When spouses with children under the age of 18 get divorced, one major issue to be resolved is “custody” of the children. As many know, very broadly, “custody” involves both physical custody and legal custody. The former generally involves the day-to-day aspects of child-rearing, such as where the children live, what they eat, when they eat, what time they go to bed, etc. By contrast, legal custody is a more nebulous concept and is generally defined as the ability and right to make “major long-term life decisions” on behalf of the children. In this article, the experienced St. Mary’s County, MD, Child Custody Attorneys at the Law Office of Robert Castro offer a more expansive and practical guide to the concept of “legal custody” in Maryland. If you have questions, call us at (301) 870-1200 or use our contact page. We are Maryland Family Law Attorneys with offices in Waldorf, Maryland.

What is “Legal Custody” in Maryland?

As noted, the typical definition used in Maryland for “legal custody” is the right to make “major long-term life decisions” for the child or children. Typically, the right to make decisions is deemed to include decisions about:

• Education
• Religious instruction
• Extracurricular activities
• Health care

These are very general and vague words. Now, let’s try to make a bit more sense of what these concepts mean. Let’s start with “education.”

What Rights Does “Legal Custody” Provide Practically for Education-Related Decisions?

Most agree that “legal custody” provides BOTH parents with the right to be involved in education decisions like where the child/children will go to school, including decisions about public vs. private vs. private religious schools. However, practically speaking, legal custody means the right to have some “say” about almost everything related to schooling, including these types of questions. Should the child/children:

• Receive tutoring (and from whom)?
• Enroll in honors courses, pre-college classes, and/or special types of instruction?
• Engage in foreign exchange programs or take instruction in foreign countries?
• Take special testing?
• Are you allowed to attend overnight field trips?
• Attend classes locally outside the normal classes taken at their enrolled school (like special classes at a local college)?

Further, as a practical matter, legal custody means that BOTH parents have a right to KNOWLEDGE about what is going on with their children’s education. So, BOTH parents have a right to see report cards, test results, and other correspondence/communications from a child’s school, a right to know about testing days and other school activities (like a holiday presentation of the students for parents), a right to attend parent-teacher and other meetings, the right to be a supervising parent on an overnight field trip, etc.

Note that many non-custodial parents do not get involved in education-related decisions. However, if they have joint legal custody, they have the right to do so. Practically, the level of involvement often correlates negatively with the level of trust that the parents have with each other. If the parents lack trust in each other, they will be more involved in verifying that a child’s education is proceeding correctly.

What About Other Decisions?

What we have just discussed concerning education-related decisions applies equally to other “major long-term life decisions” that both parents have a right to make. So, with respect to health care decisions, the non-custodial parent has the right to “be there,” to have full and complete information and to consult about pretty much everything that is not routine.

Contact Waldorf, Maryland Family Law, and Child Custody Lawyer Robert Castro Today

This article has been provided by the Law Office of Robert Castro. For more information or questions, contact our office to speak to an experienced Maryland family law and divorce lawyer at (301) 870-1200. We are Waldorf, MD, Family Law lawyers. Our address is 2670 Crain Highway, Waldorf, MD, 20601.