Property Division

Maryland is an “equitable distribution” state, which means that the property acquired during the marriage is divided in an equitable fashion.  Equitable does not mean equal, it means what the Court decides is fair.  Marital property is property that is acquired by either spouse during the marriage.  Property that was acquired by either spouse prior to the marriage, unless agreed upon by both spouses remains the property of that spouse.  Concerning any pension, retirement plans or insurance policies the court can determine the rights. 

It is advisable and preferable for couples to agree upon division of property themselves, however, if they cannot come to a decision that they both agree upon then a judge or master will decide this for them.  The court will award each party a percentage of the total value of property.  Assets and earnings are divided equally and fairly between both parties, generally with the greater wage earner being awarded two thirds of the assets.  The judge must follow three steps before granting a monetary award.  First, the court must first characterize the propertied owned as marital or non-marital.  Next, the judge determines the value of all marital property at the time of divorce not separation.  Lastly, the judge can order one spouse to pay a monetary award to the other spouse to adjust for the inequity based on how the marital assets are titled. 

The judge will consider a number of factors when deciding how to award a monetary award.  The most common factors are generally, the monetary and non-monetary contributing factors during the duration of the marriage. Generally, a number of criteria are used to determine the amount of alimony, possession of the marital home and any other factors the court deems necessary.  These include but are not limited to spouses’ ages, how specific property was acquired, economic circumstances and value of all the property and mental and physical condition of the husband and wife.  To this end, a spouse whose activities within a marriage do not include a contribution of income, it cannot be said they have contributed nothing to the acquisition of property.  The Maryland legislature maintained that non-monetary contributions made by spouses ‘ as homemaker, parent, housewife, handyman (of either sex), etc. although unquantifiable, are contributions which may be equivalent to the monetary contributions of the other spouse.  These are the facts by which the court shall determine the amount and the method of payment of a monetary award, or the terms of the transfer of the interest in property after considering each of the following factors:

• The contributions, monetary and nonmonetary, of each part to the well-being of the family
• The value of all property interests of each part
• The economic circumstances of each party at the time the award is to be made
• The circumstances that contributed to the estrangement of the parties
• The duration of the marriage
• The age of each party
• The physical and mental condition of each party
• How and when specific marital property or interest in property described was acquired, including the effort expended by each party in accumulating the marital property or the interest in property
• The contribution by either party of property to the acquisition of real property held by the parties as tenants by the entirety
• Any award of alimony and any award or other provision that the court has made with respect to family use personal property or the family home
• Any other factor that the court considers necessary or appropriate to consider in order to arrive at a fair and equitable monetary award or transfer of an interest in property or both

Property division can be a very complicated and emotional experience with many laws governing the outcome.  Taxes, pensions, businesses co-owned by spouses all add to the complex decisions, which need to be made at this time.

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