A marriage can break down at any time, sometimes after just a few weeks, and in other cases more than 20 years. But does the length of the marriage actually matter when it comes to the laws governing divorce? The short answer is “yes,” at least with respect to alimony and division of marital property.

Maryland law spells out a number of factors a court must take into consideration when deciding these two issues. One of them is the “duration of the marriage.” With respect to alimony, for example, a judge is more likely to award alimony–and for a longer period of time–if the marriage itself lasted a long time.

The general rule of thumb is that a court is less likely to award any alimony in a “short-term” marriage (one that lasts less than five years) and more likely to award indefinite or “permanent” alimony in marriages of 20 years or longer. Again, it is important to emphasize that the duration of the marriage is just one factor in determining the amount and length of an alimony award.

Similarly, while the division of marital property is typically 50/50 in a Maryland divorce case, the court may look at the length of the marriage as one factor in deciding to deviate from that standard. For example, if one spouse earned a substantially higher income during a long-term marriage, the court may award the other spouse a greater share of the marital property to ensure both parties continue to enjoy a comparable standard of living following the divorce.

“Religious Ceremony” Enough to Create a Legal Marriage in Maryland

Although determining the length of a marriage is usually a simple task, there can be disputes on this issue as well. A recent unpublished decision from the Maryland Court of Special Appeals, S.O. v. H.M., provides one example. In this case, the parties disagreed as to when they were actually married.

The husband and wife in this case obtained a marriage license in November 2015. They were then married in a religious ceremony in April 2016, but the husband claimed he never returned the marriage license to the court. The wife nevertheless insisted they “held themselves out as husband and wife” from April 2016. But the husband argued there was no valid marriage until April 2019, when the couple signed and received a marriage certificate from the state.

The husband filed for divorce in February 2020. The question of when the marriage began proved relevant when it came to the determination of alimony. The court ordered the husband to pay $1,000 per month to the wife in alimony while she was in school working toward her medical degree. The husband argued this was excessive given the parties had “just married” before filing for divorce.

The judge, however, determined the marriage legally began in 2016 and not 2019. The Court of Special Appeals (CSA) agreed. Rejecting the husband’s appeal, the CSA explained that under Maryland common law a “religious ceremony, in celebration of the civil contract, was sufficient to make the marriage lawful.” In other words, a marriage performed without returning a marriage license can still be valid. So the trial court did not err in holding that the parties’ marriage began in 2016 when they participated in the religious ceremony.

Contact Waldorf Family Law Attorney Robert Castro Today

This article has been provided by the Law Office of Robert Castro. For more information or questions contact our office to speak to an experienced lawyer at (301) 870-1200.

Source:

https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=17123089368334374720