decide anything but helps you work toward an agreement. A full settlement reached in mediation can convert your case to a mutual-consent divorce and shorten the final hearing.
Resolve Property, Support, and Custody
Before a judge can enter a decree, every money and parenting question has to be answered, either by your agreement or by a ruling.
Property. Maryland follows equitable distribution. Marital property is anything acquired by either spouse during the marriage, regardless of whose name is on the title.7Maryland General Assembly. Maryland Code Family Law 8-201 – Definitions Property owned before the marriage, inherited, received as a gift from someone other than your spouse, or excluded by a valid prenuptial or postnuptial agreement is not marital. The court weighs eleven statutory factors, including each spouse’s monetary and nonmonetary contributions, the length of the marriage, each spouse’s economic circumstances, and the circumstances that led to the breakup.8Maryland General Assembly. Maryland Code Family Law 8-205 Conduct still matters indirectly, even in a no-fault system. Retirement benefits earned during the marriage are marital property, and splitting a 401(k) or pension requires a Qualified Domestic Relations Order directing the plan administrator to pay a portion of one spouse’s benefits to the other.9Internal Revenue Service. Retirement Topics – QDRO Qualified Domestic Relations Order
Alimony. A court can award alimony to either spouse, but no one is automatically entitled to it.10Maryland General Assembly. Maryland Code Family Law 11-101 – Alimony The judge evaluates twelve factors, including the requesting spouse’s ability to become self-supporting, the time needed for education or training, the marital standard of living, the length of the marriage, and each party’s financial resources.11Maryland General Assembly. Maryland Code Family Law 11-106 Awards can be temporary, rehabilitative, or indefinite, with indefinite alimony reserved for cases where the recipient cannot reasonably become self-supporting or where the gap in living standards would be unconscionably large.
Custody. Custody rulings turn on the best interests of the child. The statute lists sixteen factors a judge must consider and make findings on, including the child’s stability, each parent’s relationship with the child, the child’s developmental needs, how well the parents communicate, and the child’s own preference when age-appropriate.12New York Codes, Rules and Regulations. Maryland Code Family Law 9-201 – Factors for Determining Child Custody and Visitation Neither parent is presumed to be the better custodian.
Child support. Support is calculated with a formula based on the combined adjusted actual incomes of both parents, the number of children, and the custody arrangement.13Maryland General Assembly. Maryland Code Family Law 12-201 – Definitions The guidelines produce a presumptive amount, which a court can adjust if the result would be unjust. A completed child support guidelines worksheet must accompany any settlement that includes support.
Attend the Hearing and Receive the Decree
Every Maryland divorce ends with a hearing, even an uncontested one. If you and your spouse have a full settlement, the hearing is typically brief: the judge reviews the agreement, confirms it is fair, verifies that any terms affecting children serve their best interests, and incorporates the agreement into the final decree.2Maryland General Assembly. Maryland Code Family Law 7-103
If issues remain open, the court holds a contested hearing or trial. Both sides present evidence and testimony, and the judge decides every open question before issuing a Judgment of Absolute Divorce. That order ends the marriage, finalizes financial and custody arrangements, and restores both parties to single status. Either party can remarry once the decree is entered, though enforcement of its terms, such as property transfers and ongoing support, may continue for months or years.
Restoring a Former Name
If you changed your name when you married and want it back, ask for the restoration during the divorce itself. You can include the request in your Complaint for Absolute Divorce or, if you are the responding spouse, in your Answer or Counter-Claim. The judge grants the restoration as part of the final decree at no extra cost.
Miss that window and you can still file a Motion for Restoration of Former Name (form CC-DR-097) with the court that handled your divorce, as long as fewer than 18 months have passed since the decree. The name must be one you formally used before the marriage, and the court cannot deny the request without a hearing. After 18 months, or if you want a brand-new name rather than a prior one, you must file a Petition for Change of Name (form CC-DR-060), which carries its own filing fee.
Watch the Tax Calendar
Your federal filing status for the entire year is set by whether you are married or divorced on December 31. A decree finalized at any point during the year means you file as single, or head of household if you qualify, for that full year.14Internal Revenue Service. Filing Status A decree that lands on January 2 means you were still married for the prior year.
Alimony under any divorce finalized after December 31, 2018, is not deductible by the payer and not taxable to the recipient.15Internal Revenue Service. Publication 504 – Divorced or Separated Individuals Older agreements executed before 2019 still follow the prior rules unless modified after 2018 with language adopting the new treatment. For Maryland divorces today, the payer carries the full federal tax burden on the income used for alimony and the recipient takes the payments tax-free.