It takes two to make a baby, and the court certainly recognizes that fact. In Maryland, the court presumes both natural parents as the natural custodians of their children and doesn’t favor the mother or father. So what does that mean for child custody? Here are the areas where a parents’ rights attorney can help.
Custody
A family rights attorney can help you gain custody of your child. When couples break up or divorce, they cease living together and make separate and mutually exclusive households. This can create challenges for raising children. Although both parents have a say in how a child should be raised, the child can only live with one parent at a time, and sometimes only one parent may be legally allowed to make important decisions regarding the child. With something this important, that’s why parents turn to a family rights attorney for help.
Child Support
If you want your child’s parents to share some of the financial responsibilities of raising a child, you can work with a family rights attorney to help get child support. Maryland courts use a formula to determine how much support the non-custodial parent must pay. However, parents can avoid litigation and draft an agreement outside of court. You can use a family rights attorney to draft a child support agreement or represent you in court.
Visitation Rights
There is a multitude of factors that affect parenting time and access to a child. A family rights attorney is familiar with the myriad of factors that can affect your ability to see your child and can help you acquire the parenting schedule you want. Parents can decide the visitation schedule, but if they cannot come to an agreement, the court will formulate a visitation schedule based on the best interest of the child.
Paternity
Children need the love and care of both parents. A child deserves to know who their father is, and a father deserves to know if a child is his. Once paternity is established, it opens the door for a variety of rights and responsibilities for the child’s father. A family rights attorney can help with determining paternity since it is not as simple as taking a DNA test.
Choose the Best Family Rights Attorney for Your Case
When it comes to your rights as a parent, don’t leave anything to chance. Work with an experienced family rights attorney, like at Alan L. Billian, P.A. We have over 30 years of experience as a child custody attorney and divorce lawyer in Maryland. We’re here to help you understand your rights as a parent and appropriately represent you in court.
Contact us now for your FREE 30-minute consultation.
