Divorce

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.

What the Law in Maryland Does (and Doesn’t) Require of Pregnant Women Who Seek Divorces in this State

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

A Missouri lawmaker made headlines in February for proposing a noteworthy change to the divorce laws of that state. The Kansas City Democrat’s bill would alter a five-decade-old law to ease the hurdles facing women who are pregnant and seeking a divorce there. Maryland does not have a similar law on the books restricting a pregnant woman who seeks a divorce, but getting a Maryland divorce while pregnant does present a unique set of issues and challenges. Whatever your situation – but especially if you’re facing unique complexities like needing a divorce while pregnant – an experienced Maryland divorce lawyer can help you navigate the process and get a positive outcome… and get it as efficiently as possible.

As a specific matter, the existing Missouri statute (contrary to some social media claims) does not create a blanket ban on issuing judgments of dissolution to women who are pregnant. Pregnancy is one of eight disclosures a spouse filing for divorce must make in her petition. (Other examples of required disclosures include residency, the date and location of the marriage, and the date of separation.) Once the petitioning spouse discloses her pregnancy, the judge has the discretion to forego issuing a final judgment until that pregnancy has reached its end.

These laws, while discretionary on their faces, sometimes function as de facto bans. For example, Kentucky’s statute shares many similarities with Missouri’s regarding mandatory disclosures. It requires disclosing the date and the place of the marriage, the date of separation, the names and ages of the minor children, and whether the wife is pregnant. A subsequent subsection notes that if the wife is pregnant, “the court may continue the case until the pregnancy” ends.

Maryland Judgments of Absolute Divorce Based on Separations of 12 Months or More

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

When decide it’s time for a divorce, you hope that the process will be as amicable as possible. At a minimum, you hope that your spouse will acknowledge that your marriage is, indeed, over, even if they choose to contest issues in the divorce vigorously. Sometimes, though, your spouse may attempt to derail the process by contending that you’re not entitled to a judgment of divorce at all. Whatever kind of pushback you receive from your spouse, an experienced Maryland divorce lawyer can help you navigate and complete the process as efficiently and painlessly as possible.

A recent Baltimore County divorce case provides a practical example of what you do (and don’t) have to demonstrate to the court to be eligible for a judgment of absolute divorce based on separation.

The wife filed for divorce in June 2022, listing a one-year separation as her basis for the divorce. According to the wife, the couple separated nine years earlier but the husband periodically stayed “over [at the wife’s house] on Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve.” Allegedly, the last of these overnights occurred on New Year’s Eve 2020.

Obtaining Income Information Through Pretrial Discovery as Part of Your Maryland Divorce

March 28, 2024 | by Anthony A. Fatemi, LLC

Performing complete pretrial discovery is often an essential part of divorce litigation. Your spouse’s income and earnings are likely a crucial piece of that puzzle. This discovery may be as basic as obtaining a few items documenting wages (like W-2 forms) or a complicated matter involving documentation of multiple streams of present and deferred income. An experienced Maryland divorce lawyer can be vital to getting all the information necessary to provide the court with a full and complete picture of your spouse’s wealth and assets.

The discovery dispute in the divorce of C.B. and R.B. represents a clear illustration of how counsel can help when you’re initially thwarted in your efforts to obtain essential income information.

The couple were two high-powered professionals who married in 2011 and separated in 2023. The couple had prenuptial and postnuptial agreements that resolved most – but not all — of their property issues. Specifically, the spouses disputed issues of a monetary award and division of some personal property and retirement accounts.

Real Property, Divorce, and the Law of Equitable Distribution in Maryland

March 15, 2024 | by Anthony A. Fatemi, LLC

The joke about lawyers and math not mixing is an old one, going back at least as far as a 1976 Saturday Night Live skit regarding President Gerald Ford and a debate question about the federal budget. In the real world, many areas of the law are quite math-intensive, not the least of which is equitable distribution in a divorce. Just like all areas of math, equitable distribution math requires not just understanding how to perform calculations, but also choosing the correct formula. In-depth knowledge of these elements can be crucial to getting a genuinely fair outcome from your divorce, which is why advice and counsel from an experienced Maryland divorce lawyer is essential to success.

