Custody in Maryland.
The starting point the law actually sets, what the judge has to weigh, and the deadlines that catch people out.
See a different stateMaryland
None that we could find in the statute. Family Law § 9-201 sets out factors and requires findings; it does not create a presumption for joint legal custody, joint physical custody, or equal parenting time. Factor (2) points toward "frequent, regular, and continuing contact," and factor (3) asks how parents "will share the rights and responsibilities of raising the child" — but sharing responsibilities is not the same as splitting time down the middle, and neither phrase is a presumption. Maryland decides each case on the sixteen factors.
Use the state’s own words
Maryland says "legal custody" and "physical custody," and its courts also use the plainer pairing "decision-making authority" and "parenting time." The Maryland Judiciary's official custody page glosses them as "legal custody (decision-making authority)" and "physical custody (child access/visitation)." The document you file is a "parenting plan." Note that Maryland's rules speak of "parties," not just parents — which includes de facto parents and legal guardians.
How Maryland decides
Decisions against where the child lives
From the Maryland Courts' official custody page: "Parties with legal custody (decision-making authority) make long-term decisions about education, health, religion, care, welfare and other important areas," while "Physical custody (child access/visitation) refers to where children live and how much time they spend with each parent." Maryland Family Law § 9-201(a) is written to cover both at once — it opens "in determining what legal custody and physical custody is in the best interest of a child." https://www.mdcourts.gov/childcustody
What the judge must weigh
§9–201. (a) Subject to the provisions of §§ 9–101, 9–101.1, and 9–101.2 of this title, in determining what legal custody and physical custody is in the best interest of a child, the court may consider the following factors:
- (1) stability and the foreseeable health and welfare of the child;
- (2) frequent, regular, and continuing contact with parents who can act in the child’s best interest;
- (3) whether and how parents who do not live together will share the rights and responsibilities of raising the child;
- (4) the child’s relationship with each parent, any siblings, other relatives, and individuals who are or may become important in the child’s life;
- (5) the child’s physical and emotional security and protection from exposure to conflict and violence;
- (6) the child’s developmental needs, including physical safety, emotional security, positive self–image, interpersonal skills, and intellectual and cognitive growth;
- (7) the day–to–day needs of the child, including education, socialization, culture and religion, food, shelter, clothing, and mental and physical health;
- (8) how to: (i) place the child’s needs above the parents’ needs; (ii) protect the child from the negative effects of any conflict between the parents; and (iii) maintain the child’s relationship with the parents, siblings, other relatives, or other individuals who have or likely may have a significant relationship with the child;
- (9) the age of the child;
- (10) any military deployment of a parent and its effect, if any, on the parent–child relationship;
- (11) any prior court orders or agreements;
- (12) each parent’s role and tasks related to the child and how, if at all, those roles and tasks have changed;
- (13) the location of each parent’s home as it relates to the parent’s ability to coordinate parenting time, school, and activities;
- (14) the parents’ relationship with each other, including: (i) how they communicate with each other; (ii) whether they can co–parent without disrupting the child’s social and school life; and (iii) how the parents will resolve any disputes in the future without the need for court intervention;
- (15) the child’s preference, if age–appropriate; and
- (16) any other factor that the court considers appropriate in determining how best to serve the physical, developmental, and emotional needs of the child.
(b) The court shall articulate its findings of fact on the record or in a written opinion, including the consideration of each factor listed in subsection (a) of this section and any other factor that the court considered.
Recently changed. Maryland only got a statutory list of factors on 1 October 2025. Chapters 483 and 484 of the Acts of 2025 (HB 1191 and SB 548, signed 13 May 2025) created Family Law sections 9-201 and 9-202. Before that, Maryland judges worked from case law — Montgomery County v. Sanders and Taylor v. Taylor. If you are reading a Maryland custody guide that talks about the Sanders factors rather than the statute, it predates the change.
What the child wants
Maryland sets no age in the statute. The child's wishes are factor (15) of Family Law § 9-201(a): "the child's preference, if age-appropriate." That phrasing leaves it to the judge to decide whether this particular child, at this age and maturity, has a view worth weighing — and it stays one factor among sixteen either way. There is no age at which a Maryland child chooses.
Where there has been violence or abuse
Maryland front-loads abuse: Family Law § 9-201(a) is expressly "Subject to the provisions of §§ 9-101, 9-101.1, and 9-101.2," so those come first. Section 9-101 covers abuse or neglect of the child: if the court "has reasonable grounds to believe that a child has been abused or neglected by a party," it must determine whether abuse or neglect is likely to recur, and under § 9-101(b), "Unless the court specifically finds that there is no likelihood of further child abuse or neglect by the party, the court shall deny custody or visitation rights to that party," though it may approve supervised visitation that assures the child's safety and physiological, psychological and emotional well-being. Section 9-101.1 covers abuse of adults and other children: the court "shall consider" evidence of abuse by a party against the other parent of the party's child, the party's spouse, or any child residing in the party's household — including a child other than the one in the case — and if it finds such abuse, "the court shall make arrangements for custody or visitation that best protect" both the child in the case and the victim of the abuse. Section 9-101.2 addresses murder: absent good cause shown by clear and convincing evidence, a court may not award custody or visitation to a parent found guilty of first or second degree murder of the child's other parent, another child of the parent, or a family member residing in either parent's household, though supervised visitation may be approved if it is in the child's best interest.
