The updated 11th edition of MSBA’s Maryland Divorce and Separation Law (2023) is now on our shelf (catalog record). You can also access the updated text on Lexis in the Law Library. As of today, Westlaw has not yet updated its content from the 10th to 11th editions.
Among the book’s updates is a new section on parenting plans in response to the laws passed in 2020 requiring these plans in custody and/or visitation cases.
While the bulk of the legislation passed by the General Assembly in 2022 went into effect last October, there are a few new laws whose effective date is this Sunday, including the following:
The Anne Arundel County Public Law Library and the Circuit Court for Anne Arundel County will be closed on the court holidays of Friday, December 23rd, Monday, December 26th, and Monday, January 2nd.
New and updated titles from the National Consumer Law Center (NCLC), the Maryland State Bar Association (MSBA) and the National Business Institute (NBI) are now on our shelves covering used car fraud, custody and child support, real property, civil practice, and criminal procedure. See below:
The Library now has new titles from the Maryland State Bar Association (MSBA), the National Business Institute (NBI), and the National Consumer Law Center (NCLC).
MSBA
The 2022 seventh edition of Pleading Causes of Action in Maryland from MSBA provides example complaints with updated commentary to help the reader plead their case:
NBI hosts seminars on an array of legal topics for every state jurisdiction. The Library receives the bound Maryland materials that include lectures, presentation slides, and sample forms.
The books in NCLC’s digital collection, available online and in print, are excellent, reader-friendly sources for comprehensive information on consumer debt, credit, mortgages, fraud, litigation, and other topics.
Fair credit reporting. Authors: Chi Chi Wu, Ariel Nelson ; contributing authors, Elizabeth De Armond [and 6 others]. SELF HELP NCLC KF1040 .R63 2022
Credit discrimination. Author: Battle, Jeremiah, Jr. SELF HELP NCLC KF697.D5 C74 2022
Emergency relief is a temporary order of protection from imminent, substantial harm or harassment for you or a minor child. To receive emergency relief, you must be able to show that you or a minor child are truly at risk of imminent, substantial harm or harassment.
How to File for Emergency Relief
Because an emergency relief order is temporary, the court requires you to file for permanent relief, such as for divorce, custody, or custody modification. This additional petition needs to be filed at the same time or earlier than the motion for relief.
Sample declaration that you gave notice to the other party
To receive emergency relief from the Anne Arundel County Circuit Court, do the following:
At least 24 hours before the hearing takes place, notify the other person or persons involved in the case (MD Rules, Rule 1-351(b). The form is included in the packet. Emergency relief hearings take place only on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays at 1:30 pm.
File your motion in room 100 of the first floor of the courthouse before 12:30 pm on the day the hearing will take place.
During the hearing, you must prove that you or a minor child are at risk of immediate and substantial harm or harassment. The court will not grant relief for harm that is based only on speculation. (See Magness v. Magness, 79 Md. App. 668) The court will then decide whether to grant you relief based on the facts you present.
The time length of the relief order depends on your situation.
We now have a resource page on adoption listed on our FAQs page, where you can find relevant laws, online articles, and library materials on adoption law in Maryland.
Our FAQs page now links to our new resources page on trusts. There, you will find a bibliography of manuals and treatises on the topic, as well as links to relevant statutes, forms, and articles.
Frequently, patrons ask us if we have official court forms to file for their specific situations. The courts have their own official forms (People’s Law Library lists some of the most frequently used), but more often, people ask for official forms that do not exist.
Fortunately, the library has a wide variety of sample procedure and legal forms that are free to be copied and modified. Procedure forms are for court filings, while those commonly called “legal forms,” most of which are not standardized, are used for all other legal affairs, such as wills, leases, and contracts.
Non-standardized procedure forms can include very general templates, such as blank petitions and blank motions; they can also be more specific (but still general enough to copy), such as motions for summary judgments and counterclaims for bringing in a new party.
Form books and form sets are good sources for all kinds of sample forms and templates. Some are available online through Westlaw or Lexis, others are exclusively in print, available here inside the library. When there is no sample form specific enough to cover a situation, they can be modified.
Form Books and Individual Samples
In addition to forms from Westlaw and Lexis, the Library has a variety of form books in print and has made available additional sample procedure forms for Maryland courts. Below, I have listed them by jurisdiction and subject area, and have also included the Library’s recommended form sets from Lexis and Westlaw.
Maryland
Practice and Procedure Sample Forms
Maryland practice forms (MSBA)
Call Number: KFM1738.A65 M3 2009
Also on Lexis and Westlaw
Maryland civil procedure forms: Maryland practice series (George W. Liebmann)
Call Number: KFM1730.A65 L5
Also on Westlaw
Forms from Maryland civil procedure forms (Robert Dale Klein)
Call Number: KFM1730.A65 K64 2000
Also on Lexis
Practice manual for the Maryland lawyer
Call Number: KFM1730.A65 P7 2019
Also on Lexis and Westlaw
Maryland litigation forms and analysis /by Gary I. Strausberg, general editor
Call Number: KFM1730.A65 M372 1998
Also on Westlaw
Family Law Sample Forms
Maryland family law form finder
On Westlaw
Maryland divorce and separation law / editors, John J. Condliffe, Esq. & Debra B. Cruz, Esq.
See “Marital Settlement Agreements” chapter for sample agreement.
