Hyatt Legal Plans Spotlight Attorney - February 2013

Hyatt Legal Plans has named me and my firm as its Spotlight Attorneys for February 2013 as a result of the outstanding service we provide to Hyatt Plan Members.

The Valentine's Day Card

Approximately eighty-five percent (85%) of the Valentine's Day cards sold in this country are purchased by women.  While giving a Valentine's Day card may not rank highly as an item of importance for men, it clearly is for women.   Husbands, free advice from a divorce lawyer, score some easy brownie points with your wife this year, buy her a Valentine's Day card (or two).  The roses are nice, but the card - and the handwritten sentiments it contains - are what is truly important to your wife.

In honor of Valentine's Day, I'm reposting its history from The History Channel. 

The Legend of St. Valentine

The history of Valentine's Day--and the story of its patron saint--is shrouded in mystery. We do know that February has long been celebrated as a month of romance, and that St. Valentine's Day, as we know it today, contains vestiges of both Christian and ancient Roman tradition. But who was Saint Valentine, and how did he become associated with this ancient rite?

The Catholic Church recognizes at least three different saints named Valentine or Valentinus, all of whom were martyred. One legend contends that Valentine was a priest who served during the third century in Rome. When Emperor Claudius II decided that single men made better soldiers than those with wives and families, he outlawed marriage for young men. Valentine, realizing the injustice of the decree, defied Claudius and continued to perform marriages for young lovers in secret. When Valentine's actions were discovered, Claudius ordered that he be put to death.

Other stories suggest that Valentine may have been killed for attempting to help Christians escape harsh Roman prisons, where they were often beaten and tortured. According to one legend, an imprisoned Valentine actually sent the first "valentine" greeting himself after he fell in love with a young girl--possibly his jailor's daughter--who visited him during his confinement. Before his death, it is alleged that he wrote her a letter signed "From your Valentine," an expression that is still in use today. Although the truth behind the Valentine legends is murky, the stories all emphasize his appeal as a sympathetic, heroic and--most importantly--romantic figure. By the Middle Ages, perhaps thanks to this reputation, Valentine would become one of the most popular saints in England and France.

Origins of Valentine's Day: A Pagan Festival in February

While some believe that Valentine's Day is celebrated in the middle of February to commemorate the anniversary of Valentine's death or burial--which probably occurred around A.D. 270--others claim that the Christian church may have decided to place St. Valentine's feast day in the middle of February in an effort to "Christianize" the pagan celebration of Lupercalia. Celebrated at the ides of February, or February 15, Lupercalia was a fertility festival dedicated to Faunus, the Roman god of agriculture, as well as to the Roman founders Romulus and Remus.

To begin the festival, members of the Luperci, an order of Roman priests, would gather at a sacred cave where the infants Romulus and Remus, the founders of Rome, were believed to have been cared for by a she-wolf or lupa. The priests would sacrifice a goat, for fertility, and a dog, for purification. They would then strip the goat's hide into strips, dip them into the sacrificial blood and take to the streets, gently slapping both women and crop fields with the goat hide. Far from being fearful, Roman women welcomed the touch of the hides because it was believed to make them more fertile in the coming year. Later in the day, according to legend, all the young women in the city would place their names in a big urn. The city's bachelors would each choose a name and become paired for the year with his chosen woman. These matches often ended in marriage.

Valentine's Day: A Day of Romance

Lupercalia survived the initial rise of Christianity and but was outlawed—as it was deemed “un-Christian”--at the end of the 5th century, when Pope Gelasius declared February 14 St. Valentine's Day. It was not until much later, however, that the day became definitively associated with love. During the Middle Ages, it was commonly believed in France and England that February 14 was the beginning of birds' mating season, which added to the idea that the middle of Valentine's Day should be a day for romance.

Valentine greetings were popular as far back as the Middle Ages, though written Valentine's didn't begin to appear until after 1400. The oldest known valentine still in existence today was a poem written in 1415 by Charles, Duke of Orleans, to his wife while he was imprisoned in the Tower of London following his capture at the Battle of Agincourt. (The greeting is now part of the manuscript collection of the British Library in London, England.) Several years later, it is believed that King Henry V hired a writer named John Lydgate to compose a valentine note to Catherine of Valois.

Typical Valentine's Day Greetings

In addition to the United States, Valentine's Day is celebrated in Canada, Mexico, the United Kingdom, France and Australia. In Great Britain, Valentine's Day began to be popularly celebrated around the 17th century. By the middle of the 18th, it was common for friends and lovers of all social classes to exchange small tokens of affection or handwritten notes, and by 1900 printed cards began to replace written letters due to improvements in printing technology. Ready-made cards were an easy way for people to express their emotions in a time when direct expression of one's feelings was discouraged. Cheaper postage rates also contributed to an increase in the popularity of sending Valentine's Day greetings.

Americans probably began exchanging hand-made valentines in the early 1700s. In the 1840s, Esther A. Howland began selling the first mass-produced valentines in America. Howland, known as the “Mother of the Valentine,” made elaborate creations with real lace, ribbons and colorful pictures known as "scrap." Today, according to the Greeting Card Association, an estimated 1 billion Valentine’s Day cards are sent each year, making Valentine's Day the second largest card-sending holiday of the year. (An estimated 2.6 billion cards are sent for Christmas.) Women purchase approximately 85 percent of all valentines.

