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Last Update June 2003
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Details on Legal Requirements
This section further describes how the Maryland law defines the type of people eligible for legal protection:
The current or former spouse of the batterer
A cohabitant of the batterer
A person related to the batterer by blood, marriage, or adoption
A vulnerable adult
A person who has a child in common with the batterer
The current or former spouse of the batterer
There is no time limitation or requirement that the current or former spouse lives together. A former spouse is eligible regardless of how long the abused person and the batterer have been separated or divorced. A person continues to be eligible for relief whether or not they or their former spouse have a new/different spouse.
Cohabitant means a person who
The 90 days do not have to be consecutive (it does not need to be 90 days in a row). For example: The couple may have lived together for 30 days in September, 30 days in December, and then 30 days in July.
The 90 days/within one year condition applies only to the requirement of living together. There is no requirement that the batterer and the person eligible for relief have had sexual relationship for 90 days within 1 year.
The cohabitant and the respondent can be of the same sex.
A person related to the batterer by blood, marriage, or adoption
This is a simple way to help define a person eligible for legal protection.
This section is similar to the Cohabitant relationship: i.e. a step-child of a batterer may be eligible for relief if they have resided with the batterer for at least 90 days in a 1 year period.
This is defined as an adult who does not have the necessary mental or physical capacity to provide for his or her own daily needs.
A person who has a child in common with the batterer
This does not require that the batterer and the abused were married or whether or not they reside together. The batterer and the abused do not have to have been living together at the time of the abuse.
| Source: Drawn from the collective materials of the Maryland Domestic Violence Services Providers community with key materials from the House of Ruth. Compiled, edited, and expanded by the Maryland Legal Assistance Network. |
Last date reviewed (no legal content) 7/29/03 (MLAN/AC/DRE) |
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advice? This site offers legal information, not legal advice. We make every effort to ensure the accuracy of the information and to clearly explain your options. However we do not provide legal advice - the application of the law to your individual circumstances. For legal advice,
you should consult an attorney. See our section on Finding Legal Help.
About this website. The Maryland State Law Library, a court-related agency of the Maryland Judiciary, sponsors this site. The website was developed (1999-2007) as part of an access to justice initiative by the Maryland Legal Assistance Network (MLAN) in collaboration with a number of legal services providers serving low and moderate income Marylanders. In the absence of file-specific attribution or copyright, the Maryland State Law Library may hold the copyright to parts of this website. You are free to copy the information for your own use or for other non-commercial purposes with the following language “Source: Maryland's People’s Law Library – www.peoples-law.org. © Maryland State Law Library, 2007.” |
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