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In some cases, litigants proceed without the assistance of an attorney. This is known as going “pro se” in legal parlance. Going pro se may seem like a doable approach, but future litigants are well-advised to strongly consider retaining the services of an experienced attorney. There are many reasons as to why retaining an attorney is the optimal approach when it comes to handling your divorce case. One of the major reasons is that an attorney is able to represent you in critical situations when you might not be available to make an appearance. Certain hearings may come up in your case which require that either you or someone else representing you makes a court appearance. If you fail to appear, and you also don’t have an attorney who can appear on your behalf, the consequences can be extremely negative.
In the case of Timachev v. Lobas (2019), for instance, a husband ended up losing what might’ve been a winnable argument simply because he failed to make a critical appearance and failed to obtain counsel. Let’s look at the facts of this case more closely.
Outline of the Facts
The spouses in this case settled in Montgomery County after marrying. In 2013, the spouses obtained a divorce and were able to develop a private settlement agreement which required the husband to make payments to the wife. In 2018, the wife sought court involvement to enforce the terms of the settlement agreement as she claimed that the husband failed to make the required payments as dictated by the settlement agreement.
As is customary in Maryland court procedure, the spouses then went before a magistrate to have a merits hearing on the possible validity of the allegations made by the wife. This merits hearing is mandatory when a dispute of this kind arises in Maryland; the magistrate will oversee this hearing, and then the matter will go before a judge. At the merits hearing, the husband attempted to raise various points in his defense against the wife’s allegations, and he brought documentation to support his points. However, he claimed that the magistrate disregarded his claims, and ultimately the magistrate made a recommendation in favor of the wife.
The husband then tried to raise “exceptions” to the findings of the magistrate, and these exceptions were supposed to be heard at a formal court appearance before a judge. But, the husband failed to make this appearance, and he also failed to obtain someone to appear on his behalf. The original report prepared by the magistrate was therefore sent to the judge, without consideration of the husband’s exceptions, and the judge used this report to produce a final order on the matter. The final order was essentially a victory for the wife.
Court Ruling & Discussion of Results
This is a perfect example of the importance of having quality counsel in a divorce situation. In this case, the “sudden emergency” of the hearing on the husband’s exception was something which required attention, even if the husband himself was unable to attend. The husband needed to hire an attorney to assist with this emergency, even if he wasn’t inclined to hire an attorney at the beginning of the case. Ultimately, failing to obtain representation ended up costing him a great deal after the final order was concluded.
Contact the Murphy Law Firm for Additional Information
If you would like more information on the importance of having quality counsel, or another issue, reach out to one of the family law attorneys at the Murphy Law Firm today by calling 240-219-5243.
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