What You Need to Know About Divorce Agreement Negotiations in Maryland

Thank you for joining me. My name is LaSheena Williams and I am a Maryland family law attorney. My firm helps our clients take control of out-of-control domestic situations. Today, we will be discussing tips to effectively completing a marital settlement agreement in Maryland.

What Is A Marital Settlement Agreement?

A marital settlement agreement is an agreement you enter into at the end of your relationship. This agreement may include issues regarding custody, it may also include issues regarding property and other concerns that arise out of your marriage.

Maryland Divorce Negotiation Tips: Know What You Are Entitled To

Marital settlement agreements resolve all of the issues stemming from your marriage. Before signing or completing a marital settlement agreement, it’s important for you to understand your rights and responsibilities and what you are entitled to as a result of your union with your partner. If you don’t know what you’re entitled to, you may be foregoing assets or even claims that could be granted through the court that you haven’t even considered.

Maryland Divorce Negotiation Tips: Know What You Want

It is very important to understand what is important to you. There are some things that you are entitled to that you could care less about and there are other things that you are entitled to that are the sole concern for you and it’s very important to understand what’s important and what you’re entitled to so you can leverage things that you don’t want but are likely entitled to, to increase the likelihood of obtaining the things that you do want.

Maryland Divorce Negotiation Tips: Prepare A Strategy and Consult with an Experienced Maryland Family Law Attorney Today!

For many people, they may discount an interest that they have and if they decide that they don’t want an interest in their spouse’s retirement they may have already taken that issue off the table before negotiations begin. You don’t want to do that even if you don’t actually want an interest in the retirement, if you take the retirement issue off the table before you actually negotiate you’re actually operating from a less favorable position than if it was still on the table. You want to keep all your options on the table, you want to know what you can get and you want to know what your spouse wants. In order to keep all of these moving pieces in mind, you want to speak with an attorney because an attorney understands what you need to do in order to leverage your interests versus your wants and your spouse’s interests versus their wants. If you can properly leverage this, you can increase the likelihood that you will get what you want. If, again using the prior example, you only care about the house and your spouse actually cares about keeping their retirement but you never actually bring up retirement as an issue, your spouse has already discounted that they’ve already considered that something that they’re going to keep and now you’re operating with less leverage to get your house. This is one of many ways that having an attorney can help you consider what your goals are and how to reach those goals more effectively.

If you have any questions about entering into a marital settlement agreement or other domestic related issues please feel free to subscribe to my YouTube channel to learn more about domestic related concerns, please also give us a call at 301 778-9950 to speak with an attorney today.