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Chanel Dolinsky 5/11/17 Chanel Dolinsky 5/11/17

Visitation Resistance

In separated and divorcing families we will often see cases where a child refuses to visit or have contact with one parent. There are many reasons a child will give for the refusal, ranging all the way from serious abuse to one parent allowing more freedoms than the other. The parent whom the child refuses to see may accuse the child-aligned of "parent alienation". In the 1980’s psychiatrist Richard Gardner coined the phrase Parental Alienation Syndrome (PAS). Some debate exists about whether PAS is a syndrome in the classic term, which is capable of being diagnosed. However, the phenomenon of parental alienation is typically defined as the psychological manipulation of a child into showing unwarranted fear, disrespect or hostility towards a parent. These cases can get difficult when the Court orders access between the parent and child and the child refuses to go or goes but acts out in protest while with that parent.

In these cases, one tactic parties and the Courts have started to utilize is Reunification Therapy between the child and the alienated parent. Reunification therapy involves both parents and the child in the therapy process. Usually the therapist will meet with each party separately but will also have joint sessions. Joint sessions between the child and the alienated parent focus on addressing cognitive distortions by the child, coaching the parent to interact more positively, and to avoid blaming and bashing of the other parent.

To learn more about child visitation resistance contact the attorneys at Markham Law Firm today by calling (240) 396-4373.

Jessica Markham 12/30/16 Jessica Markham 12/30/16

Happy New Year from Markham Law Firm!

Jessica Markham 12/27/16 Jessica Markham 12/27/16

Congratulations to Leslie Miller

Leslie Miller has just been appointed as the Treasurer of the Montgomery County Women's Bar Association. In this role, she will also serve on the Board of Directors.

http://www.mocowba.com/officers/

The Women’s Bar Association of Maryland (WBA) is an organization of women and men committed to the full and equal participation of women in the legal profession and in a just society. The WBA believes that a strong community of women in the legal profession is essential to the administration of justice. The mission and goals of the WBA are to:

Promote and assist women to obtain positions of influence and leadership within their workplace, the legal profession, the judiciary, and the community;
Raise awareness of and fight biases against women within the community at large, the legal profession, and under the law;
Promote and effect diversity, equality and justice under the law and within the legal system;
Support women in the legal profession in their personal and professional lives;
Provide opportunities for volunteerism and advocacy on issues affecting women;
Collaborate with other individuals and organizations to improve the status of women;
Celebrate the individual and collective achievements of women in the legal profession; and
Promote full and equal participation of women in society by eliminating all forms of discrimination.

Jessica Markham 12/23/16 Jessica Markham 12/23/16

Women in the Law Interview

Check out my interview on "Women Leading The Way In Law" Podcast- https://itun.es/i67x25n #iTunes. Or: http://directory.libsyn.com/episode/index/id/4880554

Jessica Markham 12/20/16 Jessica Markham 12/20/16

DC SuperLawyers Rising Star 2016

Congratulations to Jillian Morris for being selected as a 2016 Rising Star in Washington DC SuperLawyers Magazine!

Jessica Markham 12/14/16 Jessica Markham 12/14/16

Congratulations to Leslie Miller

Ms. Miller was sworn into the Maryland Bar today! Congratulations!

Jessica Markham 12/8/16 Jessica Markham 12/8/16

2016 Daily Record Leading Women Honor

Baltimore, Md., (October 6, 2016) — The Daily Record selected Ms. Markham to receive one of the 2016 Leading Women awards.

The Daily Record’s Leading Women awards honor 50 women who are 40 years of age or younger for the accomplishments they have made so far in their careers. A panel of previous Top 100 Women and Leading Women winners selected the honorees based on their professional experience, community involvement and commitment to inspiring change.

"The Daily Record's 2016 Leading Women are truly inspirational. Their professional accomplishments, community involvement and commitment to inspiring change exemplifies why they are Leading Women in Maryland," said Suzanne Fischer-Huettner, publisher of The Daily Record. "They excel to high levels professionally and personally, and The Daily Record congratulates them on this award."

Chanel Dolinsky 11/28/16 Chanel Dolinsky 11/28/16

Healthcare Surrogates and Directives

End of life decisions can be difficult for most anyone, but infusing family dynamics can make the process that much more difficult. Proper Health Care Directives can often help to circumvent any misunderstandings in the future.

A patient with capacity has a right to make his or her own medical decisions, including whether life-sustaining procedures should be used. It is important to remember that a patient can be competent to make healthcare decisions despite suffering from a mental illness.

What are Healthcare Directives?

Healthcare Directives allow for adults who have decision-making capacity to deal with future care issues by one of three methods:

Written Instructions – Also known as a living will.
An agent – Also known as a proxy or durable power of attorney for health care. A healthcare agent has authority to make a decision about life-sustaining procedures. The agent is to make a decision consistent with the patient’s wishes or what is in the patient’s best interest, if wishes are unknown. If more than one agent is designated in the healthcare directive, and those agents do not agree on a medical decision, the matter can be referred to Patient Advisory Committee (Ethics Committee).
Oral instruction – Must be made to the proper medical staff, witnessed and documented in the patient file.