A recent divorce case originating in Carroll County is a good example of this. The spouses, W.M. and T.M., married in 2014. Sometime before that, they jointly purchased a lot in Westminster where they eventually built their marital home. During the marriage, the couple purchased a vacation home in Ocean City.

4½ years into the marriage, the husband filed for divorce. At the trial’s conclusion, in addition to resolving child custody and child support issues, the court ordered the sale of both homes, with the husband receiving the proceeds of the marital residence’s sale. (The order split the proceeds of the vacation home’s sale between the spouses.)

Fraud in Your Maryland Divorce Case and the Importance of Having Skilled Legal Representation

February 15, 2024 | by Anthony A. Fatemi, LLC

As family law attorneys, we see the good, the bad, and the ugly when it comes to divorce litigation. One unfortunate scenario that occurs regrettably often is a spouse who receives divorce papers from his/her spouse but decides to proceed with the divorce without legal counsel. This choice can have seriously damaging consequences, both financially and otherwise. Don’t make that mistake; instead, retain an experienced Maryland divorce lawyer to be the effective advocate you need.

A divorce case from Annapolis is a strong cautionary tale in this regard. The husband’s complaint alleged that both spouses mutually agreed not to seek alimony and that the spouses had “no marital property or debts that need to be decided by the court.”

At a virtual hearing in 2021, the magistrate judge asked if the spouses had resolved all their issues and distributed all their property. The spouses — neither of whom had attorneys — said yes. The magistrate explained that the spouses’ answers constituted a waiver, meaning “you cannot come back to the [c]ourt at a later date and ask the [c]ourt to grant your relief.” The magistrate asked if the spouses understood, and again both spouses said yes.

Paying for Relatives’ Emergency Expenses and the Risk of a Dissipation-of-Assets Claim in Your Maryland Divorce Case

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

An old saying posits that “When it rains, it pours.” Sometimes in life, that can mean having to deal with multiple traumatic events — like your divorce and a relative’s grave illness — at the same time. Whatever the secondary emergency may be, you should take care when it comes to spending money during the pendency of your divorce case, even if it is for something as important as paying for care for a close loved one. What you can and cannot do will depend on multiple factors, like what court orders you’re under and whether the funds you seek to spend are marital or non-marital. One way to enhance your odds of avoiding troubles down the road regarding those expenses is to consult an experienced Maryland divorce lawyer before you act.

A recent divorce dispute from Anne Arundel County is a stark reminder of this notion. The husband filed for divorce in late 2019. In early January 2020, the trial judge issued an “Injunction to Prevent Dissipation of Assets.” That injunction barred the husband from “disposing of… any of the property alleged to be marital property or property acquired during the separation.”

In late 2021, the husband emptied the entire $72,800 balance of his Thrift Savings Plan and put the net proceeds (after penalties and taxes) of $56,800 into his credit union account. The husband eventually spent all of those proceeds to support his father in Nigeria, who had stage IV cancer. The couple also had a Lexus vehicle that the husband sold during the divorce for $18,600, of which the wife received $0.

Litigating Pet Possession in Maryland: Lessons from a Frederick County Divorce

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

Most dog owners consider their dogs family members, not mere property like appliances, furniture, or cars. However, in Maryland, that is how the courts will address pets in a divorce case. To get an outcome that will enhance your pet’s best interests, you must understand how Maryland law sees pets and how to use the existing rules to get the result you desire. Part of that process of protecting your pets is retaining the services of a knowledgeable Maryland divorce lawyer.

Last August, we covered a change to D.C. law in which that jurisdiction declared that judges may consider the “best interests of a pet” in determining who gets an animal in a divorce. The amended law also gave judges in D.C. the option to award joint custody of a pet in a divorce judgment.

Here in Maryland, the law is substantially different. As noted above, Maryland law says that pets are personal property. That distinction means that, if you desire to get possession of your pet (or pets) in a Maryland divorce, you have to litigate the case very differently than you might in D.C. Those distinctions were on clear display in a recent divorce case from Frederick County.