Annulment in Maryland

I recently concluded a trial where the wife was seeking to obtain an annulment of her marriage.  The wife sought the annulment on the basis that the marriage had never been consummated and that her husband, who I represented, had only married her in order to become a citizen of the United States.  The husband denied both allegations of the complaint and, ultimately, although a settlement was reached, the Court dismissed the complaint on the basis that the wife had failed to prove that fraud had in fact occurred. 

It is well-established under Maryland law that annulments are a disfavored remedy.  Although not impossible to obtain, it is often difficult for a party to have a marriage annulled and Maryland Courts will give careful consideration of the grounds and facts before annulling a marriage.  Proving fraud is often an essential element for an annulment.  To establish fraud, the party seeking the annulment must prove that their spouse made a fraudulent representation - or fraudulently concealed facts from them - and that based upon this misrepresentation they were induced to enter into the marriage.  The spouse's fraud must be proven by clear and convincing evidence. 

If you would like to talk about a potential annulment of your marriage, please call our office at (301) 444-4660.

A Resolution to be Happy: Divorce and New Year's Resolutions

January is a time to make New Year's Resolutions and one thing I have noticed over the years is that a lot of people make a resolution to live a happier life around New Year's, and for many of them, this means taking the first steps towards getting a divorce.  Although reportedly the number one New Year's resolution people make is to spend more time with their family, a lot of people make a resolution to spend a lot less time with one particular family member:  their spouse.  Going hand in hand with the resolution to "enjoy life more" is to enjoy life more, single.

While new divorce clients do not often call during the December holidays, the phone starts to ring (a lot) after January 1.  People want to try and make it through the holidays (or do not want to ruin them for their families), so they often hold out to talk to a divorce attorney until January.  Having made it through the holidays, those who are unhappily married often resolve to live happier times ahead.

If you are among thoe who have resolved to live a happier life this year, and have questions regarding a divorce, or are interested in filing for divorce, please feel free to call my office at (301) 444-4660.  I would be happy to discuss your options with you and, hopefully, make 2013 a happier year for you.

DON'T TEXT ANYTHING, STUPID!

In my initial divorce consultation, I always told my clients the same thing for the past 10 years:  "Don't do anything stupid".  It is sage advice, applicable to many situations.  Some clients listen to my advice, others do not.  Those clients that do, probably save thousands in legal fees and often fare better in their divorce than those who don't.  . 

However, in this day of iPhones and Galaxies and an occasional Blackberry, I need to give better, updated advice:  "Don't text anything stupid" or is it, "Don't text anything, stupid"?

I am simply amazed and what people will text to their spouse with whom they are going through a divorce or when a divorce is on the horizon.  Remember, text messages do not disappear like pictures on Sanpchat.  They stay on the recipient's phone.  And do you know what the recipients often do with those text messages on their phone?  They take pictures of the messages and then show the messages to their lawyers.  Or they take their phone and give it to their lawyers to read the messages.  And then the lawyers take those messages and use them against the sender in court. 

Text are written communications.  They can be easily saved and used as evidence in Court.

Dont text anything


Listen up:  If you are going through a divorce, custody battle, separation, or child support battle with

VACATION CUSTODY SCHEDULES - PLAN NOW

With the holidays right around the corner, including Halloween, Thanksgiving and Winter Break, it is important for divorced parents to make sure that their holiday and vacation custody schedules are in place and that each parent knows when they will have their minor child or children over the holidays and when custody transfers are to take place.  Most Maryland Judges do not consider holiday custody disputes - who gets the children over the holidays - to be an "emergency" matter and last minute disputes over holiday custody schedules are unlikely to be heard by the Court on an expedited basis. 

If you think there may be issues with your ex-spouse regarding vacation schedules over the upcoming holidays, you should plan now and start discussing the issue with your ex.  If any issues are unresolvable and merit the Court's attention, you still have time to have a Judge resolve the dispute, if necessary. 

Don't let your holidays be ruined - plan ahead and address any unresolved custody issues now. 

A Taxing Issue During a Divorce

Divorcing parties need to remember to change the number of allowances they claim for Federal and State income tax withholding during the divorce process.  Failure to do so could result in significant, and unplanned, tax liability.

For example, many people file joint income tax returns with their spouse and claim their children as dependents.  However, once divorced, or even during the divorce process, the parties may decide to file individual tax returns, even before the divorce becomes finalized.  Doing so usually results in increased tax liability.  There may also be disputes as to who claims the children on their tax return as dependents.

To mitigate against a change in tax liability based on your filing status, a party going through a divorce should consider adjusting the number of allowances he or she claims on IRS Form W-4.  Although this may result in lower net pay each pay period, it will offset the potential increased tax liability at year end.

You should contact your lawyer or accountant to see if this issue affects you.

For a free initial divorce consultation, call our offices at 301-444-4660 today. 

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