Protect Your Family | What is Emergency Custody in Maryland

If you need assistance in filing for emergency custody in Maryland, we can help you explore your legal options. Maryland Child Support Attorney, LaSheena Williams, discusses what happens when you believe you may need to file for emergency custody.

Thank you for joining me today my name is LaSheena Williams and I am a Maryland family law attorney. My firm helps our clients take control of out of control domestic situations.

Today we will be discussing emergency custody.

What is Emergency Custody?

Emergency custody is when a pressing situation occurs and you need a judge to make an immediate decision regarding custody for your child.

What Constitutes Emergency Custody?

A situation may constitute an emergency custody situation if you feel as though your child is in danger or that your child may be in danger soon. This may mean you know there’s no electricity in the house or there is no heat in the house and its in the middle of the winter time. That there is no food in the house or the child is of an age where they’re supposed to be supervised and you know that there’s no supervision in the house. Another situation that may constitute an emergency custody situation is if you have reason to believe that your co-parent is taking your child out of the state or out of the country without your permission. They may not have told you where they’re going but even if they have told you where they’re going if it’s contrary to a court order or an agreement you should contact the court as soon as possible because you don’t know what is going on with your custody and your child.

What isn’t Emergency Custody?

A situation may be considered a non-emergency custody situation if the situation is pressing but there’s no real legal recourse for what you’re requesting. You may consider a situation where you and your co-parent do not have a court order and your co-parent has taken your child and refused to give them back at the set time or they’ve changed the time that they were expecting to bring the child back. That may be inconvenient for you but that is not necessarily an emergency custody situation on its face. Another situation that may not be considered an emergency custody situation is if you have an arrangement where your co-parent is supposed to pick your child up at a set time but they don’t pick your child up and now you have to figure out a child care arrangement because you have prior plans. Again this is very inconvenient and this may have you reconsidering your current custody arrangement but it’s still not necessarily an emergency custody situation.

What if your situation may involve Emergency Custody?

Because there are a lot of emotions at stake when children are involved and co-parents don’t necessarily meet each other’s expectations it’s important for you to realize that you should speak with an attorney if you believe that you have an emergency custody situation. An attorney will be able to tell you if your situation is legally likely to be considered an emergency custody situation or if it’s unlikely to be considered an emergency custody situation. It’s very difficult for you to really know that without speaking with an attorney. If you have any questions about emergency custody issues in Maryland or any other domestic related issues please feel free to subscribe to our youtube channel for future updates. Please also feel free to give us a call if you have any questions at all at (301) 778-9950 to speak with an attorney today.

Check Out Our Related Child Custody Blog Posts:

◾ Out of Harm’s Way: Filing for Emergency Child Custody in Maryland | https://bit.ly/3oFU0Nx

◾  Weathering the Storm: Interference with Custody and Covid-19 in Maryland | https://bit.ly/388U7eP

◾  Best Interest of the Child: Understanding Child Custody in Maryland | https://bit.ly/3jHkCKc

Contact the Law Office of LaSheena Williams today to learn more about how we can help support you with your Maryland child custody matter.