Legal Question in Family Law in California

If there are no existing court orders regarding custody, there is nothing either of you can legally do to stop the other from transporting the child between MD and CA. Unfortunately for you, however, you may have granted MD courts jurisdiction over any custody dispute. Under nation-wide uniform child custody and jurisdiction laws, once a child has resided for six months in a state, that state has jurisdiction over any custody case unless there is already a pending case in another state that has established jurisdiction. It is possible that the child support proceedings in California are enough to establish prior jurisdiction in California. If not, however, the MD courts would have the power to order you to return the child to MD until custody is decided, at least in an interim order pending a full trial or hearing, and CA courts would enforce that order. So you REALLY need to talk to a lawyer in person RIGHT AWAY about this and make sure to preserve CA jurisdiction if it somehow still exists. The good news is that if CA jurisdiction DOES still exist, then that would give you the right to obtain a CA order that the child be returned pending proceedings in CA. Find a local lawyer immediately.