New Maryland State Laws Passed in 2018

The 438th session of the Maryland General Assembly recently passed 889 new bills into law. We thought it might be interesting to share a few new laws in?Divorce,?Family Law, Election Law and even one about sunscreen in schools?(no joke).

These new laws take effect at varying times and we are sharing just a short summary. To review the entire text visit www.msa.maryland.gov.

Domestic Violence - Permanent Protective Order

The new law expands the circumstances under which the court is required to issue permanent protective orders against individuals. Generally speaking, a person can be granted a permanent protective order against someone who has been sentenced to prison for 5 or more years and has served more than 12 months of the sentence.

Mutual Consent Divorce - Minor Children

A Maryland Court is now authorized to grant a decree of Absolute (final) Divorce on the grounds of mutual consent if the parties have minor children, under certain circumstances. Mutual Consent is a relatively new ground for divorce in Maryland that allows couples to obtain a divorce even if they are still living in the same home.

Previously, a mutual consent divorce was not permitted for couples with minor children. This new law changes that.

Election Law - Cybersecurity

It appears that our legislature has taken some affirmative steps to help maintain the security and integrity of our voting process. This new law requires the State Administrator of elections to submit a report to the Department of Information Technology and appropriate persons within 7 days after becoming aware of security violations, or significant attempted security violations, involving an election system.

Child Conceived Without Consent

This new law authorizes a Court, under certain circumstances, to terminate the parental rights of an individual convicted of, or found to have committed an act of, non-consensual sexual conduct against the other parent that resulted in the conception of a child.

THE 2018 WINNER FOR THE MOST IMPORTANT NEW LAW

A new Maryland law requires each county board of education to adopt a written policy to authorize a student to possess and use sunscreen on school property or at a school-sponsored activity without written permission from a health care provider. It also requires each county board to encourage public schools to educate about sunscreen and sun safety.

As always, our mission is to provide top quality, affordable, legal services to all of our Clients. If you have any legal need to discuss, contact David@RubenLaw.com or call our office direct at 410.766.4044 for your free consultation.