Family Court - Anne Arundel County

Filing Requirements       Orders

Hearings
Scheduling     Settlement Conferences, 
Length of Wait Before Hearing
Emergency Hearings     Who Will Hear the Case

Scheduling
Hearings are not always scheduled automatically in either pro se cases or cases with an attorney.

Contested custody or divorce: Contested divorce hearings must go through scheduling and pre-trial conferences first. A hearing must be requested for uncontested divorce. A contested custody or divorce will generally get a scheduling conference date within 30 days of the filing of the answer.

Delays caused by referrals: Local advocates say that it can take some time for the hearing to be scheduled because there are a number of potential referrals that one or both of the parties may have to go through first, including social workers, a psychiatrist and a drug and alcohol counselor. 

Required mediation and parenting classes: Parties must also attend mediation unless domestic violence is involved. For contested custody issues parties must also attend a court-sponsored co-parenting seminar that helps teach them skills on how to parent under "adversarial" circumstances. This is a two-session seminar that usually runs from 5:30-8:30 on two consecutive weeks.

For "single-issue" cases (ex: modification of support), the court is now moving things along via the issuance of "alternate scheduling orders" that contain a timeline, including dates for discovery.

Settlement Conferences
The court holds a "pre-trial" conference in every case that serves the same general purpose as a settlement conference. This is true for both pro se and non-pro se cases. For pro se litigants, facilitators are available to assist them through the conference.

Length of Time to Get a Hearing
Because there can be so many preliminary steps to go through before a hearing (such as scheduling conference, mediation, evaluations) the wait can be long. This has been exacerbated by the loss of three judges since November. A local advocate states that the wait is no less than six months, and that the goal is to wrap things up within a year.

Emergency Hearings - Pro Se Litigants
The circuit court suggests that a pro se litigant come to the courthouse, fill in the appropriate form and then speak with a family law attorney.

Advocates suggest that a pro se litigant should get a Motion for an Emergency Hearing form from the pro se office. The Motion should contain the date and time of the hearing, the address of the courthouse, and instructions to meet at the clerk's office. There must be an underlying complaint to support the motion, but this may be filed concurrent with it. The opposing party must have 24 hours notice of the hearing. 

In the petition, the filing party should be as specific as possible about why their situation merits an emergency hearing because the judge may rule on the motion alone and not actually speak to the parties. The Motion itself may be their only chance to tell their story. Generally, for an emergency hearing to be granted there must be imminent danger of serious bodily harm or abduction.

It is generally always possible to see a judge the same day a request for an emergency hearing is filed. However, local advocates suggest that a pro se litigant should be present and ready to go the beginning of the day's two sessions (9am and 1:30pm) in order to be first in line. At the end of the day the judge may be less inclined to add new cases to his or her docket.

Who Will Hear The Case
Generally, a standing Master will hear pendente lite hearings and uncontested divorce cases. For other matters the court follows Maryland Rule 9-208. 

Source: A joint project of the Women's Law Center and MLAN, along with interviews conducted with Family Law Court Coordinators, court clerks and local advocates practicing in this county.  Updated by the Maryland State Law Library (MSLL).

Date of Last Legal Review: 10/7/08 (PLL/M.A.J.)