Divorce

Maryland Court Reviews Statutory Factors in Determining Alimony

July 16, 2014 | by Anthony A. Fatemi, LLC

When a couple decides to divorce, there are many important issues to address and resolve before the parties can move forward with their respective lives. Many of these matters involve important financial considerations, such as the amount and duration of alimony payments. Fortunately, Maryland law provides some guidance for courts to use when determining the question of alimony. But each divorce case presents a unique set of facts that tend to influence whether and to what extent a court will order alimony to one spouse or the other. If you are considering a divorce, it is important to protect your financial interests at the earliest stage in the process, and consult with an experienced family law attorney who is familiar with the laws affecting Maryland families.

In a recent divorce case, the court of appeals addressed many issues raised separately by both spouses. One of the items on appeal concerned the amount of alimony awarded to the wife. Here, the parties graduated from Yale Law School in the early 1980s. They each had jobs at prestigious law firms and got married in 1989. The wife became pregnant in 1990 and stopped working to take care of their twin boys. When she stopped working, her annual salary was $120,000. They had a third child in 1994. The husband continued to work and was earning over $800,000 per year by 2010. The family lived an affluent lifestyle. In 2010, however, the couple separated, and both parties filed for divorce.

After a five-day trial, the court issued multiple awards, one pertaining to alimony. After reviewing the evidence, the court found that the wife’s earning capacity was based on her salary from over 20 years earlier and that the husband failed to produce evidence to support his claim that the wife could earn between $30,000 and $40,000 per year. Further, the trial court determined that the wife’s monthly, unearned income was $5,813, and her expenses totaled $15,812, leaving her with a significant deficit. The court ultimately awarded the wife $14,191 in monthly alimony payments. The husband appealed the award, arguing, among other things, that the trial court erred when it failed to impute any earned income to the wife. Continue reading

Maryland Wife Entitled to Recalculation of Pension

June 17, 2014 | by Anthony A. Fatemi, LLC

Calculation of pension division can be challenging. Typically a formula called “the Bangs formula” is used, but application of the formula can be complicated. In a 2010 case, a husband and wife divorced and reached a settlement agreement about all child custody, child support, and property division issues. The agreement was incorporated into the judgment of absolute divorce. The wife appealed with regard to the post-judgment entry of orders related to domestic relations and the husband’s pension. She claimed that her share of the pension was miscalculated.

The couple had married in 2000 and had a child two years later. They divorced after seven years. Before they married, the husband was in the Maryland National Guard, and he was serving on reserve status when they married. During the marriage, he worked as a paramedic for a city and had to contribute 6% of his salary to the Fire & Police Employees’ Retirement System. Later he became full-time in the army and served full time from then on, although he was on a paid military leave of absence at the time of the appeal. Meanwhile, the wife was a pharmacist employed by CVS.

The husband filed for divorce, and the wife filed a counter-complaint in 2006. During a merits hearing, the parties entered into an agreement. The parties agreed that the wife had an “if-as-when interest” in half of the marital share of the fire department benefits and the military pension. The court advised that the pension rights were set based on the number of months of the marriage, so as the pension rights increased, the wife’s share would not necessarily increase. The husband expressed he understood. Divorce was granted, and qualified domestic relation orders were supposed to be submitted. However, the parties could not reach agreement about the terms of the orders for the city pension and military pension. The wife filed a motion with regard to these orders, and the husband filed oppositions. Continue reading

What Happens to the Family Home During Divorce in Maryland?

May 17, 2014 | by Anthony A. Fatemi, LLC

In a 2008 case, a husband and wife were married in North Carolina in 1994 and had two kids. The wife filed for limited divorce in 2005. The case was tried in 2006-2007. In 2007, a judgment of absolute divorce was granted on the grounds that the wife had committed adultery.

Among other things, the wife was awarded sole legal and physical custody of the children and the husband was ordered to pay child support. The husband was found in contempt for failing to pay child support previously ordered. The judge also granted the wife use and possession of the family home for two years.

