Yes, under certain circumstances, a St. Mary’s County, MD divorce court CAN deny visitation rights to a parent during a divorce proceeding. However, such a decision is rare. Such typically only occurs if severe abuse or neglect is proven. The more common method of handling situations of abuse or neglect is to allow visitation only under conditions of supervision. If you have questions about Maryland child custody and visitation rights, call us here at the Law Office of Robert Castro at (301) 870-1200. We are divorce attorneys with offices here in Waldorf, Maryland. Here is additional information on when Maryland divorce courts can deny visitation rights.

Maryland Child Custody: the “Best Interests” of the Children

Generally, when it comes to making decisions about child custody and visitation rights, Maryland divorce courts are focused on what is in the “best interests” of the child or children. Maryland divorce courts consider a number of factors when determining what is in the “best interests” of children. These include:

• Fitness of each parent, including their character and reputation — this generally will include any criminal behavior of each parent
• Any history of any abuse or neglect of the children
• Any history of voluntary abandonment or surrender of the children
• The desires of each parent
• Any agreement made between the parents
• Preference of the children — generally, this is taken into account for older children
• A general belief that children are raised better when both parents are involved
• Opportunity to maintain family relations, including those with extended members of the family
  Material and financial opportunities affecting the future life of the children
• Age, health, and sex of the children and the parents
• Where the parents live and how that affects opportunities for visitation

Generally, Maryland courts are in favor of both parents having involvement in the raising of their children. Thus, even when sole custody is granted to one parent, there is a strong preference for granting some sort of visitation rights to the non-custodial parent. Of course, this strong preference can be overcome if visitation is determined not to be in the “best interests” of the children. As noted, the most common situation where this occurs is if there is evidence that the children have been abused or neglected by the parent seeking visitation. However, as also noted, the typical solution is to require supervised visitation, and often, the number and extent of visitations are limited. See Md. Fam. Law Code, § 9-101. This protects the future physical and emotional safety of the children while still allowing both parents to be involved in the upbringing of the children.

What is Supervised Visitation in Maryland?

Supervised visitation in Maryland generally means that the parent making the visit is not allowed to be alone with the children, and the visit is monitored by a third party. This can take many forms, but supervised visitations can involve meetings scheduled at a visitation center. See this brochure for Montgomery County. The children and the visiting parent meet at a scheduled time at the Visitation Home. The visit is supervised by a licensed social worker.

An alternative is to have supervised visitations monitored by not-for-profit organizations like this one that provides services for Anne Arundel, Calvert, Charles, Howard, Prince George and St. Mary’s counties.

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.