My husband has filed for a divorce against me and I need legal representation. I am not not working and have very little income. I am not contesting the divorce but there are two houses and personal property involved. Can you help me? ...

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My husband has filed for a divorce against me and I need legal representation. I am not not working and have very little income. I am not contesting the divorce but there are two houses and personal property involved. Can you help me?

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DakotaLegal's picture

 

 
Since your big question is affordable legal help, we’ll start there, and then go on to some other ideas…ideas that may help you improve your control over what’s happening, lower your legal costs, and set some sound legal goals. For example, you may be able to have your court papers reviewed at the University of Maryland Law School clinic program: hundreds of great students donate over 100,000 free hours each year… http://www.law.umaryland.edu/programs/clinic/. You didn’t mention children, so I’ll go under the assumption that there are either no children or that they have already grown and moved.
 
In Maryland, there are two types of divorce, called either Partial or Absolute. The divorce petition will state which one your husband asked for…one is intended as a separation, and states four separate grounds. Usually, most divorces are Absolute. There are eight grounds for divorce in Maryland: most couples separate for a year, and then finalize the divorce for grounds of living separately. You’ll need to be sure to make plans for how you will pay bills, and what happens to your property in that time. You have a right to alimony, which we’ll talk about in a minute. First, let’s see where you can turn for affordable legal help…
 
Identifying Legal Help. Time is always of the essence. A divorce is just another type of lawsuit, and you have so many days to Answer the Complaint. One great resource in Maryland is a lawyer volunteer project, at http://www.mvlslaw.org/. Check the Complaint to get the date listed for when you have to answer.
 
I have never been comfortable with a divorcing couple who ‘share’ the same lawyer, whether directly or indirectly. It sounds as though you were not completely expecting the divorce, which suggests it’s a tactical move, at least in part, by your husband. Don’t take his word (or what he “says his lawyer says”) for the procedure, or that you are completely aware of all his assets.
 
After you helpfully have a low-cost or pro bono lawyer, there’s another way to try and save money in legal costs. You have a choice to go into mediation to try and get an agreement with your husband, without the costs and time involved in going to court. As with selecting a lawyer, be sure the mediator is not based in your husband’s favor…be sure they do not know each other well, or “typically” handle’s your husband’s lawyer’s clients. If you can reach an agreement, it will be called a Marital Settlement Agreement. It can be a very cost effective way to settle property and alimony issues. Having said that, it always makes sense to have your own lawyer review a Marital Property Agreement before you sign it.
 
 
Possible Alimony. Since you have not been working, I assume you have relied on other income, perhaps your husband’s, to live. You may need to ask the court for a Use and Possession Order to let you have the specific right to live in the home or to access accounts. If you decide to fight the divorce, these orders can last (at most) three years. The court will weigh many factors in setting either alimony or a fair distribution:
 
(1) Contributions (including non-monetary) of each party to the family;
(2) Property value of each party;
(3) Economic circumstances of each party at the time of any award;
(4) Reasons for divorce;
(5) Time of the marriage;
(6) Age of each party;
(7) Physical and Mental health;
(8) How and when the property was gained;
(9) Reasonable alimony and other awards, taken together;
(10) “Any other factor” that the court believes “necessary or appropriate.”
 
The sort of alimony you can ask for is not permanent, but temporary: http://law.justia.com/codes/maryland/2010/family-law/title-11/11-102/.
 
Fair Property Division. Never underestimate the value of your contributions to family property. Maryland law recognizes that a married couple essentially make an equal promise to share their property in many instances. http://law.justia.com/codes/maryland/2010/family-law/title-8/subtitle-2/8-204/.There are exceptions to this general rule: property that belonged to you (or your husband) before marriage is not marital property; an inheritance to you is yours; if there was an agreement between you and your husband that property is separate. The last point is especially important…be careful not to sign or transfer any property until you have legal advice. If you signed any property transfers in the months before your husband filed for divorce, fight that transfer.
 
Start listing all you can think of as assets, in addition to real estate:
 
• Stocks, bonds, mutual funds
• Bank accounts
• Business Ownership
• Life insurance policies
• Pensions, Retirement accounts
• Notes/loans
• Stock options and compensation plans
• Patents or royalties
• Personal property, including automobiles
 
 
There can be a wrinkle if some property is “mixed” marital and individual. This can happen, for example, if your husband owned your home before being married. If your name was put on the title after a marriage, it would become what’s called “owners by the entirety.” Under Maryland law, this means the house became marital property. To be fair, a court may look at the length of the marriage, and the contributions you made to the home, and order that you get a sum of money as value instead of part of the home’s title.

