As we noted in a companion article, the interplay between bankruptcy and Maryland child custody law is complex. As noted in that other article, the filing for bankruptcy by one parent or the other will not generally impact child support payments. At a very general level, child support is based on the income of the parents and a bankruptcy filing often has no or little impact on annual income. That is to say, a bankruptcy court does not “take” a debtor’s future income or garnish wages.

However, a bankruptcy filing CAN have other impacts on child custody and support. In this article, the experienced Calvert County, MD, Child Custody Attorneys at the Law Office of Robert Castro discuss the question of whether a bankruptcy filing could impact child custody. In other words, can a bankruptcy filing be the basis for the other parent to seek a modification of custody?

In summary, a bankruptcy filing could be the basis for obtaining a modification of custody, but the change in circumstances would need to be major. 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.

As most people know, when a Calvert County, Maryland, couple seeks divorce and has minor children, the divorce court decides which parent gets custody of those children. When a court makes that decision, it is required to consider many different factors, many of which are financial. Examples include income, the amount and status of assets and debts, home and other real property ownership, employment, luxuries, and other material advantages available to the children.

Depending on the type of bankruptcy filed, it is possible that various assets will be sold by the Bankruptcy Trustee for the benefit of creditors. For example, the Trustee might sell a vacation home or liquidate a stock portfolio and then pay the proceeds of the sale to the creditors in full or partial satisfaction of any debts. This does not always happen, but it is not uncommon. The result can be that the parent involved has fewer assets and material advantages that are available to the children. In a similar manner, in other bankruptcy cases, a debtor might lose use of and access to certain assets that were used to collateralize debts. This also potentially eliminates assets and material advantages that were previously available to the children.

In general, to ask a Maryland divorce court to modify child custody arrangements, there must have occurred a “material change in circumstances” to justify the court’s modification. As described above, if the impact of bankruptcy on the finances and wealth of a parent is sufficiently large, it MIGHT be appropriate to have the divorce court re-evaluate the factors related to which parent should have custody. The process would involve filing a Petition with the divorce court and providing information about the “material circumstances” that have changed. If those circumstances have changed very significantly, the court might modify the custody arrangements. Note that the court’s evaluation will also take into account the current arrangements. For example, asking to reduce visitation rights will probably be denied even if bankruptcy is financially devastating.

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.