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REPORTED IN THE COURT OF SPECIAL APPEALS OF MARYLAND No. 120 SEPTEMBER TERM, 2001

DANIEL COLLINS v. CYNTHIA COLLINS

Kenney, Adkins, Wenner, William W. (Ret'd, specially assigned), JJ.

Opinion by Kenney, J.

Filed: May 30, 2002

Lieutenant Colonel Daniel Collins ("Lt. Col. Collins") appeals a decision of the Circuit Court for Montgomery County disposing of marital property, awarding child support, and awarding attorney's fees to appellee, Cynthia Collins, Ph.D. ("Dr. Collins"). appeal, Lt. Col. Collins poses for our consideration On

three

questions, which we have rephrased as follows: I. Did the trial court commit reversible error in arriving at the form and the amount of the monetary award, the pension award, and the reservation on the issue of alimony, made in favor of Dr. Collins? II. Did the trial court commit reversible error in its child support award? III. Did the trial court commit reversible error by awarding attorneys' fees to Dr. Collins? For the reasons set forth below, we vacate the portion of the court's monetary award requiring Lt. Col. Collins to pay Dr. We vacate the child support order and attorneys'

Collins $5,896.1

fees award, and remand the case for further proceedings on those issues. In all other respects, we affirm the judgment of the

circuit court. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

The total monetary award was $15,304. This amount was based on half of the value of some diamonds that were found to be marital property, or $3,250; Dr. Collins' $6,158 marital interest in the Utah condominium purchased by Lt. Col. Collins prior to the marriage; and $5,896, which represented Dr. Collins' portion of the pension payments made to Lt. Col. Collins for the period May 1, 2000, through August 31, 2001. Although the court made an award of $15,304, the actual total for these articles is $16,404.

1

-2The parties were married in Utah on July 21, 1979. When they

divorced, Dr. Collins was fifty-one years old and Lt. Col. Collins was forty-nine years old. born on October 28, 1984. Their only child, Jason Collins, was The family moved a number of times due

to Lt. Col. Collins' Air Force career, but, at the time of the divorce, they had lived in Maryland for twelve years. Lt. Col.

Collins, however, maintained his residency in the State of South Dakota, as members of the armed forces are permitted to do.2 In early January 2000, Lt. Col. Collins traveled from Maryland to South Dakota for a family funeral. On or about January 8, 2000,

while still in South Dakota, he filed for divorce on the grounds of irreconcilable differences. During this time, Lt. Col. Collins was in the process of retiring. March 31, 2000. Lt. Col. Collins subsequently returned to the marital home in Maryland, without divorce. telling Dr. Collins that he was seeking a His retirement became effective

On January 14, 2000, Dr. Collins returned from work to

find that Lt. Col. Collins had left, taking a number of belongings with him. He left notes for both Dr. Collins and Jason, but the

notes did not explain why he had left or that he had filed for divorce. On January 15, 2000, a process server arrived at the marital home and served the South Dakota divorce papers. The petition for

2

Lt. Col. Collins was a resident of South Dakota when he joined the Air Force.

-3divorce alleged, inter alia, that Jason was not Lt. Col. Collins' son and requested paternity testing. Jason, who was looking at the papers over Dr. Collins' shoulder, became immediately aware of these allegations. father and has, Consequently, Jason throughout the does not wish to see his below, refused

proceedings

visitation, even though Lt. Col. Collins apparently had a paternity test conducted and has satisfied himself that Jason is his son. Dr. Collins immediately retained counsel in both Maryland and South Dakota in an effort to dismiss the South Dakota case for lack of jurisdiction.3 On February 1, 2000, Dr. Collins filed a

complaint for absolute divorce in the Circuit Court for Montgomery County. On March 21, 2000, the Circuit Court of the Second Judicial Circuit of South Dakota determined that it had jurisdiction to grant or deny the divorce, but that it lacked jurisdiction to decide issues of alimony, child support, child custody, and the division of marital property. The divorce was granted on August 7, 2000.

We have not been provided with a copy of the pleadings filed in South Dakota, but we assume she claimed that the trial court lacked both personal and subject matter jurisdiction in the case. We note that Dr. Collins apparently wished for the entire matter to be tried in Maryland, as she filed a complaint for absolute divorce in the Circuit Court for Montgomery County.

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-4In the interim, the Maryland case was proceeding on the division of property, alimony, and child support and custody.4 For

a period of time, Dr. Collins was unable to serve Lt. Col. Collins, who had left no forwarding address and was apparently making himself unavailable. Eventually, she had to arrange for

alternative service. 2000.

He finally answered the complaint on June 7,

In her complaint, Dr. Collins requested pendente lite relief, including child support, child custody, and alimony. A hearing was held before a Special Master on August 8, 2000, the day after the parties' divorce became final in South Dakota. At that hearing,

Dr. Collins explained that she had obtained a Doctorate in Nursing Science during the marriage in order to increase her earning capacity. At the time of the hearing, she was earning $60,000 a

year as an assistant professor at the University of Maryland in Baltimore.
4

Although Lt. Col. Collins had received a job offer, he

The circuit court had jurisdiction over this case by virtue of Md. Code (1984, 1999 Repl. Vol., 2000 Supp.),

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