Division of Property

Equity and Judicial Discretion in Maryland Divorce Cases

December 15, 2023 | by Anthony A. Fatemi, LLC

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 something different. Given the judge’s substantial discretionary power, it is vital to have a knowledgeable Maryland divorce lawyer on your side, you that you can be confident that the judge has all the information necessary to accurately decide was is a just outcome.

As noted above, a division is not always 50-50. As an example, there’s this divorce-related case from Brookeville.

The spouses worked out a marital settlement agreement in early 2015 that said that the wife would receive the exclusive “use and possession” of the marital home for three years. After that 36-month period elapsed (or if the wife remarried earlier,) the agreement dictated that the home would be listed for sale.

How Maryland Law Addresses Unconscionability Arguments in Prenuptial Agreement Enforcement Cases

November 22, 2023 | by Anthony A. Fatemi, LLC

Prenuptial agreements and postnuptial agreements can be traps for the unwary. Signing an agreement with unfavorable terms can — absent a court judgment invalidating the contract — cost you greatly. (In one recent Maryland case, it cost the husband $7 million.) Before you sign, make sure you understand exactly what you’re getting into. To do that, be sure you’ve consulted with an experienced Maryland prenuptial agreement lawyer.

As another example, there’s D.R. and L.R., a late middle-aged couple who signed their prenuptial agreement in the fall of 1992. The husband’s lawyer drafted the document. The wife’s attorney counseled against signing the agreement, but the wife signed anyway.

The agreement’s terms called for neither spouse to receive alimony and that the couple would not split income or assets. It also said that “the parties expect to reside together in a location, style, and manner mutually suitable to them,” and that ownership “of any homes, residences, or other real property acquired by [husband and wife] shall be held by the parties as Tenants in Common with no rights of survivorship.”

How Failing to Meet Your Discovery Disclosure Obligations Can Greatly Damage Your Maryland Divorce Case

October 17, 2023 | by Anthony A. Fatemi, LLC

While divorce trials are matters where the focus falls heavily on the facts in evidence, Maryland still has numerous procedural rules that govern. A spouse’s failure to comply with them can have a very harmful impact on that spouse’s ability to litigate her case before the court. Procedural issues are one area where a skillful Maryland divorce lawyer can be greatly helpful, ensuring that you are fully compliant with all the procedural rules as well as the procedural orders the court issues.

A divorce case from Prince George’s County shows exactly how damaging procedural errors can be.

The spouses in the case married in 2013 and separated in 2019. The wife worked for the federal government, but she also had her own business that, in 2016, transitioned to focus primarily on nutritional supplements. That transition was a success and the wife’s business experienced substantial growth during the spouses’ marriage.

Part of My Prenuptial Agreement is Unenforceable Under Maryland Law. Now What?

June 30, 2023 | by Anthony A. Fatemi, LLC

In Maryland, and across the United States, we have “freedom of contract.” This means that you and another party (or parties) mostly can customize the terms of your agreements however you want without governmental interference. That freedom extends to prenuptial agreements, but it is not without limits. Certain subject matters cannot be controlled by a prenuptial agreement and clauses purporting to do so are necessarily unenforceable. Working with a knowledgeable Maryland prenuptial agreement lawyer can be invaluable in making the document you sign will accomplish the goals you desire to achieve.

Getting your prenuptial agreement “right” is crucial for multiple reasons. For one thing, courts will (due to freedom of contract) enforce most prenuptial agreement provisions as written. However, on the other hand, including an unenforceable provision may substantially damage your overall agreement.

A recent divorce case originating in Prince George’s County shows what can happen when a prenuptial agreement goes wrong. The agreement contained one paragraph that said that if the wife left, filed for separation, or filed for divorce, the husband would get full custody of the couple’s children and the wife would receive “unlimited visitation rights.” Additionally, the wife promised in the second paragraph to raise the children in the Islamic faith.

How Your Spouse’s Marital Misconduct May Impact Your Monetary Award in a Maryland Divorce, Even If Yours is Not an Adultery Case

April 14, 2023 | by Anthony A. Fatemi, LLC

Here in Maryland, you have multiple avenues for seeking a divorce. You can pursue a “no-fault” divorce, provided you and your spouse have been separated for at least 12 months. Alternately, Maryland law recognizes six other causes for granting an absolute divorce, each of which revolves around the other spouse’s fault. Whether you’re proceeding with a no-fault divorce or a divorce based on your spouse’s fault, a skilled Maryland divorce lawyer can help you accomplish your goals more fully.

Obviously, if you’re pursuing a “fault” divorce based on your spouse’s adultery, you’re going to need proof of his/her bad conduct. In Maryland, you don’t have to present evidence of actual coupling between your spouse and a paramour; you simply have to establish that your spouse had both the “disposition” and the “opportunity” to cheat.

However, as a recent divorce case from Howard County shows, proof of your spouse’s marital misconduct can be beneficial to your case, even if you’re proceeding with a no-fault divorce.

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

December 30, 2022 | by Anthony A. Fatemi, LLC

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 have much of an impact on the outcome of your divorce… but sometimes it will affect that outcome in a major way. To determine your rights and options if your spouse has been cheating, you need to speak to a knowledgeable Maryland divorce lawyer.

