Divorce

The Deadlines You Face if You Want to Challenge Your Maryland Divorce Judgment

November 8, 2024 | by Anthony A. Fatemi, LLC

Quality legal representation can help your divorce in many ways. The right legal team can be instrumental in requesting and amassing the evidence you need and crafting that proof into a compelling case for the relief you seek. One additional big way a skilled attorney can help is by navigating the rules of procedure. These rules may seem obtuse, opaque, or beyond comprehension to a layperson, but their requirements nevertheless are mandatory and noncompliance can have catastrophic consequences for your case. A skilled Maryland divorce lawyer, however, will be steeped in these requirements and know how to carry your matter forward without being tripped up by the rules.

A divorce litigation matter from Baltimore County shows how badly your case can go wrong if you fail to do what the rules demand.

The wife, a Baltimore-area realtor and accountant, hired an attorney who filed a petition for divorce on her behalf. The husband wisely retained counsel, who filed an answer. Aided by their attorneys, the couple worked out a consent agreement. The agreement stated that the wife got 30% of the husband’s pension.

Dealing With Cryptocurrency and Other Digital Assets in a Maryland Divorce

October 31, 2024 | by Anthony A. Fatemi, LLC

Earlier this month, news sources reported that cryptocurrency is now an asset subject to distribution in divorce… in South Korea. While your divorce likely won’t be adjudicated using the laws of South Korea, this new development half a world away is still a significant reminder that digital assets like crypto are an ever-increasing portion of married couples’ asset portfolios and, in Maryland, they are (and have been for several years) subject to equitable distribution in a divorce in this state. If you have questions about your digital assets and equitable distribution, be sure to seek out answers you can rely on by talking to an experienced Maryland divorce lawyer.

In Maryland, we have the Marital Property Act. That statute says that all marital property is subject to equitable distribution. That includes digital assets like Bitcoin, Ethereum, Tether, and other forms of crypto, but these assets present some unique challenges in a divorce. Two of the biggest are: finding it and valuing it.

Let’s tackle the latter first. Valuing crypto is inherently complicated because crypto’s value is much more volatile than other assets. Take Bitcoin, for example, which went from 62,800 to below 32,000 to 52,700 to 42,100 to 67,000… in a span of just seven months in 2021. This rapid and radical shifting can make pinpointing an accurate value of your (or your spouse’s) crypto assets particularly problematic.

The State of Same-Sex Marriage in Maryland in 2024… and the Challenges of Same-Sex Divorce

October 18, 2024 | by Anthony A. Fatemi, LLC

This past June, the landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision of Obergefell v. Hodges, which made same-sex marriage legal in all 50 states, celebrated its ninth anniversary. As same-sex marriage has been legal for anywhere from roughly two decades (Massachusetts) to just shy of one decade (nationwide,) research has begun showing some important trends related to same-sex couples, marriage, and divorce. Divorce presents unique challenges to same-sex couples so, if you have made the difficult decision to divorce, having a skilled Maryland divorce lawyer by your side can be essential to getting a fair and appropriate outcome.

According to Maryland Matters, same-sex marriage experienced a massive uptick in the years after the 2015 Supreme Court ruling. Based on estimates from the Census Bureau, Maryland had “about 4,400 same-sex married couples… in 2012, the year before the state made it legal.” By 2015, that number had more than doubled to 10,388. After 2015, the number of married gay and lesbian couples has risen to approximately 16,500.

As the years have passed, researchers have studied the patterns of same-sex marriage and divorce. Researchers at UCLA, as well as their counterparts in Denmark, both found that the rate of same-sex divorce is lower than the rate among their “straight” counterparts.

