Maryland divorce law, separate and community property/debt

Note that I am not licensed to practice in your state. This is not intended as legal advice. Please check with an attorney in your state.

I will start to address the primary issue here, which is not the question you asked. The questions you asked about money are only the secondary issues.

The primary issue is whether she feels safe in the house with this man. From the sound of it, she does not. If she does not feel safe and she does not love this man and don't want to stay with him, then she should leave him. Everything else is secondary. I don't care if she's poor and destitute, she needs to leave. I don't care if her name is on the mortgage or if she has a dog she can't take with her, she needs to leave.

The secondary issues are simple. If she qualifies, she should go to a battered women's shelter if she has no where else to go. There are many such facilities that help women of domestic violence get back on their feet and give them resources to leave a dangerous relationship. If she needs a divorce, cooperation of the husband is not an issue. Once she files for divorce and gets the emotional help she needs, the bills and mortgage and money issues will be decided by the court in the divorce decree.

She does not have to leave the country if she doens't want to. Escape from reality is never a solution in life. She needs to solve her problems head on and learn to be strong enough to deal with it, not escape from it. If you're a friend of hers, then you can do her the favor or looking up women's shelters and resources for domestic violence victims.

Good luck.

The wife can go to a Maryland District Court and file for a protective order based upon husband's threat to kill her and the child. As part of the relief under the protective order, she can request that the husband be ordered to leave the family home, stay away from her, the child, the home, the workplace, the school and so on. She can also reqest that the husband be ordered to pay support so that she can afford to stay in the home. Initially, if she goes to court during normal business hours, she could receive a Temporary Protective Order that would be good for one week. There would be a hearing set within that week on an order that could last up to one year. The evidentiary standard to obtain a one year order is high (clear and convincing evidence), but it is not an impossible standard to meet. Here is a link to a District Court site that has information about how to file:

I thank you both for responding to my question. It was very helpful. However, those were options thought about but the wife and child does not find it possible. The wife is scared for her life and her child's life. One option the wife had was to flee the country. However, the mortgage and credit cards are under both the husband and wife's name. The wife is not concerned about her credit being damaged as safety is her only priority right now. The thought of having a restraining order and/or moving out with the child will just anger the husband even more because he will have trouble paying bills and will have nothing to lose if he decides to harm the wife and child.

My main question is, if the wife moves out of the country, will she be sued by the mortgage and credit card companies? And, if she decided to come back to the country (for the child's marriage and to visit the child) will there be any trouble with that? The wife feels she does not have time right now to try to settle through the court system and the husband is not cooperating with taking her name off of any mortgage or credit card bills. please help. Thank you.