Legal Question in Family Law in Maryland
If a couple have never been married and the father is paying child support what visitation rights does he have ?
2 Answers from Attorneys
Until otherwise ordered by court or a custody agreement, both parents have equal visitation rights. This obviously wouldn't work out for very long as a child has to have some fixed home where they live with reasonable visitation to the non-custodial parent. You can settle this matter however you want, but the standard courts use is the "best interests of the child" standard. That is, whatever is best for the child (which may not be best for either parent) is what's supposed to happen.
One thing to be aware of is that there is no relationship between paying child support and visitation. That is, child support isn't treated as payment for visitation.
If the mother is denying you visitation with your child, you should file a motion for visitation, full custody, or joint custody. Once the court order is in place, if the mother refuses to allow you to see the child, she will be in contempt of the court order. In response, the court has the power to increase visitation or change custody.