Custody

Annapolis Child Custody Attorneys Proudly Representing Anne Arundel County and surrounding jurisdictions

Don’t Gamble With Your Child’s Tomorrow

This isn’t just about where they sleep tonight. It’s about who will be there for the first day of school, the scraped knees, the graduations, and the broken hearts. We understand the stakes, and we won’t be out-worked or out-prepared. Your child’s future is too precious for anything less.

Protecting Your Interests in Custody Disputes

Child custody is a sensitive and emotional subject. Determining where the children will spend their time and who will make their important decisions are often the most contentious part of a divorce or custody case.

Our Annapolis family law attorney can explain the state laws that may apply to your situation and provide effective legal representation for your custody dispute.

How Do the Family Courts Determine Child Custody in Maryland?

In Maryland, custody is based upon the best interest of the child. If parents are unable to come to an agreement on custody, it may be necessary to have the issue decided by the court.

When determining a child custody schedule, the courts will take into account a variety of factors, such as:

• Fitness of each parent
• Character and reputation of each parent
• Requests and sincerity of each parent
• Agreements between parties
• Willingness of each parent to share custody
• Each parents’ ability to maintain family relations
• Age and number of kids in each house
• Preference of child
• Capacity of the parents to communicate and reach shared decisions
• Geographic proximity of the houses and opportunities for time with each parent
• Ability of each parent to maintain a stable & appropriate home
• Financial status of each parent
• Demands of parental employment and opportunities for time with child
• Age, health and sex of child
• Relationship established between child and each parent
• Length of separation of parents
• Whether there was prior voluntary abandonment or surrender of custody
• Potential disruption of child’s social and school life
• Impact on state or federal assistance
• Benefits a parent may receive from joint physical custody and how that will enable the parent to bestow more benefits upon the child

Finding a Child Custody Arrangement that Suits the Best Interests of the Child

Additional factors may be taken into account when determining whether or not a child is considered safe and taken care of in a parent’s home.

For more questions regarding your child custody case, don’t hesitate to contact our firm. We will walk you through the process.

What is the Difference Between Physical and Legal Custody?

Physical custody refers to where the child will physically reside.

Legal custody is when a parent has the right and responsibility to make important long-term decisions for the child. These types of decisions include education, health, and religious upbringing.

What is Joint or Shared Custody?

Joint (or shared) physical custody is when both parents have either equal time with the child, or when one parent has primary custody and the other parent has at least 92 overnights per year. Joint legal custody is when both parents must jointly agree upon major decisions affecting the child’s welfare.

What is Sole Custody?

Sole physical custody is when only one parent is the primary custodial parent and the other parent has less than 92 overnights per year.

Sole legal custody is when one parent has the authority to unilaterally make major decisions affecting the minor child and must inform the other parent of the decisions. A hybrid of sole legal and joint legal is when the parties have joint legal custody, and if after making a good faith effort to reach a joint decision, they cannot do so, then one parent has tie-breaking or final decision making authority.

Our Annapolis attorneys combined have more than four decades of trial experience. We tirelessly prepare each case for court, in the event that the dispute cannot be resolved by agreement of the parties.