Legal Question in Family Law in Maryland

You have a right to have a relationship with your child. You should file a complaint for visitation to establish a court-ordered schedule that the mother would have to comply with. I would recommend consulting with an experienced family law attorney to discuss your case in detail.

The obligation to pay child support, and the right to visit one's child, are not interdependent. The lead Maryland case on this issue is Stancill v. Stancill. For example, the child molester father may not be entitled to visit his child (at least not unsupervised), but he still has to pay child support. Conversely, the disabled or unemployed father with no income may not have to pay child support, but he's still entitled to visitation. If there is no custody order, you can either file suit to establish custody and/or visitation, or you may be able to use "self help" and simply go visit with, or take physical custody of your child when he/she is in the care of a third party. (Your rights are not superior to the mother, and in the absence of a court order, you have no right to take the child away when he/she is with the mother. Conversely, if there is no court order and the child is with you, the mother has no right to take the child away from you.) These are complex issues, and you should obtain the advice of a capable family law attorney.