Use and Possession of the Home in Forest Hill, MD

Legal help with use and possession of the home for Forest Hill, Maryland residents from The Law Office of Thomas K. Mallon in Towson.

Service areas / Forest Hill / Use and Possession of the Home

The Law Office of Thomas K. Mallon, LLC provides use and possession of the home assistance for people in Forest Hill. The information below explains the issues to discuss with an attorney and connects you with the firm’s original Maryland service guide.

Working with our Towson office from Forest Hill

Forest Hill is in Harford County, Maryland. The Law Office of Thomas K. Mallon, LLC serves this area from 1107 Kenilworth Drive, Suite 305, Towson, MD 21204. This is the firm’s Towson office, not a separate office in this community.

Maryland law applies throughout the service area. Where a matter must be filed depends on the type of proceeding and the facts, not simply on the location of the attorney’s office. Discuss residence, existing orders, and any pending case at your consultation.

Read the Harford County service-area guide for the original local context.

Divorce raises two separate questions about the house, and confusing them causes a great deal of unnecessary argument. One is ownership: who ends up with the property and the equity. The other is occupancy: who lives there in the meantime. Maryland lets a court answer the second question without deciding the first.

What a use and possession order does

A use and possession order gives one parent the right to live in the family home, and to use certain household property, for a defined period after the divorce. It is aimed squarely at the children. The purpose is to let them stay in the home and school they know while the family reorganizes, rather than making them absorb a move at the same moment as everything else.

It does not transfer ownership. A spouse whose name is on the deed still owns their interest, and the property is still divided as part of the marital estate. See property and debt division.

What counts as the family home

Broadly, the property used as the principal residence while the parties lived together, owned or leased by one or both of them, and still being used as a residence by a child. Property acquired before the marriage, by inheritance or by gift from a third party is treated differently, and a second home or investment property is not the family home.

Family use personal property

The order can also cover the ordinary contents of a household used by the family: furniture, appliances, and a motor vehicle. The point is practical. Awarding a parent the house and none of the furniture in it solves very little.

The three year limit

This is the part people most often get wrong. Under Maryland law a provision concerning the family home or family use personal property terminates no later than three years after the court grants an annulment or a divorce. It also ends earlier if the party with possession remarries.

So it is a transition, not a permanent arrangement. Planning should start from the date the order ends, not from the date it begins.

Who pays for what

The order can address who is responsible for the mortgage, taxes, insurance and maintenance during the period. These terms matter as much as the possession itself, because a parent awarded a house they cannot afford to carry has been given a problem rather than a benefit. Address it in the order rather than discovering it afterward.

Without minor children

Use and possession is built around a child’s interest in the home. Where there are no minor children, the usual questions are whether the house is sold, whether one spouse buys the other out, and how the equity is accounted for in the overall division.

While the case is pending

A use and possession order is entered with the divorce. If the question is who lives where before then, that is a pendente lite issue.

Official resources

Talk with a Towson attorney

The Law Office of Thomas K. Mallon, LLC offers a free consultation. Call (410) 847-9075 or request a consultation online. The office is at 1107 Kenilworth Drive, Suite 305, Towson, MD 21204.

This page provides general information about Maryland law. It is not legal advice, and reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. Maryland law changes, and how it applies depends on the facts of your situation.

Use and Possession of the Home resources

Read the full Maryland use and possession of the home guide. Bring relevant agreements, court papers, financial records, and a list of questions that relate to your situation. If you have received papers with a deadline, tell the office when you contact us.

Other services in Forest Hill

Discuss your situation

or call (410) 847-9075. Advice about your particular matter requires a consultation. Reading this page does not create an attorney-client relationship.

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