Legal Question in Family Law in Maryland

I currently live in Maryland. My daughter was born in VA and lived with me and my now Ex for the first year and half of her life until things fell apart and we parted ways. We were going through court in MD starting about 2 years ago...so maybe June 2010 until November 2010. She filed the petition for custody/paternity/support in MD and everything was set to complete by the end of 2010....we had established support...although never calculated, some number her lawyer came up with which seems high 1300...visitation and different travel arrangements. She didnt show up to court for the final hearing/signing and basically I was told that she needed to be there to complete everything and without her there it couldnt be finalized.

The case essentially got dropped and they told me I would have to start all over, but with me initializing everything. The catch was that My daughter and her other daughter had already been flown back to California...where my ex is originally from...so she had essentially been there for almost 8 months. It was a stressful time and my ex and I were sort of getting along better and agreed to just be peaceful and abide the best we could to what would have been court ordered.

Being and Maryland and her in California its been tough to see my daughter and Ive found that my ex has compromised with some things, but other things have been a headache and with nothing in writing, she can essentially do whatever she wants and get away with it. Ive tried my best to be as good as i can with everything, but sometimes I wonder if it might just be better to reopen a case and get things more solidified in order to avoid future conflict. Ive given her 1300 a month since June of 2010 on my own good will and have on more then multiple occasions given her money early, given extra money, sent gifts, clothes or whatever I can to be a good dad since Im so far away, but it seems like she instantly forgets and has no problem having an attitude or threatening me not seeing my daughter until again money comes around when again I give in and transfer what she needs when she needs. Its an ugly cycle and Ive only seen my daughter maybe two or three times over the past two years, all of which were in hotel rooms. Seems unfair and I dont want this to continue forever.

Ok...so i essentially need advice on what I should think about doing? Should I get a lawyer based in California close to where she lives to represent me or should I approach someone in MD to represent me in California? I know it wouldnt be an easy case to go through, but Im afraid if I let too much time pass that I'll go years with only being allowed to see my daughter a few times and I'll still be paying support thats never been court mandated. Another piece of info is that Im not even on my daughters birth certificate as the father, so I wouldnt want that to come back later on to haunt me. I need advice to make the right decision and hopefully someone here can guide me in the right direction. Thanks for your help in advance.

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