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Question: Will a divorce obtained in a foreign jurisdiction or country be recognized here in the State of Maryland?
Answer: Generally, yes, it will be. The State of Maryland and the United States in general will recognize a "foreign divorce" if it was obtained from a lawful court (or its equivalent in that jurisdiction) and the divorce was in fact granted legally.
The key supporting caselaw in Maryland for this ruling is Catherine B. Wolff v. Frederick Wolff, 40 Md. App. 168(1978), 389 A.2d 413(1978), in which the Maryland Court of Special Appeals determined that an English divorce decree was recognized in Maryland based upon the legal concept of "comity" (i.e., a rule of courtesy by which one court defers to the concomitant jurisdiction of another).
To be clear, comity if not law --- it is courtesy, convenience and expediency all rolled up into one concept.
The principle of comity allows judgments of courts in foreign countries to be recognized in the United States. The court stated that “… a decree of divorce granted in one country by a court having jurisdiction to do so will be given full force and effect in another country by comity, not only as a decree determining status, but also with respect to an award of alimony and child support.” However, there are some limitations to this doctrine. A foreign divorce will not be recognized where: the divorce was obtained by a procedure which denies due process of law; the divorce was obtained by fraud; the divorce offends the public policy of the state in which recognition is sought (examples of divorces that offend public policy include “mail-order divorces” obtained by nonresidents and laws that allow a husband, but not a wife, to divorce without any sort of judicial process); and where the foreign court lacked jurisdiction.
[Also, see:
Guiness Plc Guiness America, Incorporated v. Thomas Joseph Ward, (Two Cases), 955 F.2d 875 (4th Cir. 1992);
Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit / March 10, 1992;
S.A. Andes v. Versant Corporation First Washington INvestments Corporation Thomas F. Herr, 878 F.2d 147 (1st Cir. 1989);
Court of Appeals for the First Circuit / July 31, 1989;
In Re Marriage of Lyustiger, 177 Cal. App. 4th 1367 (Cal. Ct. App. 2009)
California Court of Appeal / Sept. 29, 2009;
Aleem v. Aleem, 947 A.2d 489 (Md. 2008)
Court of Appeals of Maryland / May 6, 2008]
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