FAMILY LAW TASK FORCE

Chairs: Ashley Mariner, Angus Derbyshire
Senior Attorney Advocate: Margaret Maupin
Director of Advocacy for Children and Families: Erica I. LeMon

For a complete list of Family Law Sample Pleadings, click Pleading in the task bar at the top of the page and then, from the drop down list, select Family Law

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Family Law Task Force content posted in order of most recent to oldest.

Updated chart for special enrollment periods under the ACA

Posted on: 06/19/2018

News Clippings

The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities has published an updated chart on the events that trigger a special enrollment period under the Affordable Care Act. Normally one can only enroll in a health plan through the exchange during a now limited open enrollment period. However certain events can permit one to enroll at any time. The chart sets out information about these "special enrollment periods."

http://www.healthreformbeyondthebasics.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/SEP-Reference-Chart.pdf

Trustees Report on the Social Security Trust Funds

Posted on: 06/13/2018

News Clippings

On June 5, 2018 the Social Security Board of Trustees released its annual report on the long-term financial status of the Social Security Trust Funds. Social Security is NOT going bankrupt.

The OASI Trust Fund (retirement and survivors’ benefits) is projected to become depleted in late 2034, as compared to last year’s estimate of early 2035, with 77 percent of benefits payable at that time. The DI Trust Fund (disability benefits) will become depleted in 2032, extended from last year’s estimate of 2028, with 96 percent of benefits still payable.

With no action from Congress, Social Security can continue to provide 100% of the retirement benefits people are owed until 2034. After that, even if absolutely no changes were made, beneficiaries would still receive 77% of their benefits. People receiving disability benefits will get their full benefit check until 2032 and, if Congress makes no changes, they will receive 96% of their benefits thereafter.

You can read the entire report by clicking here.

Affordable Care Act Still in Place Despite House Actions

Posted on: 05/08/2017

News Clippings

From the Center on Budge tand Policy Priorities:

"It is important to emphasize that, at this time, the ACA is still law and its provisions are still in place. People’s coverage hasn’t changed, and open enrollment is on schedule for November."

On Thursday, the House of Representatives passed the American Health Care Act (AHCA). The bill now moves to the Senate, where the bill will likely change and then to a conference committee or a vote on the Senate bill in the House.

This process will take time, and we have no way of knowing now what provisions, if any, will be enacted and signed into law. We do know that many people who gained coverage due to the Affordable Care Act (ACA) are confused and worried about what is going to happen to their coverage. It is important to emphasize that, at this time, the ACA is still law and its provisions are still in place. People’s coverage hasn’t changed, and open enrollment is on schedule for November.

As passed by the House, the AHCA would dramatically reverse the gains in coverage that we’ve made since the passage of the ACA. For an in-depth look at the key provisions in the AHCA, please see a summary of the AHCA from our friends at the Kaiser Family Foundation.

We will continue to follow the progress of this bill, and will keep you informed of any updates as it proceeds through the Senate. The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities website at www.cbpp.org includes numerous papers and resources on the AHCA and is updated on an almost daily basis with new material.

As noted, the ACA is still in place and it’s important to continue our work to help people get enrolled. To this end, we are planning an upcoming webinar that will review changes that were in the finalized Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) rule published last month. We will let you know as soon as we set the date for the webinar.

The new HHS rule would make sweeping changes in special enrollment periods (SEPs) and the dates for the upcoming open enrollment period for 2018 coverage. States and State-Based Marketplaces that do not rely on Healthcare.gov have some additional flexibility related to several provisions of the rule, which we will explain in more detail during the webinar.

If you have any questions or concerns, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us at beyondthebasics@cbpp.org.

For additional resources and information on health reform, please see our Health Reform: Beyond the Basics website. For additional policy updates, please see our main organization website, www.cbpp.org.

MD Family Law Legislation - Updated 3/23/17

Posted on: 03/23/2017

Family legislation, rules, and regulations

The latest from the MD General Assembly: bills relevant to family law practitioners as of March 23, 2017.

Attachment	Size
2017-03-23 Family Law Legislative Update.doc	136 KB

MD Family Law Legislation - Updated 3/12/17

Posted on: 03/12/2017

Family legislation, rules, and regulations

The latest from the MD General Assembly: bills relevant to family law practitioners as of March 12, 2017.

Attachment	Size
2017-03-12 Family Law Legislative Update.doc	134.5 KB

Court Authorized to Grant Custody When Unmarried Parents Still Living Together

Posted on: 03/05/2017

Family Law Case Digest

Holbrook vs. Newell, 2017 Md. App. LEXIS 109 (2/1/17)

(No Md. App. cite as of 3/5/17)

The circuit court erred in dismissing a custody petition for lack of subject matter jurisdiction; the court had jurisdiction to resolve a child custody dispute between unmarried parents who were living together because the State's interest in protecting the welfare of a child did not depend on the parents' present or former marital status.

The Court of Special Appeals:

“The case before us is not a divorce proceeding but we can conceive of no reason why the State's interest in protecting the welfare of a child should depend upon the present or former marital status of the parents. Therefore, we think that it is appropriate to extend Ricketts holding to cases in which the parents are not married. See also C. Callahan et al., MARYLAND FAMILY LAW § 5-57 (5th Ed. 2011) (Ricketts stands for the proposition "that a trial judge is not limited to exercising its equity jurisdiction to determine custody only to those situations where the parents are living separate and apart.").”