Legal Question in Family Law in Maryland

Re: Separation

Any equity acquired during your marriage, no matter who made the payments on the mortgage (unless they were made as a gift to one of you or were paid entirely with money which one of you had before the marriage and maintained in a separate account) is considered marital property at the time of divorce. Marital property is subject to distribution by the judge, unless the parties reach an agreement out of court about the division of property. Usually, but not always, the property is divided roughly evenly. You didn't say whether the home is titled to both of you or just your husband. If it is titled to both of you, the judge cannot change the title, but presumably the property would be sold and the proceeds divided, unless one of you wished to buy out the interest of the other. If it is titled just to your husband, he might be ordered to pay you a sum of money equal to half of he equity. In order for this to happen, you would have to present evidence in court regarding the current value of the property, the balance on the mortgage, and the source of funds used to pay the mortgage. In your case, since the payments have come from a joint account, in which your assets and his were commingled, you paid the mortgage jointly, regardless of whose name is on the mortgage.

Re: Separation

It depends. Property purchased during the marriage is marital property unless purchased through a gift, inheritence or other separate property. In Maryland the manner in which the house is titled has no bearing.

Even if it is found to be separate property because it was purchased via one of the means just described above, parties can eventually commingle or transmute separate property into marital property a variety of ways. I would have to speak with you to get the facts to determine if this would be the case.

If it is marital property then the court does not necessarily have to divide the equity 50/50. Maryland is an equitable distribution state which basically means it's up to the judge to decide how to split the property. It could be 60/40 or even 0/100. Please feel free to call me with any questions at 301-652-0663.