Plain Text Law

Title 4. Spouses — Subtitle 2. Spouses' and Third Persons' Rights

Statutes in effect as of October 1, 2026.

Md. Code Ann., Fam. Law § 4-201 (2026)
Title 4. Spouses
Subtitle 2. Spouses' and Third Persons' Rights

§ 4–201Copy Citation

(a)
A spouse may have a domicile that is different from the domicile of the other spouse.
(b)
The domicile of each spouse shall be determined by the same factors used to determine the domicile of any individual who is capable of having an independent domicile.
Md. Code Ann., Fam. Law § 4-202 (2026)
Title 4. Spouses
Subtitle 2. Spouses' and Third Persons' Rights

§ 4–202Copy Citation

A surviving spouse who brings a personal action to recover in right of the deceased spouse shall allege:
(1)
specifically how the debt or right accrued to the deceased spouse; and
(2)
stating further that, by marriage, the debt or right devolved on the surviving spouse.
Md. Code Ann., Fam. Law § 4-203 (2026)
Title 4. Spouses
Subtitle 2. Spouses' and Third Persons' Rights

§ 4–203Copy Citation

(a)
A married woman, as if she were unmarried:
(1)
holds her property for her separate use; and
(2)
may dispose of her property independently.
(b)
(1)
A married woman may appoint by deed or may petition an equity court to appoint a trustee to hold, use, or dispose of the property on behalf of the married woman.
(2)
The court shall state in the appointment the powers of the trustee.
Md. Code Ann., Fam. Law § 4-204 (2026)
Title 4. Spouses
Subtitle 2. Spouses' and Third Persons' Rights

§ 4–204Copy Citation

A married woman may do any of the following, as if she were unmarried:
(1)
engage in a business;
(2)
make a contract with any person, including her husband, whether or not she is engaged in business;
(3)
bind herself and her assigns by a covenant running with or related to real property or chattels real deeded to her on or after March 19, 1867;
(4)
form a partnership with any person, including her husband;
(5)
sue on any contract, including a contract made with her husband;
(6)
sue for the recovery, security, or protection of her property;
(7)
sue for any tort committed against her; and
(8)
appoint counsel to represent her in an action brought under § 4–205(b) or (c) of this subtitle or § 4–301(b) of this title.
Md. Code Ann., Fam. Law § 4-205 (2026)
Title 4. Spouses
Subtitle 2. Spouses' and Third Persons' Rights

§ 4–205Copy Citation

(a)
A husband may sue his wife on a contract made with her, as if she were unmarried.
(b)
(1)
A third person may take any of the following actions with or against a married woman, as if the married woman were unmarried:
(i)
make a contract;
(ii)
sue on the contract, whether the contract was made before or during the woman’s marriage;
(iii)
sue for a tort, whether the woman committed the tort before or during her marriage; and
(iv)
execute on a judgment.
(2)
A third person may maintain an action at law or in equity against a married woman in her married name.
(c)
If the rent is in arrears under a lease entered into with a married woman for a definite term or a term of years renewable forever, then, as if the woman were unmarried, the landlord may levy on goods under distress.
(d)
(1)
A depositary that returns to a married woman money she deposited before or during her marriage is validly discharged from any obligation concerning the money by a receipt from the woman.
(2)
If the deposit was made in fraud of the husband’s creditors, a creditor of the husband may attach or, by injunction, restrain the payment of the money.
Md. Code Ann., Fam. Law § 4-206 (2026)
Title 4. Spouses
Subtitle 2. Spouses' and Third Persons' Rights

§ 4–206Copy Citation

(a)
Whenever any interest or estate of any kind in any property, real, personal, or mixed, within this State, has been or is sold, conveyed, assigned, mortgaged, leased, transferred, or delivered by a husband, directly or indirectly, to his wife, and has been or subsequently is sold, conveyed, assigned, mortgaged, leased, transferred, or delivered by the wife and husband during their marriage, or by the wife after the marriage ends, or has been or subsequently is devised or bequeathed by the wife during the marriage or after the marriage ends, the fact of the previous sale, conveyance, assignment, mortgage, lease, or delivery by the husband, directly or indirectly to his wife, shall not be considered or taken at law or in equity to have given, preserved, or reserved, nor to give, preserve, or reserve to any present creditor of the husband, because of any debt, obligation, claim, or demand whatsoever, any other or greater right, lien, or cause of action against the interest or estate, or against any third person or the person’s heirs, executors, administrators, or assigns, than the creditors would have had in case the interest or estate had been sold, conveyed, assigned, mortgaged, leased, transferred, delivered, devised, or bequeathed by the husband directly or indirectly to the third person.
(b)
The fact of the previous sale, conveyance, assignment, mortgage, lease, or delivery by the husband, directly or indirectly, to his wife, or the recital of it, in any instrument of writing, shall not be considered or taken at law or in equity to give or impart, nor to have given or imparted, notice to any third person or the person’s heirs, executors, administrators, or assigns, of the existence or of the possibility or probability of the existence of any present creditor of the husband.