Marital Property

In a divorce case, the parties need to identify and value all assets accumulated during the marriage and determine which ones are non-marital.  Assets that existed prior to the marriage or were acquired by gift or inheritance during the marriage need to be documented.  If assets were co-mingled, a party seeking credits may need to trace out his/her non-marital contributions.  In Maryland and DC, the marital assets need to be divided in a fair and equitable manner after taking into account many factors, including the length of the marriage, the reasons for the divorce, and each party’s contributions to the family.

When there are the outstanding financial obligations accumulated during the marriage, either by agreement or court order the divorce needs to address how these obligations will be satisfied after taking into consideration when and why the debt was acquired.  Creative solutions for addressing these issues need to be discussed with financial professionals in addition to legal counsel.