How Does a Divorce Court Decide Child Custody In Maryland?

In Maryland child custody cases, the legal standard that must be used by a divorce court judge is: “what is in the best interests of the child or children.” That legal standard is the guide used by the court when evaluating various aspects of the custody question. Beyond this legal standard, how a Maryland judge makes a custody decision can seem to be a mystery. In this article, the Calvert County, MD, child custody and family law attorneys at the Law Office of Robert Castro provide some clarity. If you want to contact us, please call us at (301) 870-1200 or use our contact page. We have offices in Waldorf, Maryland.

As a practical matter, in any given case, the judge will engage in various tasks. First, the judge will evaluate all relevant documents. These include:

• Filings by the spouses/parents, including the Complaint for divorce, the Answer from the other spouse/parent,
• the parenting plan, the financial statements, etc.
• Other documents filed in the case by the parties, their lawyers, and others
• Copies of any agreements signed by the spouses/parents
• Expert reports (if any are filed)
• Mediator evaluations and recommendations, if any
• Reports or other filings from any person appointed to make a custody assessment
• And more

Typically, the court will read and evaluate documents before hearings or as part of the decision-making process. So, the court does not necessarily read documents when they are filed.

Second, in most cases, the court schedules at least one hearing in open court where the spouses/parents are required to appear. In some cases, the appearance is for the purpose of taking testimony and hearing from the spouse/parents about aspects of the case. The court might also take testimony from others, including family and friends of the spouses, experts, and custody evaluators.

Hearings and the taking of oral testimony serve a couple of different purposes. Oral testimony is another method by which the court obtains the facts in the case. The documents mentioned above will provide some of the facts in the case. But additional facts will come from the testimony. Further, oral testimony is sometimes needed for full understanding of the filed documents. In addition, oral testimony is essential for the court to make an assessment of credibility where the witnesses are in conflict. If the court decides that one spouse/parent is lying, that can undermine what that spouse/parent is seeking with respect to custody.

Third, the court will evaluate the legal pleadings filed in the case along with statutes and judicial case law. The first two tasks are about determining the facts of the case. However, the facts have to be applied in the manner required by statutes and judicial case law. As just one of many examples, if the facts show that one parent has exhibited sustained and severe substance abuse and addiction problems, that fact must be evaluated in the context of Maryland statutory law and case decisions. As another example, if the parents have agreed to joint custody, that agreement must be evaluated in the context of Maryland statutory law and case decisions. Even if the parents are in agreement, the question still must be answered as to whether joint custody is in the best interests of the child or children.

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