ANNE ARUNDEL, CALVERT, CHARLES, ST. MARY’S & PRINCE GEORGE’S COUNTIES.
Child Custody | Haskell & Dyer
In Maryland, Custody Goes to the Best Interest of the Child.
We build a strong case for the custody and parenting arrangement that serves your kids and protects your role as a parent, whether you are setting it up for the first time or fighting to keep it.
Focused custody representation for parents across Southern Maryland. We keep the case where the court keeps it, on your children.
How Courts Decide
Maryland decides custody on the best interest of the child.
Judges weigh a long list of factors about what serves your child, not what either parent wants. That means the parent who shows up prepared, stable, and focused on the kids has the advantage. We help you be that parent in the eyes of the court.
Two Kinds of Custody
Legal and Physical Custody
Custody comes in two parts. They can be shared or split in different ways, and we sort out the right fit for your family.
The Decisions
Legal Custody
Legal custody is the right to make major decisions about your child: school, health care, religion, and the big choices. It can be joint or sole. We help you secure a role in the decisions that shape your child's life.
The Time
Physical Custody
Physical custody is where the child lives and the day-to-day schedule. It ranges from one parent having most of the time to a near-even split. We build a parenting plan that fits your child's needs and protects your time.
What We Help With
The Pieces of a Custody Case
A custody case is more than a schedule. These are the parts we work through with you.
Legal custody
Physical custody
Parenting plans
Visitation schedules
Relocation issues
Modifying an order
Why It Matters
What a Custody Order Sets
A custody order shapes your daily life with your children for years. The details carry real weight.
Time
How much you see your kids
Decisions
Your say in the major choices
Stability
A clear, workable routine
Your Role
Your place in their lives
How Courts Decide
What Best Interest Actually Means
Best interest is not a slogan. It is a set of factors a Maryland judge weighs to decide what arrangement serves your child. No single factor controls, and the weight of each one depends on your family.
Courts commonly look at things like:
- Each parent's relationship with the child and their day-to-day involvement
- The stability of each home and each parent's ability to care for the child
- The child's school, community, and ties to each parent
- Each parent's willingness to support the child's bond with the other parent
- Any history of abuse, neglect, or substance problems
- The preference of an older, mature child, given appropriate weight
Legal and physical custody are decided separately, and joint arrangements are common where the parents can work together. We help you show the court, with specifics rather than generalities, why your role serves your child.
Attorney Insight
Judges aren't looking for a perfect parent. They're looking for the parent who shows up, stays steady, and keeps the kids out of the middle. That's the case we build, because it's also what's best for your children.
Matthew J. Dyer, Esq.
The Law Offices of Haskell & Dyer
How We Build Your Custody Case
We keep the focus where the court keeps it, on your children, and we present you as the steady, involved parent you are.
We Center the Children
The court asks what serves the kids. We build your case around exactly that, because it is what wins and what is right.
We Show Your Involvement
We help document your role in your children's lives, the care, the routine, and the stability you provide.
We Build a Real Plan
A workable parenting plan that fits school, work, and your child's needs, not a schedule that falls apart in a month.
We Stand Firm When Needed
If the other parent is unreasonable or your time is threatened, we advocate hard for you and your children in court.
Common Questions
Child Custody, Answered
How does a Maryland court decide custody?
Maryland decides custody based on the best interest of the child. A judge weighs many factors, including each parent's relationship with the child, stability, the ability to care for the child, and more. It is not about which parent wants it more, but about what serves the child. We build your case around those factors so the court sees the full picture.
What's the difference between legal and physical custody?
Legal custody is the right to make major decisions about the child, like school, health care, and religion. Physical custody is about where the child lives and the day-to-day schedule. Both can be joint or sole, and the two are decided separately. A parent can share one and not the other. We help you pursue the arrangement that fits your family.
Do mothers automatically get custody?
No. Maryland law does not favor mothers or fathers. The court looks at the best interest of the child, and either parent can be awarded primary or joint custody based on the facts. The outcome turns on the relationship with the child and the ability to provide a stable home, not on the parent's gender. We make your case on those terms.
Can my custody order be changed later?
Yes. Custody orders can be modified when there is a significant change in circumstances and a change would serve the child. A move, a new job, a change in the child's needs, or a problem with the other parent can all be grounds. We help you seek a modification, or defend against one, when life shifts after the original order.
Does my child get to choose which parent to live with?
Not on their own. A court may consider the preference of an older, mature child as one factor, but the child does not get to decide, and the weight given to that preference depends on age and maturity. The judge still focuses on the child's overall best interest. We can explain how this is likely to play out in your case.
Protect Your Time With Your Kids. Let's Build Your Case.
Custody is the part of family law that matters most, and it rewards preparation. Reach out and we will help you build a strong case for the arrangement that serves your children and protects your role.
Prefer to talk now? Reach us at 301-627-5844