Our society’s first responders — police, firefighters, paramedics, and more — face some unique challenges when going through divorce proceedings here in St. Mary’s County, Maryland. Child custody issues can be particularly complex given that first responders are more likely to have non-standard work schedules involving highly stressful and demanding work environments which can often be emotionally and physically draining. The stresses of the jobs are also stressful for the family, which is why first responders have a higher incidence of divorce than those in other professions. If you are a first responder facing divorce and custody issues, call the Divorce and Custody Lawyers here at the Law Office of Robert Castro. We are a Child Custody Law Firm in St. Mary’s County, Maryland, with offices in Waldorf, MD. Call us at (301) 870-1200. We provide divorce and family law legal services for all communities in Southern Maryland.

Choosing legal representation with experience in first responder divorce cases is important. For example, some Maryland divorce courts might consider aspects of a first responder’s job to be “negatives” for awarding child custody and visitation. These include the ones mentioned above, like long hours, being “on-call” for extended periods, having non-standard hours, having to sleep on the job site, State and local emergency response requirements, and more. Scheduling issues are important to divorce court judges since children have important scheduling requirements, too (such as getting to school on time, being picked up after school, and after post-school activities). Divorce courts will also evaluate questions of physical danger.

Unless properly prepared and presented by legal professionals, these aspects of a first responder’s job will often make a divorce court reluctant to award full physical custody to a first responder when that is sought. That is, the non-first responder parent will have a distinct advantage under such circumstances. However, good divorce case, legal representation can change that. The key is to address, upfront, the issues that everyone knows will be a concern for the Maryland divorce court. Steps can be taken before the divorce is filed, such as switching job positions to obtain a more normalized schedule or to avoid extended periods of being “on-call.” Another important step is to make arrangements with family members, friends, or others to handle the emergency “call-ups” or other job requirements that will interfere with the needs of the children. The parenting plan should also reflect all the scheduling and other pre-arrangements designed to minimize adverse impacts on the children of the first responder’s job duties. The other parent’s visitation schedule can also be used to help in this regard. For example, if there is an “on-call” requirement for certain days in a month, those days could be used for overnight visitation days with the other parent.

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.