New Maryland Child Custody Guidelines Take Effect

In May 2025, Maryland Gov. Wes Moore signed into law HB1191/SB0548, which codifies the factors that judges must use in deciding child custody cases. The legislation formally took effect on October 1, 2025. This article contains a brief explanation of the new legislation and how it alters existing Maryland child custody law.

Common Law vs. Statutory Law

In child custody cases, Maryland courts must determine what arrangements are in the “best interests” of the child. This includes deciding issues of both physical custody (who the child lives with) and legal custody (who makes important decisions affecting the child). Up until now, however, Maryland’s Family Law statutes did not actually specify what factors a court must consider in making these decisions.

As a result, it has been left to Maryland’s courts, and more precisely the Appellate Court and the state Supreme Court, to establish such guidelines through their decisions in specific cases. This “common law” approach has significant drawbacks. As the Maryland State Bar Association (MSBA) explained in its comments supporting HB1191/SB0548, in order to apply the common law guidelines, “[A] a litigant has to identify the correct appellate decisions and be able to distill the legal holdings of each case and correctly apply those holdings to the facts of their own case.” This often placed self-represented parents at a disadvantage in custody cases, the MSBA noted.

HB1191/SB0548 essentially writes the factors previously established through Maryland common law into Maryland statutory law. It adds a new section to Maryland’s Family Law code that lists 16 factors a judge “may consider” in any given custody case. Those factors are:

• the stability and foreseeable health and welfare of the child;
• the need for frequent, regular, and continuing contact with parents who can act in the child’s best interest;
• whether and how parents who do not live together will share parental responsibilities;
• the child’s relationship with each parent and any siblings, other relatives, or individuals who are (or may become) important in the child’s life;
• the child’s physical and emotional security and protection from exposure to conflict and violence;
• the child’s physical safety, emotional security, intellectual growth, and other developmental needs;
• the child’s day-to-day needs for food, shelter, clothing, health care, education, socialization, culture, and religion;
• how to place the needs of the child over those of the parents;
• the child’s age;
• the effect on the child if a parent is deployed for military service;
• any prior court orders or agreements;
• each parent’s role and tasks related to the child and if there have been any changes to those roles and tasks;
• the location of each parent’s home as it relates to each parent’s ability to coordinate with the other;
• the parents’ relationship with each other;
• the child’s preference regarding custody, if age-appropriate; and
• any other factor the court considers appropriate with respect to the child’s needs.

Contact a La Plata Child Custody Lawyer Today

HB1191/SB0548 represents an important evolution in Maryland family law. If you have any questions or concerns about how the law might impact your own family situation, it is best to reach out to an experienced La Plata child custody attorney. Contact Fanning Law today at 301-934-3620 to schedule a consultation. We serve clients in LaPlata, Waldorf, and Lexington Park.

Sources:

mgaleg.maryland.gov/2025RS/Chapters_noln/CH_483_hb1191t.pdf

mgaleg.maryland.gov/cmte_testimony/2025/jud/1i76Pt5G5XhUcS5lUDmZxa4GkJ-oLtVXN.pdf