Legal Question in Family Law in Maryland

Re: Tax Debt used by hostile spouse to devalue marital prop?

It is highly unlikely that you can get a court to void the agreement, since you negotiated it with the aid of an attorney and were presumably counseled as to the legal ramifications of it. However, the court will certainly enforce the agreement and will probably award you either permanent or at least rehabilitative alimony, which is designed to tide you over while you regain the skills to enter the labor market and become self-supporting if that applies to you.

Incidentally, just because the real estate is titled in both names, it doesn't necessarily mean that it will be divided equally. Maryland law is clear that the way the property is titled is not determinative of the ownership interest of either party, nor is it a guarantee that you will automatically get half. You might get more if the court decides that's necessary to provide you with a fair amount of the marital property.

Re: Tax Debt used by hostile spouse to devalue marital prop?

It is never safe to assume, from the payment of temporary alimony, called "pendente lite" alimony if it is paid during the litigation, that permanent, or "indefinite" alimony will be ordered at the time of the divorce. Indefinite alimony is rarely awarded, in cases where one party is unable to be self-supporting or where, even if that party is self-supporting at a marginal level, the other party has income and/or assets substantially greater and is able to pay alimony and still maintain a life-style close to his or her life-style before the divorce. These are cases where the court finds an "unconscionable disparity" between the incomes of the two parties. If you are living on Social Security benefits and your husband has an income more than three times yours, you may be successful in persuading the judge that he should award you indefinite alimony. As for the monetary award, that is for the purpose of making an equitable distribution of marital property. I assume that after thirty years of marriage there is other marital property besides the real estate, including vehicles, home furnishings, other personal property, and perhaps a pension or other kind of retirement account. A monetary award should be based on the amount and value of marital property owned or possessed by each of you, as a means of "adjusting the equities." The court can't order a change of title to property, but can order the payment of money to make things (hopefully) more fair. The fact that you have signed the home over to your husband as a partial settlement should not mean necessarily that it can't be included in the calculations of marital property on which to base a monetary award. You could not force a sale of the real estate while you are still married, and there is no guarantee that if you forced a sale after the divorce you would receive fifty per cent of the proceeds. That would depend on the size of a monetary award which the judge orders. Furthermore, if you were to sell the property and divide the proceeds, your interest would be reduced by a 7% broker's commission and the other costs of selling the property. If you go to court with an appraisal of the property, the judge will value if without considering the cost of selling it. It is possible that your husband is not trying to defraud you at all. If he has borrowed enough to pay the taxes, he has reduced the net value of the property by a small amount. If he later has to borrow more to compensate you for your interest, there will presumably be enough equity remaining in the property to do so.