Legal Question in Family Law in Maryland
Divorce / spousal support
My fiance is expecting a cash settlement related to a law suite with his former employer.
He is concerned that his ex will 'go after' a portion of this compensation.
He pays child suppoprt and alimony. She is a paralegal and has made it aware that she is aware of the case.
Would she be entitled to any of his settlement?
He is already paying alimony
and child support as their divorce aggrement stipulates.
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: Divorce / spousal support
Unless the divorce judgment, or any pre-divorce agreement that they made, did not resolve all property issues, it's too late for the ex to make a claim for a share of these benefits. If the case was pending during the run up to the divorce hearing, presumably the ex knew about it and details about the claim were brought out during the discovery phase of the case. The ex should have made sure it was included as a property item on the joint property statement they were required to file (if it was a contested divorce), to enable the judge to make a ruling on whether she was entitled to any of it.
All that being said, if it's a substantial amount, the ex might try to get either the child support or alimony increased, claiming he now has the ability to pay more.