Call Number: RES KFM1300.M37 2019
Also on Lexis and Westlaw
Maryland domestic relations forms: with practice commentary / Ann M. Turnbull, Joseph J. Wase
Call Number: RES KFM1294.A65 T8
Also on Lexis
Forms from Maryland domestic relations forms
On Lexis
Premarital and domestic partnership agreements (MSBA)
On Lexis and Westlaw
Maryland family and juvenile law : practice manual and forms
Call Number: RES KFM1294.R44 2001
Marital settlement agreement – form / Thomas C. Ries, Richard B. Jacobs
Call Number: KFM1300.M34 2009
Maryland family law forms / [Constance K. Putzel, Shelley L. Rothschild … et al.]
Call Number: KFM1294.M37 2011
A practice guide to family law
Call Number: RES KFM1294.P88 1999
Collection of family law forms. Sample forms on this page include several types of answer templates, consent forms, interrogatories, and motions. There are also links to official court forms.
Real Estate
Forms from Maryland real estate forms
On Lexis
Maryland real estate forms: practice / Russell R. Reno, Jr., Wilbur E. (Pete) Simmons, Jr., Kevin L. Shepherd ; contributing editor, Michael S. Kosmas
Call Number: RES KFM1326.A65 R46 2005
Also on Lexis
Maryland estate planning, will drafting, and estate administration forms: practice
Call Number: KFM1340.A65 B37 1995
Also on Lexis
Probate forms in Maryland : annotated, including pleading, guardian and ward, actions at law and in equity relating to administration and forms of wills / by Philip L. Sykes
Call Number: KFM1344.A65 S9
Contest of wills in Maryland with complete forms / by Philip L. Sykes
Call Number: KFM1344.5 .C6 S9
Maryland estate planning, wills and trusts library : forms and practice manual
Call Number: KFM1340.A65 G88 1998
Maryland estate planning form finder
On Westlaw
Business and Commercial
Maryland corporation law and practice : with forms / by Herbert M. Brune
Call Number: KFM1413.B7 1953
Maryland limited liability company forms and practice manual
Call Number: KFM1407.5 .A65 M37 1999
Maryland secured transactions under revised article 9 of the Uniform Commercial Code : forms and practice manual
Call Number: KFM1375.W58 2000
Criminal
Maryland criminal procedure forms and analysis
Call Number: KFM1775.A65 S653
Employment
Maryland employment law : forms and practice manual / Carla N. Murphy, editor ; Sharon A. Snyder, editor
Call Number: KFM1534.M87
Intellectual Property
Maryland intellectual property and technology transactions : forms and practice manual / William S. Galkin
Call Number: KFM1530.G35 2008
Technology
Maryland technology transactions: the Venable practice and forms manual
Call Number: KFM1530.M37 2002
Practice of Law
Legal representation and fee agreements for the Maryland Lawyer: forms and comments
Call Number: KFM1277.5 .F4 B36 2009
Also on Lexis and Westlaw
Federal Titles
On Lexis and Westlaw
Nichols cyclopedia of federal procedure forms
On Westlaw
Federal procedural forms
On Westlaw
Bender’s federal practice forms
On Lexis
Non-Jurisdictional
Print Titles
Family law arbitration : practice, procedure, and forms / Carolyn Moran Zack
Call Number: KF505.5 .Z33 2020
Forms, checklists, and procedures for the family lawyer / Mark A. Chinn
Call Number: KF505.C478 2021
The law of crimes and criminal procedure, including forms and precedents
Call Number: KF9219.H6 1904
On Westlaw
American jurisprudence pleading & practice forms annotated
American jurisprudence legal forms 2d
Lane’s Goldstein litigation forms
Fletcher corporation forms annotated
McGaffey legal forms with tax analysis / Jere D. McGaffey
Handbook of Personal Injury Forms and Litigation Materials
On Lexis
Rabkin & Johnson current legal forms with tax analysis / Jacob Rabkin and Mark H. Johnson ; revision author, Volume 1, Stephen E. Pigott
Murphy’s will clauses : annotations and forms with tax effects / Joseph H. Murphy, assisted by Beverly Massy Stowell Rounds, updates by John H. Skarbnik
Page on the law of wills : including probate, will contests, evidence, taxation, conflicts, estate planning, forms, and statutes relating to wills
Westlaw’s Form Finder is a convenient way to search for samples. To get there from the main screen, click on “Forms” in the “All Content” tab (Figure 1).
Figure 1
Once you are on the “Form Finder” screen, you can choose to search for forms by state, by topic (Figure 2), or by publication name.
Figure 2
Once in the search screen, fill in the search fields and press enter.
Some forms, like those in American Jurisprudence Pleading & Practice Forms Annotated, link to captions (Figure 3). A caption is a header in which you would fill in information about the court, the plaintiff, and the defendant if applicable (Figure 4).
From Lexis’s main screen, click “Sample Forms” under the “Content” tab (Figure 5), which will send you to the Sample Forms page. There, you can choose to search by state or practice area (Figure 6). On the next screen, you can search all forms under the heading you chose or add the second state or practice area filter to make your search more precise. More precise is not always better, however, because you could filter out relevant results.
Figure 5Figure 6
Unfortunately, there is no federal option listed with all the state options on the sample forms page.
To search for sample forms for federal courts, on the home screen click on “Federal” under “Explore Content,” then click on “All Federal” in the second section (Figure 7) (Be careful not to click “All Federal Cases”).
Figure 7
On the “All Federal” page, you can then scroll down to “Forms” and click “All Federal Forms” (Figure 8)
Figure 8
There you can choose to search all the federal form books or search an individual title (Figure 9).
Tax filings are due in less than a month, and like many, you have probably been putting them off. Fortunately, there are online tools and helpful information available through our library for those who just need the tools and forms to get them done, learn more specific aspects about tax filing, or become more proficient in tax law.