It is not uncommon for a former spouse to go to court claiming their ex is behind on their alimony payments. But how long can such arrearages accumulate? Put another way, how long does a person have to actually go back to court and seek judicial enforcement of an alimony order?

Maryland Court Awards Former Wife $332,000 in Back Alimony Payments From Bigamist Former Husband

A recent unpublished decision from the Maryland Court of Special Appeals, Moustafa v. Moustafa, helps to explain the answer. This case actually involved an annulment rather than a divorce, although the laws governing alimony are essentially the same for both. Here, the former husband and former wife were actually divorced and later remarried, but the remarriage was annulled on the grounds of bigamy, as apparently the former husband was married to another woman when he re-married the former wife.

In any event, the court judgment annulling the remarriage ordered the former husband to pay $5,750 per month in alimony. About a year later, the parties negotiated an agreement reducing that amount to $2,000 per month. The court then entered an order modifying the original judgment “so as to reflect the terms” of the agreement.

Over the next 15 years, the husband only paid $6,000 in alimony. In 2019, the former wife returned to court and filed a petition to enforce the modified judgment and collect the arrearages owed to her. The former husband responded by filing his own petition to reduce alimony.

At a hearing, the former husband argued that the former wife’s petition was barred by the statute of limitations. Normally, Maryland has a three-year limitations period subject to certain exceptions. One of those exceptions is a 12-year limitation period to enforce an existing court judgment. The former wife filed her petition within this 12-year period. But the former husband argued the three-year period should apply as the former wife’s claims arose from the settlement agreement–a contract–which was never formally “merged into” the original annulment judgment.

Both the trial court and the Court of Special Appeals said the 12-year limitations period applied. The appellate court noted that under Maryland law, there were no “magic words” necessary to formally incorporate the settlement agreement into the original judgment. The former husband was essentially splitting legal hairs. The agreement was part of the original judgment and thus the 12-year limitations period applied to the former wife’s petition.

More to the point, the Court of Special Appeals said the evidence demonstrated that the former husband did in fact owe alimony arrearages totaling $322,000. The Court further rejected the former husband’s counter-petition to reduce his alimony obligations moving forward.

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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://www.courts.state.md.us/sites/default/files/unreported-opinions/0089s21.pdf