Alexander v. Alexander

PER CURIAM ORDER. WHEREAS, a Judgment of Absolute Divorce was entered by the Circuit Court for Charles County on December 20, 1999, providing, among other things, for sole custody of the parties’ three children to Mrs. Alexander, with specified visitation to Mr. Alexander; WHEREAS, the parties changed their respective residences during the pendency of the divorce action in Maryland, Mrs. Alexander (with the children) to Texas and Mr. Alexander to Delaware ultimately; WHEREAS, the parties continued thereafter to litigate aspects of the provisions of the Maryland divorce decree in both Maryland and Texas (the latter commencing in 2002, ⁴²⁹ after the Maryland divorce decree was registered there), including (upon motion of Mr. Alexander) an ex parte order of August 8, 2005, entered by the Circuit Court for Charles County holding Mrs. Alexander in contempt of the December 20, 1999, Maryland judgment for failure to transport the children from Texas to the BWI-Marshall Airport in Maryland so that Mr. Alexander could collect them and take them to Delaware for visitation purposes; WHEREAS, Mrs. Alexander appealed the contempt determination, which is the subject of the present case, on the basis that both parties resided outside of Maryland since 1998 and had submitted voluntarily their disputes to the jurisdiction of the Texas courts by recording the Maryland divorce decree and litigating its enforcement there, thus rendering the Circuit Court for Charles County without jurisdiction to enter the ex parte contempt order on August 8, 2005; and WHEREAS, Mrs. Alexander, through counsel, pursued this appeal of the contempt order by brief and argument in this Court, without any participation by Mr. Alexander; Now, THEREFORE, it is this 30th day of