The husband appealed on five grounds. One of these grounds was that the judge should not have treated the house at Alfreton Court as the family home under Family Law Article § 8-201. The judge awarded the use and possession of the residence to the wife and children under § 8-208(a), which provided that in the context of divorce, regardless of how the family home was owned or titled or leased, the judge could give one party sole possession of the property. Continue reading

Does Phone Sex Count as Cohabitation in Maryland Divorce Cases?

May 13, 2014 | by Anthony A. Fatemi, LLC

In an interesting recent case, a Maryland wife opposed her husband’s request for divorce based on a 12-month separation. The basis for her opposition was that she had continued to have phone sex with the husband while they were separated. Under Section 7-103(a)(4) of the Family Law Article, a Maryland court can grant an absolute divorce to couples who were separated for 12 months if they lived separate and apart, not cohabiting for 12 months without interruption before they apply for divorce.

The couple had married in 2006 and then separated in 2010. The husband moved out because the wife had gotten a protective order against him. He filed a complaint for limited divorce, claiming voluntary separation and constructive desertion. When the protective order expired, the parties continued to maintain separate residences. Although divorce proceedings were pending, the couple started a sexual relationship. During the proceedings, the husband testified that the last time he had sex with the wife was in 2011 and after that he had not once spent the night with her.

Even so, the husband admitted he and the wife kept communicating through telephone conversations and text messages. Sometimes the conversations and text messages were explicit or sexually provocative, and the husband admitted the last time he did so was in 2012. He said the wife had come to his house unexpectedly on six occasions, but he didn’t allow her inside. The husband amended his complaint seeking absolute divorce on grounds of a 12-month separation. Continue reading

Unconscionable Disparity Between Spouse’s Incomes in Maryland

April 26, 2014 | by Anthony A. Fatemi, LLC

In a recent case, a Maryland wife sued for divorce in 2010. The husband countersued shortly thereafter, but the following year, he mother dismissed the original suit and brought a new one requesting alimony, child support and monetary award.

Both husband and wife were lawyers. The wife stopped working when she got pregnant with twins and there were complications. The wife did not return to work because the twins had health problems. The couple had a third child. The wife had been making about $120,000 per year when she stopped working.

By 2010, the husband was making more than $800,000 per year. This allowed the couple an affluent lifestyle, including a house worth $2 million, multiple cars, private school and dinners out. The amount of time the husband spent at work put a strain on the marriage and drove them to minor violence towards each other before they finally separated. Continue reading

Will the Court Stay A Lawsuit Against Your Spouse While Your Divorce Is Pending?

April 24, 2014 | by Anthony A. Fatemi, LLC

A personal injury or other lawsuit against a spouse is unusual, but possible. It is likely that An interesting and challenging 2010 case arose when a wife sued her husband of 25 years for fraud, breach of fiduciary duty, conversion, and intentional infliction of emotional distress. Both the husband and the wife were lawyers. During the marriage the husband managed the finances.

The couple had a joint checking account into which both spouses deposited their earnings. The wife stopped working to take care of their two children, but never read the bank statements. She also had an inheritance account only in her name, containing money inherited from relatives.

The wife later claimed that the husband spent huge sums from joint accounts on various investments and compact discs she couldn’t identify. The sums he spent exceeded the couple’s income. Accordingly, the husband took out loans against his 401k. He took out a home equity line of credit, ran up an overdraft of more than $10,000 and ran up debt on credit cards. He didn’t not tell his wife about these problems or why he had them. Continue reading

Can Alimony Be Awarded Without Divorce?

March 27, 2014 | by Anthony A. Fatemi, LLC

It’s extremely rare for someone to request alimony separate from divorce these days, but it is possible. In an interesting 2009 case that illustrates the importance of having a family lawyer represent you through your divorce, a couple were married and had two children. The husband filed for limited divorce after a one-year separation from his wife. Next the wife counter-claimed for absolute divorce on the basis of adultery and abandonment. The wife requested alimony.

