Abducted Children | On The Run With Your Child?
On The Run With Your Child in Frederick Maryland?
80% of all abducted children were abducted by a parent or other family member
As a custody lawyer in Frederick County Maryland, I have often experienced this phenomenon.
When Good Parents Turn Bad
Some are of those involved are bad people.
People who are angry.
People so angry that they would spite the ex by attempting to eliminate him or her from the child’s life. Some are keeping the child to conceal evidence of a crime such as abuse or neglect. Some are mentally ill and/or addicted to drugs or alcohol that clouds there judgment.
Many are well intentioned parents but are simply unable work out their problems any other way.
Fleeing With Your Child Can Cause Real Problems
These things don’t happen in a vacuum. A parent who does not have a custody lawyer may be frustrated by the system. Frustrated by his or her inability to show the court that they are a superior parent.
Frustrated by the inability to demonstrate what is in the child(ren’s) best interest or by an inability to satisfy the legal standard of proof. I have heard a Frederick County custody lawyer tell his client that “the truth in a courtroom is what you can prove, not what you know to be true.”
Faced without hope; a parent may flee. Now what?
Like so many other problems running away does not help. A parent who remains in the home state of the child can obtain an order or judgment in-abstencia. Custody lawyers call that “ex-parte” which is Latin for “without the other side.”
After the abandoned parent obtains such an order the parent who has fled the home state will have real problems.
Maybe even criminal problems arising from violation of the Federal Parental Kidnapping Prevention Act. Then the custody court may cast a very jaundiced eye at the parent who fled. This is not an enviable position.
As a custody attorney in Frederick, I have seen with my own eyes a parent who fled the state to protect her children from an abuser only be required to return the child to him because of her poor choice to flee.
All of the foregoing is not intended to mean that you cannot take your child (or children) out of state.
You can do so unless there is an order or agreement to the contrary, but…. Any Frederick County custody lawyer will tell you: First, try to obtain an agreement before you move. If you are moving only one or two hours away or less it may have no impact on your arrangement.
You may have to eat the travel time for awhile but as long as the other parent gets the same times, there is usually a “no harm, no foul” situation.
If you move so far away that airfare is required, you will have to modify your old agreement significantly.
You may want to have the school year with parent A and summer and other school breaks to parent B.
Second, if you can’t agree file…file…file.
In almost all civil actions who is the plaintiff and who is the defendant is immaterial. In my experience, moves that require a modification of the custody/visitation schedule are an exception. Filing first tells the court that you know the right thing to do and you are willing to do it!
Family Law in Frederick Maryland
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