Division of Marital Property

When dividing your marital property it is critical you list ALL of your assets before you begin dividing them in two. Property includes assets as well as liabilities, real estate, and personal property. Property can include houses, pensions, businesses, collections--almost anything that encompass your income.

There are some simple steps you can follow to get yourself organized before meeting with a lawyer.

STEP 1: Find and put a value on your property (house, pensions, collections, furniture, jewelry, etc).

STEP 2: Decide whether the particular piece of property is separate property and remains with the person who owned it. Note: Separate property is usually acquired before the marriage or outside the marriage, such as by gift or inheritance, or is not included by agreement.

Marital property is usually acquired during the marriage. To determine who gets what marital property, the court will consider:

1. Length of the marriage
2. Age, health, skills, and abilities of the parties
3. Amount of separate property owned by each spouse
4. Relative ability of the parties to acquire property in the future
5. Financial needs and liabilities of the parties
6. Contribution to the education or to the earning power of the other
7. Contribution to the value of the marital property or the separate property
8. Premarital property and post marital property
9. Financial conditions of each party
10. Tax consequences
11. Use and Possession: Allowing the custodian and children to continue to live in the home permanently or for a period of time (the Maryland statute permits up to three years following divorce);
12. Other factors that the court considers appropriate (Source: Divorce.net)

If you and your spouse can not agree on how to divide your assets than the court will do it for you, if in fact you can provide grounds for divorce.

What about debt? If one spouse agrees to pay a debt that is in both parties’ names, but fails to live up to that promise, the other spouse can be sued for the debt. For example, if the wife gets the car and the husband decides to pay the car payment but he fails to pay it, the bank can repossess the car. The best way to protect the wife would be for the husband to charge to charge the rest of the car payments on a credit card in his own name. That way, the car is paid off as far as the wife is concerned and the husband is now paying the balance of the car loan in his own name.

It is most important that no assets remain hidden because inevitably they are found and you will not be looked at favorable in court. Obviously, if you lie about your assets in court, no judge will take you seriously.

If the parties involved cannot come to an agreement, then again, the court will decide a monetary award against one party based on the value of the marital property. Marital property includes money and titled property acquired during the marriage. In addition to a monetary award, the court has the power to divide joint property, and pension plans and retirement assets. (Inheritances are not included)

Now that you have a brief overview on divorce in Maryland, please note that it is important that this information not be used as personal advice or personal legal council. If you are thinking about getting divorce or just want to speak with someone who can discuss your situation and whether or not you meet the criteria for grounds for divorce, we suggest you call and meet with a licensed attorney.