The Maryland Supreme Court gave a rousing and definitive answer to the question of whether parents can waive child support payments. The answer given was NO. The answer was provided in the case of The Matter of the Marriage of Houser, 338 A.3d 521 (Supreme Court of Maryland, June 27, 2025).

The Maryland Supreme Court also held that there was no method by which parents could prevent a Maryland divorce court from considering child support. In this case, the parents argued that the divorce court had no authority to consider child support because neither parent asked for it, and that the parents had entered into an agreement that waived child support. The parents argued that this created a procedural block that prevented the divorce court from considering child support.

However, this argument was forcefully rejected. The Maryland Supreme Court declared that child support is a right held by the minor child, not a right held by the parent to whom the child support is paid. Thus, procedurally, the issue of child support exists ANY time a Maryland divorce court is asked to make decisions regarding the custody arrangements for minor children. Aside from

In truth, by stating that child support is the right of the child or children, the Maryland Supreme Court merely reiterated what has long been the law in Maryland. There are dozens of cases where Maryland judges have stated the principle that the right to child support belongs to the child/children and not to the parents. Generally speaking, in any circumstance, one cannot bargain away a right held by another. Thus, parents cannot, between themselves, bargain away a right held by their child or children.

Further, Maryland’s statutory laws do not allow parents to agree about whether child support should be paid or about how much should be paid. Under Maryland’s Family Law Code, there are Guidelines that establish the existence of child support payments and the expected amount of those payments based on the parents’ combined income, each parent’s percentage of that combined income, and the number of children to be supported. These Guidelines create a presumption of correctness that the parties can try to overcome with arguments and evidence presented to the divorce court. However, overcoming the presumption of correctness is difficult. Where the issue comes up, usually, the argument is that the payments required by the Guidelines are too low. Here, the attempted argument was that the required payments were too high. It is doubtful that any argument could be successfully made that zero child support is more proper than the amounts listed in the Guidelines.

The Supreme Court also rejected the argument that requiring child support violated either parent’s constitutional rights with respect to child rearing. Under both the federal and Maryland Constitutions, parents have fundamental rights with respect to child rearing. However, those rights do not prevent Maryland from defining some of the specifics with respect to a parent’s duty to support their 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 11701 Central Avenue, Suite 200, Waldorf, MD 20601.