Legal Question in Family Law in Maryland
other children
My wife had 2 children before we married ages 14 and 9. The 14 yrs old moved to Maryland w/her parents, when he was 8, because they was financially able to provide for him. His biological dad has not seen him since 1991. In 1996 her parents got custody, because they said for insurance purposes and for school, because we live in different Maryland counties and they would have to pay out of county tuition. My wife gave up legal rights, although we still buy clothing for him. Her parents attorney drew up legal documents, we were without legal counsel, and the Judge awarded them custody. Now that we are extremely better off, moved into a 4 bedroom house and have a substantial bank account and has put ($20,000.00) away for each child. Can we get back permanent custody of him? If so how?? He wants to come live with us.
Also the 9 year old has never seen her dad. I have been with my wife since she(9 yr) was 3 months. She only knows me as "Daddy". We have told her, who her real father is, but she does not believe us, because she only knows and remembers me. How can we get her last name changed? She asks why her last name is different?
We need help
Thank You All
2 Answers from Attorneys
Re: other children
You may seek a change of custody.
However, without a signifcant visitation track record leading up to the filing, chances of success may be small. My advice is to increase the visitation steadily over time, with the assistance of competent legal counsel, before seeking custody.
Olivier Long
Law Offices of Olivier Denier Long
10500 Sager Avenue, #B
Re: other children
Let me deal with your second question first, since
it is the simpler of the two. The best way to get
her last name changed is to adopt her. There could
be consequences to this, such as lost child support
if you are currently receiving any. But that would
accomplish the name change.
As for the first question, obviously I have not
seen the custody order so I can't say how easy it
would be to overturn it. However, there is a
preference for the natural parents in Maryland; the
court will usually presume that the child is better
off with his mother than someone else.
But I don't want to paint too rosy a picture. The
fact is that you're dealing with one of the
exceptions to the presumption when you are talking
about the grandparents as the ones who currently have
custody. It's very well settled in Maryland that
the Court has the power to grant custody to the
grandparents if such custody is deemed in the best
interest of the child. And the courts here have been
known to decide in favor of the grandparents even
though the parents are, after being absent for
a very long time, now able to properly care for the
child.
So the short answer to your first question is that you
really need to sit down and talk to a lawyer about
this. There are far too many factors to be considered
to try to give really good advice over the net. (Although
I certainly agree with the other attorney who responded
that you should start building up a pattern of
visitation - that's a really good starting point).
If you want to talk about this, feel free to give me
a call (410-0461-8465)
Lowell
Lowell Wilson
Law Office of Lowell G. Wilson
8335 Court Avenue
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