Among other things, when a couple here in Charles County Maryland divorces, under MD divorce law, any and all marital property must be “equitably” divided. That often means a 50/50 split of the divorcing couple’s assets (and debts), but, since the property division is based on “equity,” sometimes the split is not equal. The final determination of the property division is made by the Maryland divorce court. If you are facing a divorce here in Maryland, you will need to hire experienced divorce lawyers in Waldorf MD like those at the Law Office of Robert Castro. Call us at (301)870-1200.

By statute, when making the property division, the MD divorce court takes three steps. First, the court determines what is to be considered “marital” property and what is separate “non-marital” property. The former is subject to equitable division; the latter is not. Most assets are deemed marital while non-marital property includes:

• Any property or assets obtained and owned by the spouse or spouses prior to the marriage
• Gifts and inheritances received from third parties exclusively by one spouse during the marriage — note that gifts given to the spouses by each other are marital property
• Personal injury and other types of judgments/awards

Note that, if one spouse claims that some asset is “non-marital,” that spouse has the burden of proving that to the Charles County MD divorce court. Second, once the court has determined which assets are “martial,” then the Maryland divorce court must determine the value of those assets. Valuation can be quite complex and fiercely disputed in a contested Maryland divorce. As an example, consider the value of a small family-owned business. Third, the court must then make an equitable division of the marital assets.

In making the final determination, by statute — MD Code, Family Law, § 8-205 — the court must take the following 11 factors into account:

• Contributions, monetary and nonmonetary, of each party to the well-being of the family
• Value of all property interests of each party
  Economic circumstances of each party at the time the award is to be made
• Circumstances that contributed to the estrangement of the parties
• Duration of the marriage
• Age of each party
• Physical and mental condition of each party
• How and when specific marital property or interest in certain property was acquired, including the effort expended by each party in accumulating the marital property and/or the interest of each spouse in property
• Contribution by either party of to the ownership 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

As noted above, divorce in Maryland requires an “equitable distribution” of the marital assets. Given the number of potential factors, we can see where “equity” can come into play. For example, factor four — circumstances that led to the estrangement — is often a place where a Waldorf MD divorce court will exercise discretion to make an equitable — but unequal — distribution. An example might be circumstances where adultery or physical/emotional abuse of one spouse by the other occurred.

Contact Waldorf, Maryland Family Law and Divorce Lawyer 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 Maryland family law and divorce lawyer at (301)870-1200. We are Waldorf, MD Divorce lawyers.