Legal Question in Family Law in Maryland
Attempting to move child out of state
My husband and his ex share joint legal custody of a 5 year old. She has physical custody and he has consistent visitation through a legal agreement. She has decided to marry a guy in the Army and move my husband's son to SC and is in the process of trying to get full custody. This child's whole family, on both sides, is here, all of his friends, his school, everything he knows and she is planning to just uproot him for this guy. They share nothing together, other than a bed - no children, no property, assets, etc. My question is, how can a judge decide to grant her full custody, when it is clearly ''not in the child's best interest''? She seems to think that she will win this custody battle simply because she is the mother. My husband has been in his child's life from day one and always fighting to spend the alloted time he is given by the court. I have been in the child's life since age 1 and we have been married for two years. We have had the social services interview, etc. and the preliminary hearing is Sept. 29 and, incidently, the ex and the army guy are getting married on Sept. 27. My husband has lost all faith in the judicial system. I just want to know - is he going to lose his son?
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: Attempting to move child out of state
It is difficult to say. However, the court will not just award her custody because she is the mother. In custody modification cases, the courts tend to favor maintaining the status quo and will tend to favor continuing custody with the custodial parent if the child is doing well. He would have to show that the child's best interests would be served by granting him custody or by denying the mother's motion to modify. His best argument is that the child's stability will be severely impacted, he would be removed from a familiar environment, and his access to his father as well as extended family would be severely curtailed.
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