If you need assistance in establishing and enforcing your rights as a father, we can help you explore your legal options. Maryland Fathers Rights Attorney, LaSheena Williams, discusses child custody and enforcing your parental rights in Maryland.
What is Physical Custody?
Physical custody is where your child stays. It’s how much access or time you have with your child but particularly it’s where your child’s staying overnight. As a father, you have just as much right to spend time with your children as the mother. In Maryland judges do not presume that the mother is more fit than the father and what that means is as long as you pursue your right you can have up to shared time with your children.
What is Legal Custody?
Legal custody is the ability to make decisions for your child and what that means is it’s the ability to decide what school your child’s going to, if your child will go to a certain pediatrician, and whether your child will have certain vaccinations. As a father, again you have just as much right to make these choices as your child’s mother. The key is how much authority do you have in that situation. With legal custody it’s divided up into three different categories. There’s sole legal custody and that’s that one parent only makes the decisions for the child; they don’t necessarily have to tell the other parent. There’s joint legal custody where both parents have to work together to make decisions for the child and then there’s joint legal custody with tie breaking authority where both parents have to work together but if they can’t come to an agreement one parent may have the final say on a certain issue. As a father you need to understand the difference between those types of categories and you need to be able to pursue the type of responsibility you feel will be in your child’s best interest.
What Can You Do To Protect Your Rights?
As a father the best thing you can do to protect your rights is to get a custody order. Once you have a custody order with a set custody schedule and set requirements for your legal authority as well as your physical access you understand the lay of the land you know what you’re entitled to and that can’t be taken away from you as easily as if you have an informal agreement with your partner or even if you have a written agreement with your partner. The key is to get a custody order so that you can actually make decisions and if your partner no longer wishes to abide by that order you can seek enforcement and make up time through the court. If you’re a father and you have any concerns about your relationship with your child and enforcing your rights in Maryland please subscribe to our 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.
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Contact the Law Office of LaSheena Williams today to learn more about how we can help support you with your Maryland child custody matter.
