How a Maryland Divorce Can Affect Your Property Ownership Rights

A common issue faced by divorcing couples in Maryland is what to do with the marital home. As a matter of law, married spouses who own their home typically do so as tenants by the entirety. This is a legal term that means each spouse has an equal and undivided interest in the property. Each spouse also has survivorship rights, meaning that when one spouse dies, the survivor automatically assumes full ownership.

When a married couple obtains a divorce however, the final divorce judgment severs a tenancy by the entirety. At that point, the now-divorced spouses hold the property as tenants in common. This is how most property owned by two or more people is held. Basically, tenants in common each own a separate interest in the property, often 50/50, but it can be different percentages, with no automatic right of survivorship.

Maryland Court: Lack of Deed Did Not Defeat Trust Created Upon Divorce

Married couples can also reach a voluntary agreement to sever a tenancy by the entirety and hold property as tenants in common during the marriage or as part of a settlement agreement that a judge incorporates into a final divorce decree. In the latter case, the divorce judgment still effectively severs any survivorship rights each spouse has in the other’s interest in the property.

A recent Appellate Court of Maryland case, Issar v. Robertson, explained how these rules work in practice. The parties in this dispute were the widow and ex-wife of a man who died in 2022. The deceased and his ex-wife previously owned their marital home in Waldorf as tenants by the entirety. When the couple divorced in July 2020, they agreed to place the house in an irrevocable trust for the benefit of their grandchildren. The judge subsequently incorporated this agreement into the final divorce decree.

Two weeks before his death, the deceased remarried. He also signed a will naming his new wife as the executor and sole beneficiary of his estate. After he died, the widow argued that one-half of the Waldorf property belonged to his probate estate because, for some reason, there was never a deed file transferring title to the trust after the divorce. The ex-wife, acting as the trustee of the irrevocable trust, said that did not matter. The divorce decree itself was sufficient to complete the trust, thus relinquishing whatever ownership rights the deceased had in the property.

The Maryland courts sided with the ex-wife. The Appellate Court, upholding an earlier ruling by a Charles County Circuit Court judge, said “property conveyances may occur in various ways” and the divorce decree was sufficient to transfer property “even though there was no actual written deed.”

Contact a La Plata Property Distribution Lawyer Today

Even where divorcing spouses are in agreement as to how to divide their marital property, there are still a number of critical legal formalities that must be observed to ensure each side walks away with a fair deal. Our La Plata property distribution lawyer can help you in this area. Contact Fanning Law today at 301-934-3620 to schedule a consultation. We serve clients in LaPlata, Waldorf, and Lexington Park.

Source:

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