The Importance of QDROs in Maryland Divorces that Include Pensions or Retirement Accounts

September 30, 2024 | by Anthony A. Fatemi, LLC

Family law can involve many acronyms, ranging from those related to domestic violence (DVPO) to child support (CCPA.) Even if your divorce involves no children and no violence, there is an acronym that may be important to you: QDRO. QDRO stands for “qualified domestic relations order,” and is a court mechanism by which someone who is not the holder of a pension or retirement account may receive some or all of those funds. When one or both spouses in a divorce have substantial pension/retirement assets, a QDRO can play an integral role in ensuring that the divorce’s property division is fair. For information about how a QDRO might factor into your divorce case, get reliable answers by speaking to an experienced Maryland divorce lawyer.

A QDRO can come into existence in multiple ways. In one instance, the spouses are unable to agree and the judge decides that a non-account-holding spouse is entitled to some or all of the account’s proceeds. The other occurs when the spouses do agree… and their settlement agreement calls for the non-account-holding spouse to get a portion (or all) of an account.

A recent divorce case from Montgomery County is an example of the latter scenario. The spouses worked out a marital settlement agreement (MSA) in which the husband agreed to provide the wife with a fraction of his Federal Employee Retirement System Pension and Thrift Savings Plan. In addition, he agreed to ensure that the required court orders (directing the distribution) were issued.

How the Law of ‘Federal Preemption’ May Play a Role in Your Maryland Divorce

September 17, 2024 | by Anthony A. Fatemi, LLC

Most people probably believe that their divorce settlement agreement or judgment is the final word on the distribution of their marital assets. While that is true in many cases, it is not necessarily so. Understanding when other things may supersede your divorce agreement and dictate a different distribution scheme can be essential to negotiating your settlement agreement effectively. Accomplishing these goals often requires representation from a knowledgeable Maryland divorce lawyer experienced in the various factors – like federal preemption — that can influence a divorce outcome.

One common scenario where this occurs is when your case implicates federal law. How might federal law factor into a Maryland divorce? A recent Montgomery County case offers an illustration.

M.C. and B.C. married in 1999. The wife, then a federal worker, opened a thrift savings plan (TSP) under the auspices of the Federal Employees’ Retirement System Act. On the account’s paperwork, she listed her husband as the sole beneficiary of her TSP.

In the Wake of Maryland Introducing ‘No-Fault’ Divorce, D.C. Does Away With a Major Divorce Precondition Requirement

August 23, 2024 | by Anthony A. Fatemi, LLC

Last fall, the legislature ushered in a major overhaul of divorce in this state. Maryland law, for the first time, allows spouses to seek and obtain divorces without proving that the other spouse was “at fault.” Maryland’s new avenues for pursuing a divorce include irreconcilable differences. The law also shorted the requirement for a divorce based on separation from one year to six months. If you have decided to pursue a divorce, you probably have questions about how best to proceed. To get the knowledgeable answers you need, be sure to speak to an experienced Maryland divorce lawyer before you file.

Maryland is not the only jurisdiction that has reevaluated and amended its divorce laws recently. Earlier this year, the District of Columbia modified its law regarding the minimum separation required for obtaining a D.C. divorce.

Before the amendment, D.C. required that a spouse seeking a divorce establish that she and her spouse had been separated for at least one year (or six months if the spouses mutually agreed.) As of Jan. 26, 2024, that minimum separation requirement is no more. Any spouse can file for a D.C. divorce at any time. As was the case with Maryland’s addition of ‘no-fault’ grounds for divorce, proponents of the change extolled it as an important aid to spouses experiencing domestic violence.

What Maryland Law Says About Making (or Receiving) a Marital Settlement Offer Contingent on Acceptance Deadline

August 12, 2024 | by Anthony A. Fatemi, LLC

Most of us have seen or heard advertisements or sales pitches imploring audiences to “act now” or that an offer is “for a limited time only.” These approaches are common in motivating prospective buyers of appliances, furniture, or vehicles to act. But what about… a spouse in a divorce settlement negotiation? What should you do if you receive an offer that severely restricts your time to respond? One thing you definitely should do before you sign, whether the agreement you are contemplating has a fast-approaching deadline or no signing deadline at all, is to speak to an experienced Maryland divorce lawyer who can give you the advice you need before you make a decision.

