Generally, the answer is “no.” Maryland divorce courts are not empowered to make conditional awards of custody related to children. For example, it would not be allowed for a Maryland divorce court to award custody to one parent on the condition that the parent continued to live in a certain house on a certain street in St. Mary’s County, Maryland.

There are several reasons why conditional awards of custody are disfavored in divorce cases. To begin, as a practical matter, conditional awards keep the divorce court constantly involved in the lives of the family involved. This happens because, at any time, the condition or conditions may no longer apply. Then, one or both of the parents are “back in court,” asking for a new custody order. But divorce courts are not supposed to be “forever involved” in the lives of a divorcing couple and its family. While custody orders can be modified, there must be some “good reason” and a material “change in circumstances” before a Maryland divorce court will change its custody order. Those legal requirements mean that the Maryland divorce court becomes involved only occasionally (if ever).

Note that divorce proceedings are very different from court proceedings involving child protective services. In those types of proceedings, parents may have their parental rights terminated. In those sorts of cases, conditions are often—and legitimately—placed on the visitation rights of parents who have been previously deemed unfit.

In a similar manner, in divorce cases, if one parent or another has been deemed unfit, then there are some exceptions to the rule that a divorce court will not issue conditional custody orders. As indicated, for an exception to exist, the Maryland divorce court must first make a determination that the parent in question is an “unfit” parent in some respect. Put another way, according to the case of Frase v Barnhardt, 379 Md. 100 (2003), a court is not allowed to make a conditional custody award with respect to a parent who is deemed fit. In that case, the conditions involved applying for housing at a certain not-for-profit organization and moving there if accepted. On appeal, it was held that such conditions were unlawful.

By contrast, if a parent is deemed unfit — in some manner — then it is allowable for a divorce court to make a conditional custody award. This rule comes from a different Maryland case called Cohen v. Cohen, 162 Md. App. 599 (2005). In Cohen, the court determined from extensive evidence that the father abused alcohol on a regular basis. As such, the divorce court awarded him visitation rights but conditioned his visitation rights on his abstention from the use of alcohol and other illicit drugs and substances.

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.