During a Maryland divorce, custody of minor children can be one of the most contentious and emotional issues in the divorce. Part of that is because of myths and misconceptions that arise around the issue of child custody. As discussed more fully below, fathers can get very angry and emotional because they believe the myth that they cannot get custody of their kids. However, that is a myth.

Where dads fight for their kids, they win at least as often as mothers. That is a key point: if dads do not fight for custody, they will not be awarded custody.

In this article, the child custody lawyers at the Law Office of Robert Castro debunk the various myths about mothers and child custody. If you have questions about child custody in a Maryland divorce, call us at (301) 870-1200. We are Family Law and Child Custody attorneys with offices in Waldorf, Maryland.

Myth: Mothers always receive custody.

This myth is clearly false. Based on Census Department data, moms have primary physical custody in about 79.9% of the cases. See here. That is a lot, of course, but that means fathers have custody in about 20% of the cases. So, mothers do NOT always receive custody.

Myth: Mothers are given custody much more often than fathers

Well, in a manner of speaking, this myth is true. As we just discussed, mothers are awarded custody about 80% of the time which means moms get custody at about four times the rate of dads.

But, this is still to be deemed a myth because there are a large number of reasons why mothers are awarded custody. It is not that the Maryland divorce courts favor mothers. Maryland law enshrines a gender-neutral principle for how divorce courts are to determine custody. That being said, as discussed in the link above, parents settle about 91% of child custody cases without a decision from the judge and, in more than half of those settled cases — 51% of child custody cases — both parents agree that the mother should be the custodial parent. In other words, moms get custody so much more often than dads because the parents agree. In those cases, Maryland divorce courts are likely to “go along” with what the parents have agreed. Further, in the vast, vast majority of cases, dads do not even ask for physical custody of the kids. Maryland divorce courts cannot give custody to fathers if the fathers do not want or ask for custody.

Myth: Moms get custody more often when custody is disputed

This is definitely a myth. Statistics and studies show that, when fathers fight for custody, fathers win at least as often as mothers. A study from 1986, for example, showed that when fathers actively sought custody, they were successful in nearly every case. They either succeeded in obtaining primary physical custody — in about 30% of cases — or in obtaining some level of joint physical custody — in an additional 65% of cases. See here.

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.