Why You Cannot Rely on “Implied” Agreements to Divide Marital Property in a Maryland Divorce

Married couples often avoid signing a prenuptial or post-nuptial agreement because they do not want to contemplate the possibility of divorce. Unfortunately, if a divorce does occur, the absence of such an agreement can complicate the division and distribution of marital property. In some cases, one spouse may assume there is an implicit agreement on how to divide property but the other spouse disagrees. And in most cases, Maryland judges are unlikely to uphold such “implied” agreements.

Maryland Court Rejects Husband’s Bid to Keep Separate Accounts

Indeed, the Appellate Court of Maryland recently addressed such a case from St. Mary’s County. In Titus v. Titus, a husband and wife were married for a little over 10 years before the wife moved out and filed for divorce. At a subsequent hearing before the Circuit Court, the parties disagreed over whether certain property–notably two credit union accounts–should be classified as “marital” or “non-marital” property.

The husband’s position was that the disputed accounts were his sole, nonmarital property. The wife said they were marital property. During the hearing, the husband testified that he and his wife had always maintained separate bank accounts during the marriage. And while “there was never anything in writing” making this separation of finances official, he said they agreed implicitly that they never intended any of their bank accounts to be marital property.

The Circuit Court disagreed, holding the disputed accounts were marital property. The Appellate Court upheld this finding. (The Appellate Court did reverse other findings made by the Circuit Court that were unrelated to this specific issue.) As the Appellate Court explained, under Maryland law any property acquired during a marriage is considered marital property “unless the parties agreed otherwise” or another exception applies, such as the property was a gift or inheritance made to just one spouse.

If the parties agree to exclude property from the “marital” category, the Appellate Court continued, then that agreement “must be sufficiently specific as to make clear” that exclusion. Normally this would be done through a written premarital or post-marital agreement. In prior cases, the Appellate Court said it had “expressed doubt” as to whether an oral agreement could satisfy this requirement. But here, there was not even an oral agreement, only the husband’s claim of an “implicit” agreement, which the Appellate Court said was even more dubious. And given that Maryland law started with the presumption that the husband’s bank accounts were marital property, the Appellate Court saw no reason to disturb the Circuit Court’s finding that the husband failed to overcome that presumption.

Contact a La Plata Property Distribution Lawyer Today

One lesson here is that even if you open a bank account during your marriage under just your name, it will still likely be considered marital property unless you and your spouse signed a written agreement stating otherwise. This is just one of many issues that our La Plata property distribution lawyer can help you with. Contact Fanning Law, LLC today to schedule a consultation. We serve clients in LaPlata, Waldorf, and Lexington Park.

Source:

scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=13641645787175013214