Performing complete pretrial discovery is often an essential part of divorce litigation. Your spouse’s income and earnings are likely a crucial piece of that puzzle. This discovery may be as basic as obtaining a few items documenting wages (like W-2 forms) or a complicated matter involving documentation of multiple streams of present and deferred income. An experienced Maryland divorce lawyer can be vital to getting all the information necessary to provide the court with a full and complete picture of your spouse’s wealth and assets. The discovery dispute in the divorce of C.B. and R.B. repres ..read more

The joke about lawyers and math not mixing is an old one, going back at least as far as a 1976 Saturday Night Live skit regarding President Gerald Ford and a debate question about the federal budget. In the real world, many areas of the law are quite math-intensive, not the least of which is equitable distribution in a divorce. Just like all areas of math, equitable distribution math requires not just understanding how to perform calculations, but also choosing the correct formula. In-depth knowledge of these elements can be crucial to getting a genuinely fair outcome from your divorce, which ..read more

“Yours, Mine and Ours” is a 1968 film about a very large blended family. “Yours, mine, and ours” could also refer to the analysis that must be done for equitable distribution in a divorce. Arriving at a truly equitable distribution requires accurately determining which assets are “yours,” which are “mine,” which are “ours,” and which are a combination of the above. This can be a complex and intricate process and is one where an experienced Maryland divorce lawyer can render invaluable aid toward protecting your interests. One type of asset that can often be the center of a marital-versus-non-m ..read more

As family law attorneys, we see the good, the bad, and the ugly when it comes to divorce litigation. One unfortunate scenario that occurs regrettably often is a spouse who receives divorce papers from his/her spouse but decides to proceed with the divorce without legal counsel. This choice can have seriously damaging consequences, both financially and otherwise. Don’t make that mistake; instead, retain an experienced Maryland divorce lawyer to be the effective advocate you need. A divorce case from Annapolis is a strong cautionary tale in this regard. The husband’s complaint alleged that both ..read more

An old saying posits that “When it rains, it pours.” Sometimes in life, that can mean having to deal with multiple traumatic events — like your divorce and a relative’s grave illness — at the same time. Whatever the secondary emergency may be, you should take care when it comes to spending money during the pendency of your divorce case, even if it is for something as important as paying for care for a close loved one. What you can and cannot do will depend on multiple factors, like what court orders you’re under and whether the funds you seek to spend are marital or non-marital. One way to enh ..read more

Most dog owners consider their dogs family members, not mere property like appliances, furniture, or cars. However, in Maryland, that is how the courts will address pets in a divorce case. To get an outcome that will enhance your pet’s best interests, you must understand how Maryland law sees pets and how to use the existing rules to get the result you desire. Part of that process of protecting your pets is retaining the services of a knowledgeable Maryland divorce lawyer. Last August, we covered a change to D.C. law in which that jurisdiction declared that judges may consider the “best intere ..read more

As a spouse going through a divorce in Maryland, you may face many challenges, including concerning alimony and a monetary award. This challenge can become particularly complicated if your spouse is the owner of a small business, especially one that pays for a substantial chunk of his/her personal expenses. Whatever challenges you’re facing in your divorce, you can enhance your odds of getting a fair and appropriate alimony award by retaining an experienced Maryland divorce lawyer. Skilled counsel can help you persuade the court to look at more than just your spouse’s W2 income when it comes t ..read more

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 note ..read more

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 documen ..read more

As a spouse going through a divorce, you’ll face many choices. You may elect to resolve all your issues via a negotiated settlement, all via a trial, or some in each of those two settings. As is true in any negotiation setting, it is exceptionally important to understand when you have a complete agreement, when you have a partial agreement, and when, under the terms of the law, you have no binding agreement at all (even if you and your spouse seemed to reach some consensuses during the conference.) To understand what your legal rights and options are, be sure to get skillful advice from an exp ..read more