Maryland Baltimore Vinculo Marrimonii Divorce Alimony Lawyers Attorneys

ROBERT PHILIP ROTH v. PATRICIA ANN ROTH

Court of Special Appeals of Maryland

September 1, 1981

On January 4, 1960, Robert and Patricia, then 29 years old and 27 years old respectively, were married by a civil ceremony in Arlington, Virginia. Unfortunately, she was also still married to William Lee Hoffman. The Robert was aware of this fact at the time of the Virginia marriage. They continued, however, to live together in Baltimore for eighteen years as if they were legally married. Two children were born to them. On August 8, 1978, Robert left the "marital" home never to return. In any event, on August 16, 1978, Robert filed a Bill of Complaint in the Circuit Court for Baltimore County praying for a divorce a vinculo matrimonii from Patricia on theground that the Virginia marriage of the parties was void ab initio, the reason being that at the time of the "marriage" Patricia was still married to Hoffman. In response, on September 7, 1978, Patricia filed an Answer and a Cross-Bill of Complaint. The Answer admitted the essential allegations of Robert's Bill of Complaint, but averred that Robert had full knowledge of Patricia's marital status at the time of the Virginia marriage ceremony and that he had promised "to enter into another marriage ceremony at a future time in the event the divorce proceedings pending between the Defendant and her former husband were not final at the time the parties hereto married"; Patricia's cross-bill sought a divorce a vinculo matrimonii from Robert on the ground of adultery. The cross-bill also alleged that Robert abandoned and deserted her without just cause or reason on August 8, 1978. Her prayers for relief included a request for temporary and permanent alimony. The trial court found that the putative husband was aware of the putative wife's marital status at the time of the purported marriage and acted as if the marriage were legal. From a decree awarding the complainant a final divorce and granting respondent alimony, complainant appeals.

Issue:

Did the chancellor have the authority to award alimony to a putative wife after granting her putative husband a divorce a vinculo matrimonii on the ground that at the time of their purported marriage the putative wife was already married to a then living husband?

Under the Marylandstatute either party may obtain a divorce where there has been a void marriage, without regard to the conduct, fault, condition or consent of the other party. In this respect, a divorce on void ab initio grounds is similar to a divorce granted on so-called "no fault" grounds, in that when a divorce is granted to a party on such grounds "it can hardly be contended that this grant was not so much a decree in favor of one as the other.

The Courts finds that Patricia Roth, having raised the issue of alimony in her cross-bill of complaint, would have been entitled to a divorce on a void ab initio ground even though she did not allege that ground in the cross-bill. Consequently, the public policy engendered by the requirement of proof of grounds for divorce to support an award of alimony has been satisfied.

Patricia's cross-bill seeking alimony and her prayer for general relief properly put in issue the question of alimony. Furthermore the evidence established that Patricia had the same void ab initio ground for divorce as did Robert, and alimony is, as established by the Clayton decision, allowable on that ground in a proper case. We, therefore, conclude that the chancellor was fully authorized to consider awarding Patricia alimony. Under all the circumstances revealed by the record, we further conclude that this was a "proper case" for the award of alimony, such that the chancellor did not abuse his discretion in making an award.

Disclaimer:

These summaries are provided by the SRIS Law Group. They represent the firm's unofficial views of the Justices' opinions. The original opinions should be consulted for their authoritative content.

Maryland Baltimore Vinculo Marrimonii Divorce Alimony Lawyers Attorneys

By: Atchuthan Sriskandarajah

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