Both of the spouses needed an interpreter and were not represented by counsel. By law, requests for divorce are granted only with a corroborating witness. Neither the husband nor the wife had brought one. The court wasn’t able to award a divorce or a limited divorce. Additionally neither spouse offered testimony to corroborate grounds for divorce. The trial judge nonetheless heard testimony on child support and alimony.

Although the divorce case collapsed, the judge awarded custody of the two kids to the wife and ordered the husband to pay child support of $764. The judge ordered the husband to pay $1500 to the wife every month as indefinite alimony. The court did not characterize the alimony or child support as pendente lite (temporary pending litigation). The case was closed with the requests for divorce denied. Continue reading

Social Media and Maryland Divorce Don’t Mix

March 21, 2014 | by Anthony A. Fatemi, LLC

In spite of an increasing number of headlines involving people whose social media use has endangered their lawsuits, Americans continue to post incriminating information on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and other social networks. In fact, according to the Pew Research Center, as of September 2013, 73% of adults online in America use social networks. Unfortunately a feature of social networking is its ease; because it’s so easy to connect with others, most people don’t think very carefully before they post or tweet. A Maryland divorce, alimony, child custody and divorce battles can be put in jeopardy by the information your soon-to-be-ex-spouse or a family law attorney finds about your on Twitter.

In the past, couples would hire private detectives to find out whether their spouse had cheated or had other secrets that could result in is getting easier and easier to catch litigants in lies. Often this is no longer necessary because people willingly share information that can damage them on social media.

If you are going through a divorce, you should either close your social media accounts or simply take a break from them. Privacy filters are unlikely to be of much help in a divorce case. One reason for this is that couples share a lot of common friends. It is very easy to think that you have gotten “custody” of a particular friend and be wrong. A friend may casually mention something to your spouse not knowing it is information that will hurt you.

Is a Settlement From An Employment Lawsuit Marital Property in Maryland?

February 5, 2014 | by Anthony A. Fatemi, LLC

In a 2010 case an appellate court considered whether funds received by the ex-wife as a settlement in an employment discrimination claim were marital property. The couple was married in 1998 and had two children, ages 10 and 4 at the time of trial in this case. The ex-wife was an attorney and the ex-husband was a clerk with the IRS. The ex-wife filed for divorce on the grounds of constructive desertion. The ex-husband filed a counterclaim on the same basis. They had lived apart for 1 year beforehand. The court granted the divorce on that basis.

During the marriage, the ex-wife’s employment with her law firm was terminated as of December 31, 2002. She filed a discrimination lawsuit against the firm and its partners and employees, alleging violations of the Family and Medical Leave Act. She settled the case in 2006 and was paid $550,000. These were paid in two installments.

In a joint statement to the court in connection with the divorce proceedings, she claims she kept $300,000 from the settlement. She contended that the settlement didn’t specify which portion represented what element of damage and therefore, the settlement could not be characterized as marital property. The ex-husband argued that the settlement was marital property. The trial court found that the lawsuit was based on employer practices that had occurred during the marriage. However, it did not find that the settlement was marital property. Continue reading

Courts May Not Blindly Apply Administrative Policies that Prejudice of Maryland Parents’ Due Process Rights

December 27, 2013 | by Anthony A. Fatemi, LLC

In a recent case, a Maryland appellate court considered a local court policy that limited the parties’ ability to access investigative reports ordered by the court in a child custody matter. The mother challenged this policy after the court awarded sole legal and physical custody to the father of her children.

The case arose when a father filed for divorce. He sought sole physical and legal custody of their two kids. The court ordered that the Adoption and Custody Unit (ACU) investigate and prepare a report. The ACU interviewed the parties, relatives, and the kids and discovered the parties’ personal history, including education, housing, employment, criminal and physical and mental health histories. The report was 147 pages including records. The report did not recommend which parent should get custody.

The day the report was due came and went. The ACU filed the report late. The parties’ attorneys were notified they could now look at the report at the clerk’s office. The policy was that the attorneys could view the report in the office, but could not copy any sections or take it out of the office. Continue reading