Generally, the answer is “yes.” In Calvert County, Maryland, divorce situations involving child custody, Maryland divorce court is highly likely to award custody to the parent that actively wants and seeks custody. Indeed, around the country, it is common for fathers to be content to allow custody to remain with mothers and, in effect, the parents agree to the mother’s custody (with the father having visitation and other rights with respect to major life decisions). If you have questions and/or need legal assistance with your divorce, contact the Calvert County, MD., Divorce and Family Law attorneys at the Law Office of Robert Castro. Call us at (301) 870-1200 or use our contact page. We are Maryland Child Custody Attorneys handling divorce cases in Calvert and surrounding Counties. We have offices in Waldorf, Maryland.

Even though it is highly likely that a Maryland divorce court will award physical custody to the willing parent, that award is NOT automatic. The court still has a statutory and legal obligation to award custody based on the legal standard of what is in the “best interests” of the child (or children) and courts must consider all of the factors required by Maryland’s divorce laws. For example, a couple of the statutory factors are: the fitness and character/reputation of the parents. So, if it is shown and proven that the willing parent is physically or mentally unfit to be a parent, the court will not award custody to that parent even if the other parent does not want custody.

However, something like that is very rare. To make that determination, very serious factual circumstances would need to be shown like serious ongoing criminal activity, addiction and substance abuse, history of any proven neglect, abuse, or endangerment of the child (or children), questions like have the children ever been removed by protective services?, etc.

Other factors that the court must consider include:

• What led to the ending of the marriage?
• Are the parents capable of dealing with each other without too much strife about the child/children’s upbringing?
• How close to each other are the parents’ separate homes (which matters for each parent’s ability to spend time with the children)?
• Which parent has the deepest “emotional relationship” with the child/children?
• Financial stability
• Custody impact on a parent’s employment
• Custody impact on government or other benefits
• Ability to provide material benefits for the child/children
• How will custody impact the child’s social and school life?
• Preferences (if any) of the child/children

It is important to state that, where only one parent wants custody, these other factors recede in importance. For example, if only one parent wants custody, then the issue of the geographical closeness of the two homes is not really very important. However, by statute, the divorce court must at least consider the issue.

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.