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DakotaLegal's picture

 

 
Since your big question is affordable legal help, we’ll start there, and then go on to some other ideas…ideas that may help you improve your control over what’s happening, lower your legal costs, and set some sound legal goals. For example, you may be able to have your court papers reviewed at the University of Maryland Law School clinic program: hundreds of great students donate over 100,000 free hours each year… http://www.law.umaryland.edu/programs/clinic/. You didn’t mention children, so I’ll go under the assumption that there are either no children or that they have already grown and moved.
 
In Maryland, there are two types of divorce, called either Partial or Absolute. The divorce petition will state which one your husband asked for…one is intended as a separation, and states four separate grounds. Usually, most divorces are Absolute. There are eight grounds for divorce in Maryland: most couples separate for a year, and then finalize the divorce for grounds of living separately. You’ll need to be sure to make plans for how you will pay bills, and what happens to your property in that time. You have a right to alimony, which we’ll talk about in a minute. First, let’s see where you can turn for affordable legal help…
 
Identifying Legal Help. Time is always of the essence. A divorce is just another type of lawsuit, and you have so many days to Answer the Complaint. One great resource in Maryland is a lawyer volunteer project, at http://www.mvlslaw.org/. Check the Complaint to get the date listed for when you have to answer.
 
I have never been comfortable with a divorcing couple who ‘share’ the same lawyer, whether directly or indirectly. It sounds as though you were not completely expecting the divorce, which suggests it’s a tactical move, at least in part, by your husband. Don’t take his word (or what he “says his lawyer says”) for the procedure, or that you are completely aware of all his assets.
 
After you helpfully have a low-cost or pro bono lawyer, there’s another way to try and save money in legal costs. You have a choice to go into mediation to try and get an agreement with your husband, without the costs and time involved in going to court. As with selecting a lawyer, be sure the mediator is not based in your husband’s favor…be sure they do not know each other well, or “typically” handle’s your husband’s lawyer’s clients. If you can reach an agreement, it will be called a Marital Settlement Agreement. It can be a very cost effective way to settle property and alimony issues. Having said that, it always makes sense to have your own lawyer review a Marital Property Agreement before you sign it.
 
 
Possible Alimony. Since you have not been working, I assume you have relied on other income, perhaps your husband’s, to live. You may need to ask the court for a Use and Possession Order to let you have the specific right to live in the home or to access accounts. If you decide to fight the divorce, these orders can last (at most) three years. The court will weigh many factors in setting either alimony or a fair distribution:
 
(1) Contributions (including non-monetary) of each party to the family;
(2) Property value of each party;
(3) Economic circumstances of each party at the time of any award;
(4) Reasons for divorce;
(5) Time of the marriage;
(6) Age of each party;
(7) Physical and Mental health;
(8) How and when the property was gained;
(9) Reasonable alimony and other awards, taken together;
(10) “Any other factor” that the court believes “necessary or appropriate.”
 
The sort of alimony you can ask for is not permanent, but temporary: http://law.justia.com/codes/maryland/2010/family-law/title-11/11-102/.
 
Fair Property Division. Never underestimate the value of your contributions to family property. Maryland law recognizes that a married couple essentially make an equal promise to share their property in many instances. http://law.justia.com/codes/maryland/2010/family-law/title-8/subtitle-2/8-204/.There are exceptions to this general rule: property that belonged to you (or your husband) before marriage is not marital property; an inheritance to you is yours; if there was an agreement between you and your husband that property is separate. The last point is especially important…be careful not to sign or transfer any property until you have legal advice. If you signed any property transfers in the months before your husband filed for divorce, fight that transfer.
 
Start listing all you can think of as assets, in addition to real estate:
 
• Stocks, bonds, mutual funds
• Bank accounts
• Business Ownership
• Life insurance policies
• Pensions, Retirement accounts
• Notes/loans
• Stock options and compensation plans
• Patents or royalties
• Personal property, including automobiles
 
 
There can be a wrinkle if some property is “mixed” marital and individual. This can happen, for example, if your husband owned your home before being married. If your name was put on the title after a marriage, it would become what’s called “owners by the entirety.” Under Maryland law, this means the house became marital property. To be fair, a court may look at the length of the marriage, and the contributions you made to the home, and order that you get a sum of money as value instead of part of the home’s title.