Howard and Montgomery County Maryland Child Custody Lawyers

Understanding legal custody of children

Legal custody is the authority to make “big picture” decisions regarding the children’s upbringing and safety. Specifically, the parent(s) with legal custody makes decisions about:

• Medical treatment. Children need to see doctors for checkups, illnesses, for the injuries they may suffer and for all types of medical problems. The person with legal custody decides which doctors the child sees and what treatments are given in non-emergency situations.
• Education opportunities. Legal custodians choose whether the child goes to a public school or a private school (if the expenses can be covered), makes decisions about additional help (when necessary), and about which extra-curriculars the children may engage in once school ends.
• Religious upbringing. Deciding which church or religious institution your child attends or if the child follows any religion at all is made by the legal custodian.

One parent can be given sole legal custody or both parents can have joint legal custody, where the parents make major decisions together. This can probe problematic when two parents disagree about how to move forward, which is why a parenting plan is both necessary and helpful.

What is physical custody?

Physical custody is residency: where the child physically resides. A parent has “primary custody” if the child stays with that parent at least 65% of the time. Otherwise, both parents are awarded “shared custody,” even if the living arrangement is not evenly split.

The family court, unless the parents can agree, decides which parent the child/children lives with and on which days. The parent with physical custody makes the everyday living decisions for the child.

If the parents are unable to agree about where the child will live, and when, the court will consider these factors (among others) to make its decision:

• Fitness. The psychological and physical abilities of each parent must be considered. Parents with physical or health-related disabilities are often as a disadvantage in custody cases; this is why you want to seek competent legal counsel to represent you in court, if face such challenges yourself.
• Caregiving abilities. Who can best get the child ready for school, feed them, buy their clothes, etc. may be considered, especially if there is documented evidence that one parent is incapable of doing so.
• Where the parents live. A parent who remains in the same town, or in the same school district, may be granted physical custody over the parent who relocates.
• Age, sex and/or gender of the child. No court will grant primary custody of a breast-feeding infant to a father. Though this is, of course, a rather specific example, the court may take factors such as age, sex and gender into consideration when deciding where the child will live.
• The child’s preferences. The preferences of older children may be considered, though ultimately, the court will make the ruling based on what the judge thinks is best for the child. In rare occasions, the opinion of a child under seven may also be considered. This is more likely if there is a Best Interest attorney appointed to represent the child.

Other factors the court may consider are the health of the child, the length of the separation, a prior abandonment and if the child has special needs.