Legal Question in Real Estate Law in Maryland

Re: rental money

Under the law, joint owners of real estate are equally entitled to use and possession unless they have an agreement to the contrary. Your "ex" would argue that your payment of the mortgage is really for the benefit of your children (I assume they're yours) and is therefore child support. (You didn't indicate if you're also paying support on top of the mortgage, but I'm assuming you don't.) The bottom line is if you don't enter into a written agreement regarding these things, you can't expect to be able to claim a superior interest in the property later on. You might try to negotiate something with her now that entitles her to stay in the house for a certain period but defines who will get what at the time of sale. If she's unwilling to negotiate and you are not married at this time (as opposed to just separated), you could file an action for partition and sale and try to argue that you are entitled to a greater share of the proceeds from sale since you contributed more to the equity in the property.