Tydings’ family law attorneys handle complicated family disputes, including Maryland divorces, marital property, child custody, visitation, child support, and alimony issues. We are also mediators, helping resolve impasses in complex marital property clashes, such as those involving alimony, child support, and contentious child custody battles.
Close Personal Attention
Family disputes are almost always traumatic. Through our offices in downtown Baltimore and Towson, we strive to minimize the frustrations that clients inevitably face, encouraging mediation and negotiation whenever possible. But, when a trial is necessary, we have very experienced family law trial attorneys. We are a small enough firm to give clients the one-on-one attention they deserve, yet large enough to provide the versatility their situations often require. With tax, real estate, estates and trusts, litigation, and other practice groups under one roof, we ensure that our family law clients’ needs are met, regardless of their complexity.
Evaluating Marital Property
Properly evaluating marital property is a vital service offered by our divorce lawyers. With a full range of legal services within our firm, Tydings’ clients benefit from the sound advice of all our practice areas, including tax, real estate, estate planning, pensions and other employee benefits, and bankruptcy. We routinely evaluate professional practices, business interests, retirement plans, and other forms of investments, and offer strategic advice involving the valuation and division of assets.
Building a Support Network
Tydings' relationships with an array of accountants, financial planners, real estate and insurance brokers, and therapists help provide seamless support to clients. We are especially aware of how divorce can affect children, and we are well versed in drafting agreements designed to protect children’s emotional and financial well-being.
Family Law
We represent clients in divorce, custody and child access, alimony and child support, and other family law matters. We also work with clients to negotiate and draft pre-nuptial and post-nuptial agreements, separation agreements, and actions for Maryland annulment and divorce, including:
- Pre-divorce and post-divorce planning;
- Division of property;
- Alimony, support and maintenance;
- Child custody and visitation matters;
- Grandparent visitation;
- Same-sex family law issues;
- Post-divorce modification of alimony, child support, custody, and visitation;
- Custody issues related to relocation to other states and countries;
- Appeals to Maryland’s appellate courts;
- Mediation in resolving complex marital property issues;
- Divorce and other family law trials throughout the state of Maryland;
- Name changes;
- Pre-nuptial agreements; and
- Post-nuptial agreements.
Our family law attorneys represent clients in the full range of same-sex family law issues.
Adoptions and Guardianships
We assist clients in arranging domestic and foreign adoptions and guardianships. Our attorneys are familiar with all stages of the adoption process and the legal hurdles that must be cleared before new parents can bring their child home. Our family law lawyers have the experience necessary to anticipate and head off problems before they arise, domestically as well as in foreign countries.
Couples of same-sex marriages face a greater need for legal protection when starting a family. We have advised our clients of their legal rights whether they are adopting or having biological children.
Leadership
Tydings has taken on many leadership roles within the legal and family law communities. Ferrier Stillman serves on the Custody Subcommittee of the Maryland Judicial Conference, is a volunteer court mediator for family law cases, and is a former co-chair of the Baltimore City Bar Association’s Family Law Committee. She has been named to The Daily Record’s Circle of Excellence, a distinction earned by being honored as one of Maryland’s “Top 100 Women” in 2006, 2008, and 2011.
Kerianne Kemmerzell is active in the American Bar Association's Family Law Section. She currently serves on the CLE committee and was appointed co-vice chair of the child support committee.
Representative Matters
- Represented a client in one of the largest marital property cases on Maryland’s Eastern Shore, arguing successfully for the appointment of a receiver to control the opposing party’s assets – a rare ruling in a Maryland divorce case;
- Represented clients in an international custody dispute involving the Hague Convention and other international treaties;
- Negotiated many complex property settlement agreements for clients in which the valuation and division of substantial assets were in dispute, such as businesses, partnerships, professional practices, investments, and retirement plans;
- Handled complex custody and visitation cases involving sophisticated issues of psychology, medicine, education, substance abuse and learning and developmental disabilities;
- Represented clients in drafting and negotiating complex pre-nuptial agreements, including those in which large and diverse assets were acquired prior to marriage;
- Represented clients in challenging pre-nuptial agreements that fail to meet the standard of a valid and enforceable pre-nuptial agreement; and
- Tried many divorce and other Maryland family law cases.