Effective October 1, 2016, a party seeking a divorce will no longer need to provide a corroborating witness testimony in a divorce, no matter what the grounds for divorce are. The party asking for a divorce will still have to prove the grounds to the court, though.
This should, among other things, make it easier for a party to get a divorce, especially for grounds where corroboration can prove difficult, such as adultery. It will also make the taking divorce testimony easier, even in the uncontested situations, because the party seeking a divorce will not have to get a friend, neighbor or relative to accompany him to the testimony.
There remains also the requirement that one of the parties has to have been a resident of Maryland for at least six (6) months prior to the filing of the complaint for divorce.
Readers of this blog will recall that in 2015, the Legislature passed a law providing new divorce grounds so that married couples could get divorced without a statutory waiting period. These were the so-called “mutual consent” grounds. Among the requirements for a mutual consent divorce was that the married couple not have any minor children in common.
The 2016 Legislature considered, but did not pass, a law which would extend the mutual divorce grounds to married couples with children. That change may come in a future legislative session.
Please note that the above is not intended as legal advice and is no substitute for consultation with an attorney.