Maryland Divorce Lawyer Blog
When you and your spouse decide to end your marriage, it is often best to resolve as many issues as possible (if not all) between the two of you. Settling your divorce issues by agreement rather than litigation is often less stressful, faster, and less antagonistic. Nevertheless, you should understand that the things you put into a mutual agreement — once a judge signs off on it — are just as binding as a litigated judgment. For this reason and more, it is wise to have an experienced Maryland divorce lawyer by your side throughout the process to help ensure you understand what your agreement calls for and that it reflects the outcome you want.
A recent alimony dispute illustrates the importance of understanding a settlement agreement and being bound by its terms.
R.M. and S.M. were a couple who married in 1983, separated in 2017, and divorced in 2021. As part of the process, the couple worked out a settlement agreement. The agreement had several common elements, such as a provision about the division of property. (The wife, for example, got the marital home in Maryland and the condo in Colorado.)
Another key feature of the contract was its arbitration clause. That provision stated that if the spouses disagreed about the continuation of the husband’s $5,000-per-month alimony payments after he retired, they would resolve those disputes before an arbitrator, not a judge.
In 2022, after suffering a heart attack, the husband announced his intent to retire and sought to wipe out his future alimony. That triggered the arbitration clause in the agreement, so the spouse appeared before an arbitrator. The arbitrator heard both sides, then ruled that the husband would be responsible for the full $5,000 per month through May 2024, then $2,500 per month from June 1, 2024, until December 1, 2025. After December 1, 2025, the husband’s alimony obligation would be $0.
The wife, unhappy with that outcome, went back to the circuit to get the arbitration ruling thrown out. The judge agreed, threw out the ruling, and placed the dispute on its trial calendar.
The husband appealed and won. That win meant a reversal of the trial judge’s order and a reinstatement of the arbitration’s ruling. The appeals court, in ruling for the husband, pointed out that Maryland’s statutes have a specific section dealing with the narrow set of circumstances under which a trial court may throw out the decision of an arbitrator. The statute lists issues such as arbitrator bias, fraud, corruption, a lack of a valid arbitration agreement, refusal to postpone an arbitration “upon sufficient cause being shown for the postponement,” and evidence that the arbitrator exceeded their powers.
What it Means for an Arbitrator to Exceed Their Powers
The wife’s argument, which the trial judge accepted, was that the arbitrator exceeded his powers. The appeals court, however, concluded that he did not. What the law means in this context of “exceeding” powers, according to the appeals court, is that the arbitrator took action or awarded some type of relief that was beyond what they were supposed to decide. The appeals court offered, as an example of exceeding powers, an arbitrator who awarded a party their attorneys’ fees even though neither party had requested them.
In this couple’s case, the arbitrator allegedly erred by discrediting the testimony of one of the wife’s experts and substituting his own personal opinion on the issue. The problem for the wife, as the appeals court noted, was that, even if the arbitrator did that, it did not constitute “exceeding his authority.” The wife’s argument was one related to the correctness of the arbitrator’s ruling, not the scope of his authority.
What this should tell you is that the law establishes only a few ways to toss an arbitrator’s ruling once it has been finalized. Before deciding to agree to an arbitration clause in your divorce settlement agreement, you should make sure you completely understand the significance of what you are agreeing to.
While resolving a divorce via mutual agreement may seem simple, it still involves details and nuances of the law that make having a skilled advocate on your side essential. As you work to resolve your divorce, count on the knowledgeable Maryland family law attorneys at Anthony A. Fatemi, LLC to provide the effective advocacy you need. Contact us today at 301-519-2801 or via our online form to set up your consultation and find out how we can assist you.