Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Maryland

Re: will my get half of my inheritance

This is really a question of Family Law as opposed to wills and probate. Upon divorce, the Court can determine what is "marital property" and what is not, and when dividing assets between former spouses, can only divide that which is found to be marital property. Under Maryland's Family Law Article, FL � 8-201(e), "marital property" means any property, no matter how titled, acquired by either or both of the parties during the marriage, EXCEPT property acquired by inheritance or gift, or any property directly traceable to an inheritance or gift (among others).

What this means is that your inheritance is your own non-marital property and it cannot be divided by a Court during divorce. One important thing to watch out for is the possibility of converting property that is otherwise non-marital into marital property. This can be done by commingling it with marital property such that it can no longer be traced to easily to the inheritance. Imagine getting an inheritance of say $50,000, and then using that with another $50,000 of marital cash to make a down payment on a house, and then living in the house as your marital residence. Over time, that might be sufficient to re-characterize what was once non-marital property as marital. That's just one example but I hope it is illustrative.