Close

Articles Posted in Equitable Distribution

Updated:

When Personal-Professional Relationship Breakdowns Lead to Unreasonable Lengthy Litigation: Awards of Attorneys’ Fees in Maryland

When you bring in someone as a co-owner of your business, you want someone you can trust implicitly. For many people, the most trusted people in their lives are their spouses. However, when the personal relationship goes awry, so may the business relationship. When both break down, legal action is…

Updated:

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

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…

Updated:

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

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…

Updated:

What Happens to an Inherited Property Used as Collateral on a Loan Taken Out During a Couple’s Marriage?

“Yours, Mine and Ours” is a 1968 film about a very large blended family. “Yours, mine, and ours” could also refer to the analysis that must be done for equitable distribution in a divorce. Arriving at a truly equitable distribution requires accurately determining which assets are “yours,” which are “mine,”…

Updated:

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

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…

Updated:

Equity and Judicial Discretion in Maryland Divorce Cases

A lot of people, when they hear the phrase “equitable” in connection with a divorce case, immediately think “50-50.” That’s not necessarily true. The law actually gives trial courts broad discretion in deciding what is (or is not) equitable, whether that means distributing assets and/or debt obligations evenly or ordering…

Updated:

‘…And the Dog, Too’: Dealing with Pets as Part of a Maryland Divorce

Americans’ attitudes toward pets have changed over the last several decades. Today, many pet owners call themselves “pet parents” and their pets “fur babies.” While these relationships have evolved, animal law has been slow to follow suit. This can present some unique challenges when a married couple who shares a…

Updated:

Determining Marital Versus Non-Marital Portions of a Home Purchased With a Marital Mortgage But a Non-Marital Down Payment

In elementary school math class, students begin learning about the “order of operations.” This concept governs the sequence in which to complete various mathematical operations in pursuit of the correct solution. In divorce law, we have something similar. Maryland divorce law lays out a specific sequence of mathematical steps to…

Updated:

Adulterous Affairs, Dissipation of Marital Assets, and Equitable Distribution in a Maryland Divorce

One of the more painful experiences a spouse can endure is to devote years — or even decades — to a marriage only to discover that your spouse has not been as faithful to you as you’ve been to them. While heartbreaking and sometimes infuriating, your spouse’s infidelity won’t always…

Updated:

How Avoiding Procedural ‘Missteps’ Can Be Critical to Success in Your Maryland Divorce Litigation

In a very recent case opinion announced by the Court of Special Appeals, the court wrote that “[s]ometimes one misstep early in a case can have repercussion for the rest of the case.” Those kinds of damaging missteps can include, among other things, failing to comply with all the pretrial…

Contact Us