Legal Question in Family Law in Maryland

Re: Soon to be X giving me a fit with custody and wants to move out of state.

Have you explored the possibility of obtaining legal counsel through the pro bono (free) program offered in your county by the local bar association? You raise many serious issues and the fate of your children are at stake.

You should press your request for joint custody. Most courts award this unless there are compelling reasons not to, but if you are up against your husband's lawyer without representation, you might lose out. Then you will be deprived of having any say in the important decisions about your children as they grow older. If he wants to leave the area, he should at least be partly responsible for travel expenses for visitation. The pretrial is to settle any issues that can be resolved before trial, to see if a compromise can be reached which will avoid trial, and for scheduling. The divorce won't be final that day.

If your husband has been granted temporary custody without restrictions, he could move away now; all the more why you need to try and obtain an attorney, even at this late date.

Re: Soon to be X giving me a fit with custody and wants to move out of state.

Well, the first tip I would like to give you is that you should move heaven and earth to attempt to get legal representation. Perhaps a relative can lend you some money for this or you can get a "pro bono" (free) attorney? Or, find an attorney who will develop a payment plan you can live with?

Getting back to your question, some guidelines to remember include:

Any custody and/or visitation arrangement must ultimately be approved by the court. The court's main concern will be what is in "the best interests of the children." Generally, the court will want to keep both parents actively involved with the children, esp. when they are young. The problem with one of the parents taking the children out of state is that this often has the effect of denying access of the children to the other parent. Further, this takes the custodial parent and the children physically away from the power of the court, and thus renders it impossible to enforce any local court orders without filing a legal proceeding in the remote state. Ultimately, the court must approve an out of state re-location of the children.

It is not up to your husband to decide who will or will not have custody, joint or otherwise. It is up to the court. Further, I do not think it likely that the court would approve of a situation in which children aged 3,7 and 8 do not get to REGULARLY spend time with their mom. "Summer and holidays" simply won't cut it, in my opinion, and the court is going to severely question both parents about this proposed arrangement.

You should not agree, at least at this point, to any request by your husband to re-locate the children to Florida, nor to the visitation arrangement you have described. I cannot believe that only seeing your children a couple of times a year could possibly be satisfactory to you, nor do I believe that you think such an arrangement is in the best interests of your children. Further, you state your husband is uncooperative concerning joint custody as well as mediation. This indicates he cannot be trusted in terms of living up to whatever agreement he is proposing to you.

I strongly recommend that you consult with an attorney immediately so that you can explore your legal rights, obligations, and options. If you wish to discuss retaining my services, contact me at:

[email protected]

(973)-605-8995

(*Licensed in New Jersey, Maryland, and Dist. of Columbia)

[Disclaimer: The above comments are not intended as nor should they be relied upon as "legal advice", which can only be obtained by personal consultation with a retained attorney; at which time the specific facts and circumstances of your case can be thoroughly evaluated. This reply is provided for general informational and educational purposes only, and does not create an attorney-client relationship with the responding attorney.]