NOTICE: None of these questions and answers constitute legal advice. To obtain legal advice, consult with an attorney. This is especially important in divorce and family law matters, in which outcomes are often peculiar to the particular facts and circumstances of the case.
Both parents are the joint natural guardians of their child under 18 years of age and are jointly and severally charged with the child’s support, care, nurture, welfare, and education. They have equal powers and duties, and neither parent has any right superior to the right of the other concerning the child’s custody.
Embraced within the meaning of “custody” are the concepts of “legal” and “physical” custody. Legal custody carries with it the right and obligation to make long-range decisions involving education, religious training, discipline, medical care, and other matters of major significance concerning a child’s life and welfare.
Joint legal custody means that both parents have an equal voice in making legal custody decisions, and neither parent’s rights are superior to the other.
Physical custody means the right and obligation to provide a home for the child and to make the day-to-day decisions required during the time the child is with the parent having such custody.
Joint physical custody is in reality “shared” or “divided” custody. Shared physical custody may, but need not, be on a 50-50 basis, and in fact most commonly will involve custody by one parent during the school year and by the other during summer vacation months, or division between weekdays and weekends, or between days and nights. Note: This is NOT the definition of “shared custody” used in computing child support.
In any child custody case, the paramount concern is the best interest of the child. Formula solutions in child custody matters are impossible because of the unique character of each case, and the subjective nature of the evaluations and decisions that must be made. The best interest of the child is therefore not considered as one of many factors, but as the objective to which virtually all other factors speak.
Remember, no list of factors can be complete, because of the unique character of each case. That said, here is a list compiled from Maryland cases: (1) Fitness of parents; (2) Character and reputation of parties; (3) Desire of parents and agreements between parties; (4) Potentiality of maintaining natural family relations; (5) Preference of the child; (6) Material opportunities affecting the future life of the child; (7) Age, health and sex of the child; (8) Residences of the parents and opportunities for visitation, or geographic proximity of parental homes; (9) Length of child’s separation from parent; (10) Prior voluntary abandonment or surrender.
More factors, especially important when considering joint custody, can include: (1) Capacity of parents to communicate and reach shared decisions affecting child’s welfare; (2) Willingness of parents to share custody; (3) Relationship between child and each parent; (4) Potential disruption of child’s social and school life; (5) Demands of parental employment; (6) Sincerity of parent’s request; (7) Financial status of parents; (8) Benefit to parents.
Clearly, the most important factor in deciding joint legal custody is the capacity of the parents to communicate and to reach shared decisions affecting the child’s welfare. Indeed, joint custody should not be awarded in the absence of a record of mature conduct on the part of the parents evidencing an ability to effectively communicate with each other concerning the best interest of the child, and then only when it is possible to make a finding of a strong potential for such conduct in the future.
No. The parents need not agree on every aspect of parenting, but their views should not be so widely divergent or so inflexibly maintained as to forecast the probability of continuing disagreement on important matters.
Visitation issues are judged by the same standard as other custody issues: the best interests of the child.
An honest answer to this question must separate what Maryland courts and law aspire to from what really happens. In Maryland, the legal preference for awarding custody to mothers was abolished by the courts and by the state ERA many years ago. Still, mothers are awarded custody much more often than fathers. This could be because the maternal preference still survives in the hearts and minds of some judges, or it could be because primary caretakers are more often mothers than fathers.