Maryland is one of the states that recognizes both no-fault divorce and at-fault divorce. One of the grounds for absolute divorce under Maryland law is adultery. Even in a case of a divorce on the ground of adultery, that affair may not “move the needle” much in terms of the financial aspects of the court’s judgment. So, if an adulterous spouse is someone who earns only minimal income with few economic opportunities and little chance of becoming self-supporting and the “innocent” spouse has substantial wealth and income, the adulterous spouse may still be entitled to alimony and/or a monetary award, even if the infidelity was the reasons for the marriage’s breakdown.

There’s one scenario, however, where a spouse’s extramarital affair(s) can have a huge impact on those financial elements of divorce, and that circumstance was illustrated in a recent divorce case originating here in Montgomery County.

Know Before You Go to Sign: The Importance of Getting Legal Advice Before Signing an Agreement Relinquishing Your Right to a Marital Asset

December 16, 2022 | by Anthony A. Fatemi, LLC

In this blog, we’ve discussed in the past the importance of consulting a knowledgeable Maryland divorce lawyer before you sign documents like prenuptial agreements, post-nuptial agreements, and marital settlement agreements, which can alter your ownership rights in various marital and/or non-marital assets. As a recent divorce case from Prince George’s County illustrates, even if you’re not signing a prenup or a settlement agreement, the need for experienced counsel exists any time you’re signing something that purports to alter your ownership rights in one or more assets.

The spouses in the Prince George’s County case, R.T. and B.J., married in 1988 and lived in a home in Clinton. 25 years later — in early February 2013 — the husband told the wife he desired to separate and to live in his own home. A few weeks later, the husband approached the wife about buying a residence in Cheltenham that would serve as his home.

The couple decided to execute three contracts, each of which was notarized. Together, the agreements reflected the wife’s intention to relinquish all her rights to the husband’s retirement account and that the husband would relinquish all ownership rights to the residence in Clinton. The husband was not represented by counsel when he signed the documents.

The Value of a Good Legal Advocate in Your Maryland Divorce: It Goes Further Than You Might Think

July 29, 2022 | by Anthony A. Fatemi, LLC

A knowledgeable Maryland divorce lawyer can help your case in countless ways. Sometimes, those ways involve in-depth knowledge of the law or the effective use of the pre-trial discovery processes to get key evidence. Other times, a skilled divorce lawyer can help by managing a client’s expectations and giving them strong, unflinching advice about what sort of things can help your case… and which ones almost certainly won’t.

As an example, let’s look at the divorce case of A.T., an Upper Marlboro man whose wife filed for divorce the Monday after Thanksgiving in 2018.

The husband, in response, “did not file an answer, counter complaint, or any pleading requesting relief from the court.”

Dealing With Your Spouse’s Family Business in Your Maryland Divorce

July 15, 2022 | by Anthony A. Fatemi, LLC

Family-owned businesses are a staple of the American commercial landscape. Many of these businesses are passed down across multiple generations. Sometimes, though, the family business in question is your spouse’s, not yours. When that happens and you’re divorcing, some or all of that business may be a marital asset subject to equitable distribution. Getting a truly just outcome in that scenario means getting a proper determination of both the business’s status (as marital) and its value. A skilled Maryland divorce lawyer can help go about obtaining that just and appropriate outcome.

A recent example of this kind of divorce case comes to us from Baltimore County. The husband’s parents were successful businesspeople, having run a seafood market and restaurant west of Baltimore since 1963.

The husband and wife married in 2004. In 2005, the husband (“Eric”) and his father (“Bill”) formed a corporation to operate the market and restaurant. Initially, Eric owned 25% of the shares and Bill owned 75%. In January 2006, Bill transferred his shares to Eric and Eric’s sister. That left Eric with 75% ownership and the sister with 25%.

Overcoming Typos and Math Errors in Your Maryland Divorce Judgement to Arrive at a Fair and Equal Result

June 30, 2022 | by Anthony A. Fatemi, LLC

“Lawyers often joke that we went to law school because we aren’t good at or don’t like math,” quipped a Maryland Court of Special Appeals judge recently. In a similar vein, a student in a law school seminar once interrupted the instructor who was laying out a math-intensive hypothetical. “Pardon me, Professor, but… we don’t do math. If we did, we wouldn’t be here.” Similar to the Court of Special Appeals Judge’s observation, the student was implying that he and his classmates arrived at law school rather than medical school or engineering school solely as a result of their poor math skills or strong dislike of math. In seriousness, though, math and law can — and do — intersect frequently, especially in divorce cases involving the division of marital assets. When you are in a divorce case where that is a significant issue, your outcome can often be enhanced by having on your side a skilled Maryland divorce lawyer (who may or may not love math.)

The case that spawned the Court of Special Appeals’ observation about math was a recent divorce dispute about retirement assets. The judgment in that divorce action stated that the “parties shall equalize their retirement assets.” To do that, the court instructed the wife to roll over $303,388 from her retirement to the husband’s retirement.

The problem was, as the appeals court put it, “something didn’t add up,” and fortunately for the wife, her legal team spotted it and argued it in her motion to enforce the judgment. Specifically, the wife’s counsel found the presence of a typographical error and deduced that a transfer of $303,388 would not equalize the spouses’ assets. To achieve an equal split, the wife argued, the correct sum should have been $40,000 less, or $263,388.