Terms Used In Maryland Code, FAMILY LAW 10-312.2

  • 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.
  • state: means :

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

    (2) the District of Columbia. See
(a) A tribunal of this State issuing a spousal support order consistent with the law of this State has continuing, exclusive jurisdiction to modify the spousal support order throughout the existence of the support obligation.

(b) A tribunal of this State may not modify a spousal support order issued by a tribunal of another state or foreign country if the state or foreign country has continuing, exclusive jurisdiction over the spousal support order under the law of that state or foreign country.

(c) A tribunal of this State that has continuing, exclusive jurisdiction over a spousal support order may serve as:

(1) an initiating tribunal to request a tribunal of another state to enforce the spousal support order issued in this State; or

(2) a responding tribunal to enforce or modify its own spousal support order.