How to Make Non Marital Property Marital

Marital property in a divorce in Maryland is defined essentially as all value acquired during marriage. The definition excludes values existing before marriage, gifts received and inheritances of value. Even those values which appear non marital may be converted to marital property by the conduct of either of the parties. For example suppose wife owes a rental property before marriage. However, during marriage the husband works on the property to improve the property. In this example the value increased by the personal efforts of the husband become marital property. The same is true of marital income diverted to improve the property. The increased value attributed to the spending of marital income is now marital property.

The trick to the uncovering of the marital property in any case is to first identify the property and work backwards to see how the present value was acquired. Title does not matter at all in the equation. Look to person efforts and financial contributions made by either party to the acquisition of the value.