A long-running divorce battle from Anne Arundel County offers insight into these settlement agreements and how the courts treat them.

The spouses, T.P. and D.P., began divorce proceedings in 2019 after three years of marriage. After the spouses “engaged in extensive settlement negotiations,” the wife’s attorney sent the husband’s counsel a finalized marital settlement agreement on Sept. 25, 2020. The correspondence that the wife’s counsel attached to the proposed agreement indicated that the offer was valid only if the husband signed and returned the completed agreement that same day.

The Importance of Ensuring that Your Maryland Divorce Settlement Agreement is ‘Clear’ and ‘Unambiguous’

July 24, 2024 | by Anthony A. Fatemi, LLC

When you and/or your spouse own substantial assets, including investments, real estate, and so forth, the likelihood rises that you will need a relatively complex (and perhaps lengthy) settlement agreement. Part of ensuring that the agreement you sign is the agreement you need is ensuring that you have a skilled Maryland divorce lawyer by your side throughout the process, from negotiation to drafting to execution to enforcement.

Proper legal representation is essential, in part, to ensure that the contract you sign is well-written, avoiding unnecessary ambiguities or vagueness that can lead to unwelcome outcomes in the future.

A recent divorce case that originated in Montgomery County is a good example. The case involved a couple who reached a settlement agreement in January 2021 that covered the distribution of all of their assets.

Getting a Maryland Divorce When Your Spouse Lives in Another State

July 10, 2024 | by Anthony A. Fatemi, LLC

Maryland, like many states in the eastern U.S., is relatively small (ranking 42nd of 50 in land area,) meaning that anywhere in the state places you close to multiple other states. Montgomery County borders Virginia and the District of Columbia, and is less than 30 miles from West Virginia and Pennsylvania. (Other counties of Maryland border Delaware and sit less than 20 miles from New Jersey.) This means it is highly plausible that a Maryland divorce might involve one spouse who lives here and one who lives out of state. If you find yourself in that position, resolving the issue of the court’s personal jurisdiction over your spouse may represent a key component in getting the divorce you need. An experienced Maryland divorce lawyer can provide essential knowledge, advice, and strategies if you are pursuing a divorce here that presents potential jurisdictional issues.

While not a Maryland case, a recent divorce dispute touches on that question of personal jurisdiction.

The couple at the center of the litigation married in Connecticut in 1982. For several decades, the pair lived together in Nebraska. In 2018, the wife moved to Colorado to assist the couple’s adult daughter during her pregnancy. Over the next few years, the couple bought three homes in the Denver area, one of which served as the wife’s residence.

Marital-Versus-Non-Marital Asset Division Decisions in Maryland… and How the ‘Source of Funds’ Theory Applies to Them

June 10, 2024 | by Anthony A. Fatemi, LLC

In Maryland, one of the most essential components of a divorce is the division of assets and the biggest asset most divorcing couples possess is their home. As a result, deciding whether the marital home is a marital asset, one spouse’s separate property, or a combination of the two can make a big difference in the final outcome the court reaches. When seeking a fair and just financial outcome in your divorce case, ensuring that the court has a clear and complete picture of your home – and how it is/was paid for – is vital. If you have questions about equitable distribution in a divorce, an experienced Maryland divorce lawyer can help you with knowledgeable answers about how the courts in this state make these determinations.

In 1978, the Maryland General Assembly passed the Marital Property Act. In 1982, the Maryland Supreme Court “traced the history of the act in-depth and divined the legislative intent.” In its ruling, the high court determined that, under the Marital Property Act, the correct method for determining whether an asset was marital or non-marital was to follow the “source of funds” theory, rather than using Maryland’s old “title system.”

Under the source of funds theory, marital-versus-non-marital decisions depend on “the source of the contributions as payments are made, rather than the time at which legal or equitable title to or possession of the property is obtained.” A recent divorce case from Prince George’s County is a good example of how the courts apply this theory.