Legal Question in Family Law in Maryland

Re: Need Help Fast

You should be able to successfully resist your ex's ridiculous effort to require supervised visitation for children of these ages, but you really should seek the assistance of an experienced family law attorney. If you can't hire an attorney, just file a letter in the court file saying you object to supervised visitation and describe your living situation, emphasizing the fact that you have suitable accommodations for you children when they visit you. You will have to take responsibility for their travel expenses for out of town visits. Ask for a court hearing and be prepared to show up at the hearing to state your case. If there's been no abusive conduct toward the children as you state, I can't imagine a judge restricting your visitation in that way. Your older child is already at an age where he/she can pretty much dictate which parent they spend their time with.

Re: Need Help Fast

Unless you go to court without a lawyer, you should have no trouble gaining visitation, unsupervised, with your children if the facts are as you say. But it is more difficult than it might seem to represent yourself in a custody or visitation case. When your ex-husband says you have no stable home he must mean that you move a lot or that you are living with someone who is a bad influence. You will need to get ready with some evidence that your home is a reasonable place for your children to visit. Since Maryland law assumes that it is in the best interest of children to have regular contact with both of their parents, absent some clear and convincing reasons for restricting the contact, your ex-husband has a burden of proving that there are reasons to limit visitation. An experienced family law attorney will be able to help you preparing your case and presenting evidence to rebut the claims of the children's father. If you are unable to afford an attorney's fees, see if Legal Aid or another agency providing volunteer legal assistance can help you.