Many people raise children who are not their biological or legally adopted child. There are many situations where a child’s parents may be unable or unwilling to provide appropriate care and allow others to fulfill the role of parent. Maryland law recognizes such “de facto parents,” and allows them to seek custody or visitation rights with a non-biological, non-adopted child.

Of course, you cannot just walk into court and say you are a de facto parent. The Maryland Court of Appeals, following the example of Wisconsin’s Supreme Court, has adopted a four-part test for establishing such relationships. Under this test, the person who claims to be a de facto parent must prove all of the following:

• The biological or adoptive parent consented to, and fostered, the formation and establishment of the relationship between the child and the de facto parent.
• The child and the de facto parent live in the same household.
• The de facto parent “assumed the obligations of parenthood” by taking significant responsibility for the child’s car, education, development, and financial support (without any expectation of compensation).
• The de facto parent has served in this “parental role” long enough to have bonded with the child.

Court of Appeals: Both Legal Parents Must Consent to De Facto Parent Relationship

Recently, the Court of Appeals addressed whether the first factor–the legal parent’s consent to the establishment of a de facto parental relationship–requires the consent of both legal parents. The case before the Court, E.N. v. T.R., involves two children, identified publicly only as “G.D.” and “B.D.” Both children have the same biological parents, E.N. and D.D. In 2009, D.D. went to prison, while the children continued to live with E.N. and her mother.

After D.D.’s release from prison in 2013, he began a new relationship with T.R. The couple became engaged and moved into a new house together with his children, G.D. and B.D. Four years later, T.R. went back to jail. This time, the children remained with T.R. and D.D.’s parents. E.N., the biological mother, then sought the return of both children to her custody.

T.R. filed suit in Prince George’s County, seeking custody rights as the de facto parent of G.D. and B.D. A circuit court judge ended up awarding joint legal custody to both T.R. and E.N. while giving T.R. “tie-breaking authority” and sole physical custody.

The issue before the Court of Appeals was whether the circuit court could properly find that T.R. was a de facto parent when only the father had consented to such a relationship. The Court held that in situations like this, the person claiming to be the de facto parent “must demonstrate that both legal parents consented to and fostered a parent-like relationship with a child, or that a non-consenting legal parent is an unfit parent or exceptional circumstances exist.” Since E.N. never consented to the relationship between T.R. and her children, the circuit court’s custody order was invalid.

Contact Waldorf, Maryland, Family Law Attorney 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 lawyer at (301) 870-1200.

Source:

https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=5315528127593682986