The paperwork and the people
The parenting plan
Yes, in every custody case. The Maryland Judiciary's official fact sheet states: "The court requires parties to submit a parenting plan in any Maryland case that involves the custody of a child," and "A parenting plan is required in any case a party asks the court for custody or to modify custody of a child." Custody can also be handled inside a divorce case. The one exception named is Child in Need of Assistance (CINA) cases. You get the documents at your first court appearance: use the Maryland Parenting Plan Instructions (CC-DRIN-109) and the Maryland Parenting Plan Tool (CC-DR-109). If you and the other party cannot agree, you must instead submit the Joint Statement (CC-DR-110). https://www.mdcourts.gov/family/parentingplans and the fact sheet at https://www.mdcourts.gov/sites/default/files/import/family/pdfs/familyfactsheetparentingplans.pdf
Mediation
Maryland courts routinely order mediation in contested custody cases, and the Judiciary lists mediation among the standard court programs offered. The custody page explains that "The first court event is often a scheduling conference with a judge or magistrate where all parties talk about programs that may help you reach a settlement." We could not confirm the governing rule text or the domestic violence exemption from an official source, because the Maryland Rules are not published in full on the Judiciary's site. If there has been abuse in your relationship, raise it at the scheduling conference — tell the judge or magistrate before mediation is ordered, not after.
If the court appoints someone to look into it
The Maryland Judiciary's official custody page confirms custody evaluations exist as a court program: "Court programs include co-parenting classes, mediation, custody evaluations, child access or visitation services, and more," and every Maryland county has a family services coordinator who can tell you what is available locally. It also notes that in a contested custody trial "The court may also need input from professionals before making its decision." We could not confirm from an official source the specific rule authorizing appointment or how the cost is allocated — Maryland's custody rules are in the Maryland Rules, which the Judiciary does not publish in full text on its own website. Ask your county's family services coordinator, whose contact information is on the Judiciary's custody page.
Moving away
What you must do before you move
Maryland's notice rule is conditional, which trips people up. Under Family Law § 9-106(a)(1), "in any custody or visitation proceeding the court may include as a condition of a custody or visitation order a requirement that either party provide advance written notice of at least 90 days to the court, the other party, or both, of the intent to relocate the permanent residence of the party or the child either within or outside the State." So the 90-day notice applies if your order says it does — read your order. If either party files a petition about a proposed relocation within 20 days of that written notice, "the court shall set a hearing on the petition on an expedited basis," and the same expedited treatment applies to a petition about a relocation that would significantly interfere with the other parent's ability to keep to the parenting time schedule. Certified mail, return receipt requested, to the last known address is deemed sufficient notice. Under § 9-106(b), on a showing that notice would expose the child or either party to abuse as defined in § 4-501, or for other good cause, "the court shall waive the notice." If you truly have to move in under 90 days, § 9-106(c) lets you defend on the grounds that the move was necessary due to financial or other extenuating circumstances and that you gave notice within a reasonable time after learning you had to move. Violating the notice requirement can be held against you as a factor in any later custody proceeding. Separately, Family Law § 9-202(b) provides that "A parent's proposal to relocate the residence of the parent or the child in a way that would cause physical custody to be impracticable constitutes a material change in circumstances."
Later on
Changing the order
Family Law § 9-202(a): "The court may modify, in accordance with the provisions of this subtitle, a child custody or visitation order if the court determines that there has been a material change in circumstances since the issuance of the order that relates to the needs of the child or the ability of the parents to meet those needs and that modifying the order is in the best interest of the child." Read that carefully — the change has to connect to the child's needs or to a parent's ability to meet them. A change in your own circumstances that does not touch the child is not enough. And § 9-202(b) supplies one automatic answer: a proposed relocation that would make the existing physical custody arrangement impracticable is itself a material change. There is no statutory waiting period. A parenting plan is required on a modification just as on an original case.
Two things worth knowing. First, Maryland's custody factors are now in the statute — Family Law § 9-201 — and the judge has to say something on the record about every single one of the sixteen. That is unusually useful for you as a parent: it means you can organize your own testimony and exhibits factor by factor and be confident the judge has to address each one. Second, the 90-day relocation notice is not automatic. It only binds you if the court wrote it into your order. Pull out your custody order and look before you assume either that you are free to move or that you are trapped.
What we could not confirm
- We could not confirm how Maryland custody works when the parents were never married — particularly whether an unmarried father must establish paternity before he can seek custody. That is a real gap, so please ask a Maryland family lawyer or a Family Court Help Center before relying on anything. We also could not confirm the rules governing mediation and court-appointed custody evaluators, or who pays for them, because the Maryland Rules are not published in full text on the Judiciary's own website and Maryland's People's Law Library refused our request. The court's family services coordinator in your county is the right person to ask about both.
- 4 official pages we tried to read refused automated access. We did not try to get around that, so some detail above was read from a different official source — a published court opinion quoting the statute, or the court’s own forms and instructions.
Compare all fifty states
Where 50/50 really is the default, and the twenty-six states where nothing is presumed.
And the money side
How Maryland calculates child support, and the overnight number that changes it.
The rest of what we have written about Maryland. Every figure is quoted from Maryland’s own statute or its courts’ own published schedule, and carries the date we last checked it.