Terms Used In Maryland Code, COURTS AND JUDICIAL PROCEEDINGS 3-303

  • Adult: means an individual at least 18 years old. See
  • Attachment: A procedure by which a person's property is seized to pay judgments levied by the court.
  • Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
  • Defendant: In a civil suit, the person complained against; in a criminal case, the person accused of the crime.
  • Devise: To gift property by will.
  • Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
  • Obligation: An order placed, contract awarded, service received, or similar transaction during a given period that will require payments during the same or a future period.
  • Person: includes an individual, receiver, trustee, guardian, personal representative, fiduciary, representative of any kind, corporation, partnership, business trust, statutory trust, limited liability company, firm, association, or other nongovernmental entity. See
  • state: means :

    (1) a state, possession, territory, or commonwealth of the United States; or

    (2) the District of Columbia. See
(a) An attachment before judgment may issue in any of the instances in this section.

(b) If the debtor is a nonresident individual, or a corporation which has no resident agent in this State, and:

(1) The debtor is a person over whom the court could exercise personal jurisdiction pursuant to §§ 6-102, 6-103, and 6-104 of this article; or

(2) The action involves claims to property in this State which property is to be attached; or

(3) The action is any other in which the attachment is constitutionally permitted.

(c) If a resident individual defendant or an agent authorized to accept process for a corporation has acted to evade service.

(d) If the debtor has absconded or is about to abscond from the State; or if an individual has removed, or is about to remove, from his place of abode in the State with intent to defraud his creditors.

(e) (1) If the debtor is about to assign, dispose of, conceal, or remove his property or a portion of it from the State with intent to defraud his creditors; or

(2) If the debtor has done any of these acts, or fraudulently contracted the debt or incurred the obligation which is the subject of the pending action.

(f) If the debtor is deceased and an adult nonresident is entitled by descent or devise from the debtor to any land or interest in land in the State, an attachment may issue against that land or interest held by descent or devise from the person indebted.

(g) If any person who is required to be but is not licensed under the provisions of the Maryland Home Improvement Law, in an action against that person arising out of a home improvement transaction.