Can You Waive Child Support in a Maryland Divorce Case?

Child support is often one of the most contentious issues in a Maryland divorce case. One way that Maryland law tries to reduce potential conflict is through enforcing a set of mandatory child support guidelines. These guidelines determine a non-custodial parent’s support obligations. If the parents’ combined monthly income exceeds a certain threshold, however, the court may set child support at a higher amount than provided by the guidelines based on the needs of a child.

Court of Appeals: No Parental “Right” to Give Up Child Support Obligations

But is it possible to set a lower child support obligation if both parents agree? For that matter, could the custodial parent “waive” the right to any child support at all? The short answer is “no.” Child support is a right belonging to the child–not the parent–so it cannot be waived even if the parents sign an agreement to the contrary.

Indeed, the Maryland Court of Appeals recently addressed this issue. In the Matter of the Marriage of Houser involved a mother and father with one minor child. The mother filed for divorce in 2020. On the morning that the divorce trial was set to begin, the parties reached settlement. They presented three separate agreements to the Circuit Court for approval. As relevant here, the agreements waived the father’s obligation to pay any past or future child support.

The Circuit Court judge asked the mother why she wanted to waive support. The mother replied that she and the father had been living apart and financially independent for three years at that point and that “moving forward, I would prefer not to have to deal with any money.”

That was not good enough for the Circuit Court, which ordered the father to pay child support based on the state guidelines. (The father also had to pay past-due child support dating back to the filing of the original divorce complaint.) Both parties appealed, first to the Appellate Court of Maryland and then to the Court of Appeals.

Both appellate courts, however, agreed with the Circuit Court’s handling of the case. The Court of Appeals held “that parents cannot bilaterally agree to waive the issue of child support, thereby precluding the circuit court from considering that issue altogether.” The Court further rejected the parents’ argument that forbidding them from waiving child support violated their constitutional right to due process–specifically, their right to direct the “care, custody, and management” of their child as they saw fit. No parent “has the right to give up any legal obligation to the child,” including the obligation to pay court-ordered child support.

Contact a La Plata, Maryland Child Support Lawyer Today

While parents cannot waive child support in Maryland, they can present arguments to the court as to why it is in their child’s best interest to deviate from the child support guidelines–either upward or downward–in their specific case. Our La Plata, Maryland child support attorney can advise you further on this and many other family law issues. Contact Fanning Law, LLC today to schedule a consultation. We serve clients in LaPlata, Waldorf, and Lexington Park.

Source:

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