Legal Question in Family Law in Maryland

Re: Child Visitation What Are the rights and laws?

The father will need to file an action, called a Complaint, for visitation. He will almost certainly be awarded the right to some visitation, since the law assumes that it is in the best interest of children to have a relationship with both of their parents. The father would be wise to demonstrate his concern for the best interest of the child by asking for an initial period, which you might call a "get acquainted" period, of frequent, short visits to give the young child a chance to get to know him without a lot of stress and fear of being with a stranger and away from his mother. Generally, after a reasonable time to get acquainted and establish a relationship, the father should be entitled to regular visits, often every other weekend, half of major holidays and for a longer time, which might be two or three weeks,during the summer. If the father is asking for any over-night of longer visits, he should be prepared to present evidence of a suitable place, in his home of elsewhere, for the child to stay. One thing the father should NOT do is get the right to visit and then not exercise that right. That's an awful thing to do to a child after the bond is established.

Re: Child Visitation What Are the rights and laws?

The court will not automatically grant him visitation. He should petition the court for visitation and I'll tell you most courts very liberally grant visitation if there are no allegations of neglect or abuse. Is long as Dad is a good guy then he should have no trouble getting visitation. Even if he isn't such a good guy courts can and will grant visitation if it believes it is in the best interest of the child to visit with Dad. Note that Mom denying visitation will be a factor for the court to consider and it will hurt her case in most instances. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me at 301-652-0663.