Patients can revoke healthcare directives at any time and there is a strong presumption of competency when a person tries to revoke a healthcare directive.

What are Healthcare Surrogates?

If a patient has not designated a healthcare agent, the court has not appointed a Guardian, and the person can no longer make healthcare decisions (as determined by 2 physicians) a surrogate has the authority to make the decision. There is presumption of consent to treatment in an emergency. Surrogates are asked to make ONE decision (i.e. will you consent to this surgery or can we transfer the person from a hospital to a nursing home). Surrogates are not making health care decisions on an ongoing basis.

Individuals asked to make surrogate decisions are placed in a particular class and may be consulted only if the next higher in unavailable:

The person’s guardian
Spouse/Domestic Partner
Adult child
Parent
Adult sibling
Friend/Relative

Surrogate decision making is not valid if the patient has expressed disagreement about the treatment, even if the patient did not have capacity when expressing such disagreement.

***This blog is designed for general information only. The information presented at this site should not be construed to be formal legal advice nor the formation of a lawyer/client relationship. You should contact an attorney to discuss your particular legal situation.***

Jillian Morris 11/22/16 Jillian Morris 11/22/16

Breaking Down the Myths and Misconceptions of Common Law Marriage

I’m sure you’ve heard a statement like this one before: “If you live with someone for seven years then you’re considered married.”

Well…that isn’t actually true.

In fact only 11 states and the District of Columbia still recognize common law marriage. Fewer and fewer states are recognizing common law marriage as it is a lot more difficult to prove than just simply living with someone for a certain period of time.

Disclaimer here: I can only specifically speak about the state of common law marriages in Maryland and the District of Columbia.

Maryland does not recognize common law marriage. In order to be married in the State of Maryland you must do it the "traditional" way. This includes obtaining a marriage license, having a marriage ceremony, and receiving a valid marriage certificate.

The District of Columbia does recognize common law marriage, but it isn’t easy to prove, especially if one person believes a common law marriage exists and the other person does not (this tends to be motivated by financial factors upon divorce).

In order to prove a common law marriage in the District of Columbia the following four factors need to be met:

No impediment to the marriage;
A present intent to be married to each other during the marriage;
Cohabitation; and
The parties hold themselves out as husband and wife in the community.

The second factor is the trickiest. A present intent to be married to each other during the marriage actually means that in the absence of an actual ceremony, during the marriage, the parties had to acknowledge a present intent to be married to each other, and not a future intent to be married (i.e. being engaged).

The lesson here is a simple one, if you live in the District of Columbia, it is much easier to just go ahead and get married with a license and a ceremony, because it’s going to cost you a lot more money to prove that you have a common law marriage then if you just have a marriage certificate upon divorce.

And just remember there’s no such thing as a common law divorce…

Leslie Miller 11/15/16 Leslie Miller 11/15/16

Collaborative Law

Civil litigation is expensive, time consuming, and emotionally draining; but it does not have to be this way. Many forms of Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) exist to avoid going to court, save time and money, and reduce the stress of legal proceedings. One such form of ADR is collaborative practice. Collaborative practice opens the door to a more holistic form of representation.

In addition to the general ADR benefits, collaborative practice also encourages mutual respect, keeps the parties in control of the process and seeks to solve problems through interest-based discussions to find mutually agreeable solutions that are the most efficient and create the best all around agreement. The collaborative approach shifts the focus of the representation to the parties’ underlying interests, needs and objectives, finding the best route to satisfy the parties’ mutual goals while following all ethical obligations.

But first, what is Collaborative Practice?

Collaborative Practice is a form of ADR that requires transparency between the parties, attorneys, and any coaches (mental health professionals to guide the parties), financial specialists, child specialists and any other “team” members, an agreement not to litigate, and a commitment to respect the shared goals of the parties. The means of reaching the end goal of a divorce is to cooperate to find the best solution for every issue involved, rather than the best that any one party could get from a judge.

Sounds great, so what’s the catch? To start a collaborative process, the parties, attorneys, and rest of the team must sign a participation agreement stating that each professional team member’s participation in the process is limited – that is to say that any attorney a party hires for collaborative may only participate as a collaborative attorney. If the process fails and the case proceeds to litigation, the parties must find new counsel, and the collaborative attorneys must transfer the case to the new attorneys, and most of the collaborative process remains confidential. This limitation applies not only to the attorneys, but entire professional team including coaches, financial experts and child specialists, if retained.

How do you tell if collaborative is the right method for a case?

The crux of collaborative practice is trust and transparency within the team; therefore, one spouse cannot intimidate the other. Such a relationship could lead the intimidated spouse to simply agree with the other, rather than voicing his/her own opinion, thoughts and interests. In a setting where sharing is so important, the intimidation must be overcome. Additionally, the parties must be reasonable and willing to see the process as something other than a ‘if you get this, then I get that’ system. Rather than breaking down each aspect of the marriage and splitting it between the spouses, the collaborative approach finds the best solution for each aspect and the team works to combine the best solutions and the parties’ goals into one agreement.