In a recently decided unreported Maryland Court of Special Appeals Decision the appellate court upheld the trial court’s determination to award the grandparents custody of the biological parent’s child. The trial court indicated that it awarded the grandparents custody because of the “craziness” in the parents’ house. Among other things, another woman lived with the parents and engaged in a sexual relationship with both of […]
In the recent unreported case of Young Electrical Contractors, Inc. v. Dustin Construction, Inc. the Maryland Court of Special Appeals reaffirmed the validity of a pay when paid clause. In this case a subcontractor sought payment for several change orders which were denied by the owner. The court held that the prime contractor had met all its obligations when it submitted the change order requests […]
Small business owners often use their “company” vehicles for personal travel. They also tend to be lax about the titling of these vehicles and they end up in personal names. Beware! In the Virginia case of Selective Way v. Apple, the Fourth Circuit held yesterday that a vehicle insured under a company policy was not insured under the commercial general liability policy where it was […]
The recent Maryland Court of Appeals case of Morton v. Schlotzhauer involved a personal injury claim brought, at the last minute, by a woman who had filed bankruptcy and failed to list her personal injury claim as an asset. When this oversight was discovered, the opposing party sought to dismiss her case. This is because if a person does not list and exempt the asset, […]
In a recent unreported case the Maryland Court of Special Appeals upheld a Circuit Court decision which found that a father’s conviction of a sex offense involving his wife’s 14-year-old sister did not warrant a change of his child’s name. The Court of Special Appeals determined that the sex offense did constitute the type of “extreme circumstances” which allowed the court to consider a name […]
The recent unreported case of Baker v. L & E Bustamante Concrete Co., Inc. shows that a Maryland court is not required to force a subcontractor to prove how much a homeowner owes the general contractor when the sub seeks a mechanic’s lien. This is the case even when it is suggested to the court that owner fully paid the general contractor. In Baker the […]
The Maryland Court of Appeals recently handed down a decision which permits the finding of host and server liability in an unprecedented fashion. This case jointly decided two cases one involving a 17 year old Steven Dankos (“Steven”) who was killed while riding in the bed of a 22 year old intoxicated driver’s pickup truck. Steven’s mother sued Linda Stapf, the owner of a home […]
There have been a couple changes in Maryland Law impacting contractors. The first is there are a few minor changes in the rescission notice in door to door sales which make it less cumbersome. The second is that repair work is not defined as a door to door sale if the contractor is called in. The most significant change is that as of July 1, […]
In the recent case of St. Cyr v. St. Cyr, the Maryland Court of Special Appeals upheld a determination that a wife involved in a divorce case was capable of earning income of $10 an hour despite the fact that she had cancer (Hodgkin’s Lymphoma) and had not worked for years. The court indicated that the wife was voluntarily impoverished and that the determination regarding […]
The recent unreported case of Ziegler v. Ziegler decided by the Maryland Court of Special Appeals discusses several divorce issues. In Zeigler, the trial court granted a divorce on grounds of 12 month separation. The trial court did this despite the fact that the period of a protective order was included in the calculation of the separation period. While the Court of Special Appeals concluded […]