SEPARATION AGREEMENTS IN MARYLAND

A separation agreement is a document, typically drafted by an attorney, which resolves issues pertaining to divorce.  Issues that may be addressed are:

• child custody
• child support
• who pays for children’s college expenses
• division of marital assets to include personal and real property
• health insurance questions
• tax return implications
• monetary awards
• alimony
• retirement and investment accounts
• business interests
• inheritance rights

A separation agreement may address all issues pertaining to divorce and, if signed by both parties, can be used to show the court that there is no conflict on any issues and the parties may file for an uncontested divorce.  The separation agreement will become merged with the Divorce Decree.

A separation agreement may also be used to address only parts of the parties’ divorce issues and then only the outstanding issues that the parties cannot resolve are litigated in a contested divorce.

Either way, if parties can come together to sign a separation agreement, it reduces the animosity of the divorce and is a better reflection of the parties’ true needs and desires than a judge hearing and deciding issues based on a few short hours of testimony.  A separation agreement also reduces the amount of attorney’s fees paid overall since the attorneys in the case do not have to litigate agreed upon issues.

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Family law consultations are $200 which will be credited to your bill should you hire our firm to help you.

If you are in need of a family attorney to prepare a separation agreement, please call us at (301) 362-3300, or email us to schedule a consultation. We look forward to hearing from you, and are ready to help.