Legal Question in Family Law in Maryland
For pre-marital assets, what is the "burden of proof" that the assets were acquired before marriage? Accounts have been established for 25+ yrs without additions or withdrawals, but online records only go 2 yrs backwards. Also, who bears the "burden"? If acct#'s & passwords are provided to the plaintiff, is it sufficient to assume they have what's necessary to dispute?
1 Answer from Attorneys
The burden of proof is by a preponderance of the evidence, as in all civil cases. The burden is on the party asserting a claim, so that if the "other" spouse claims a non-marital account is all or part marital, they would have the burden. There should be bank records available for the account(s) that establish when they were opened and by whom. You would have 1099s for tax purposes going back years if you were sage enough to retain them. As for providing records, if they have been properly requested in discovery, the responder should provide them for a reasonable period of time.
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