Legal Question in Family Law in Maryland

Re: court order

It is impossible for me to say if you would be violating the court order without actually reading the order, however, generally speaking you should petition the court for a modification of the custody order since you will be relocating. This will give the court the opportunity to amend the order to allow you to relocate. Strictly speaking you actually may be violating the order so your best bet is to have the order modified!

Re: court order

If the court has ordered bi-weekly visitation on the condition that you agree on a meeting place, you will be disobeying a court order if you move five hours away and out of state without making good faith attempts to agree on a meeting place. If the father is totally unreasonable about a meeting place and won't agree to go to something approaching half way, and you have tried honestly to come up with a suitable location and he flat out refuses, you should not be in any serious danger of being found in contempt of court. After your move, if you haven't been back in court for a change in the schedule, you will probably have to do a total of ten hours of driving every other weekend, either twice to a mid-point and back or once, round trip, to pick up of deliver your child. One thing you should know before you move: the courts in Maryland have held that if you move out of the state, the father will then have grounds to ask for a change of custody. That doesn't mean that he will necessarily get a change of custody, but the court may have to reconsider the best interest of the child in light of your move. Of course that will only be necessary if the father files a motion for a change of custody.