Child custody in Maine

What the law tells the judge to look at

In the order the law lists them.

1. Your child's age.19-A M.R.S. § 1653(3)(A)
2. Your child's relationship with each parent and with other people who may strongly affect the child's welfare.19-A M.R.S. § 1653(3)(B)
3. Your child's preference, if the child is old enough to express a meaningful preference.19-A M.R.S. § 1653(3)(C)
4. How long your child has lived in the current home, how well it works, and whether it is good to keep things the same.19-A M.R.S. § 1653(3)(D)
5. How stable each proposed living arrangement is.19-A M.R.S. § 1653(3)(E)
6. Why each person wants custody, and each person's ability to give the child love, affection, and guidance.19-A M.R.S. § 1653(3)(F)
7. How well your child is adjusted to the present home, school, and community.19-A M.R.S. § 1653(3)(G)
8. Each parent's ability to allow and encourage frequent and continuing contact, including in-person time, between the child and the other parent.19-A M.R.S. § 1653(3)(H)
9. Each parent's ability to cooperate, or learn to cooperate, in caring for the child.19-A M.R.S. § 1653(3)(I)
10. Ways to help the parents cooperate and settle disagreements, and whether each parent is willing to use them.19-A M.R.S. § 1653(3)(J)
11. How it would affect your child if one parent had sole authority over the child's upbringing.19-A M.R.S. § 1653(3)(K)
12. Any past or current domestic abuse between the parents, and how it affects the child emotionally, the child's safety, and all the other factors.19-A M.R.S. § 1653(3)(L)
13. Any history of child abuse by a parent.19-A M.R.S. § 1653(3)(M)
14. Anything else that reasonably bears on your child's physical and mental well-being.19-A M.R.S. § 1653(3)(N)
15. Whether a parent used the protection from abuse process on purpose and wrongly to get an advantage in the custody case. This counts only if proven by clear and convincing evidence and it shows that parent will be less able to cooperate in the future. Dropping a protection from abuse case does not by itself prove misuse.19-A M.R.S. § 1653(3)(O)
16. If your child is under 1 year old, whether the child is breast-fed.19-A M.R.S. § 1653(3)(P)
17. Whether a parent has been convicted of a sex offense or a sexually violent offense.19-A M.R.S. § 1653(3)(Q)
18. Whether a person living with a parent has been convicted of, or found to have committed, certain sexual or child-related offenses.19-A M.R.S. § 1653(3)(R)
19. Whether giving some or all decisions to one parent would best support the child's safety and well-being.19-A M.R.S. § 1653(3)(S)

Other things the judge considers

• When deciding where your child lives and parent-child contact, the judge must treat your child's safety and well-being as the first concern.19-A M.R.S. § 1653(3)
• If parents agree to shared parental rights and responsibilities, the judge must order it unless there is substantial evidence against it, and must explain in writing if not ordered.19-A M.R.S. § 1653(2)(A)
• If a parent asks for shared primary residence and the judge does not order it, the judge must explain why.19-A M.R.S. § 1653(2)(D)(1)
• A parent who left the family home is not held against them if they left because the other parent hurt or seriously threatened them, or if they left by agreement or because the other parent asked or insisted.19-A M.R.S. § 1653(5)
• If a child was conceived through sexual assault or condom tampering, the judge must look at safety and may limit or supervise contact.19-A M.R.S. § 1653(6-D)

What the judge may not consider

The judge may not prefer one parent over the other because of the parent's gender or the child's age or gender (19-A M.R.S. § 1653(4)).

Joint custody

There is no general presumption for or against shared custody. But if both parents agree to shared parental rights and responsibilities, the judge must order it unless there is substantial evidence that it should not be ordered.

The child's wishes

The judge considers your child's preference if the child is old enough to express a meaningful preference. Maine law does not set an age.

Domestic violence

The judge must consider any past or current domestic abuse between the parents. A parent who committed domestic abuse can get primary residence or contact only if the judge finds it is in the child's best interest and that the child and the abused parent can be kept safe. The judge can order safe exchange places, supervised visits, a domestic abuse intervention program, no alcohol or drugs before and during visits, no overnights, or other safety conditions, and can keep the child's and victim's address confidential. The judge may not order the victim to go to counseling with the abuser. There is a rebuttable presumption against any contact for a person convicted of certain sex offenses against a minor.

Who has custody before a court order

Before any court order, both parents are the joint natural guardians of the child and have equal rights to care, custody, and control. Neither parent's rights are greater than the other's. The court's self-help page says the same: without a court order, parents have shared rights and responsibilities.

Establishing paternity

How

Both parents can sign an Acknowledgment of Parentage (AOP) in front of a notary or municipal clerk. You can do it at the hospital or later. There is no fee to file it with the State Registrar of Vital Statistics. Once filed, it has the same effect as a court order of parentage. A signer who wants to cancel it must start a court case within 60 days after it takes effect, or before the first hearing in a court case about the child, whichever comes first. You can also ask the District Court to decide parentage; genetic testing may be ordered. Maine DHHS child support services can also help establish paternity.

Form

Acknowledgment of Parentage (AOP)

Cancelling it

No rescission form: a signer must file a court proceeding to rescind within 60 days after the acknowledgment takes effect or before the first court hearing about the child, whichever is earlier (19-A M.R.S. § 1867).

Agency

Maine DHHS, Office for Family Independence, Child Support Services (Establishing Paternity); form filed with Maine CDC Data, Research and Vital Statistics
https://www.maine.gov/dhhs/ofi/programs-services/child-support-services/establish-paternity
(207) 287-3771

Changing an order

You can ask the court to change a parental rights order with a Motion to Modify (FM-062). You must show a substantial change in circumstances, and the change must be in your child's best interest. The law says these count as a substantial change:

• A move of the child to another state when the other parent lives in Maine
• A move that disrupts the other parent's contact (more than 60 miles is presumed to disrupt it)
• Getting a relocation notice
• A court finding of domestic or family violence since the last order.

Law: 19-A M.R.S. §§ 1653(10), 1657

If the other parent does not follow the order

If the other parent does not follow the order, you can file a Motion to Enforce (FM-070); the court may send you to mediation or hold a hearing. You can also file a Motion for Contempt (FM-068); you must prove by clear and convincing evidence that the other parent knew the order, could follow it, and chose not to. If the judge finds contempt, the judge can add more specific terms, order make-up time for visits that were wrongly denied, order the parent to pay at least $100, or use other remedies up to jail. Military parents can use an Expedited Motion to Enforce Visitation (FM-214).

Law: 19-A M.R.S. § 1653(7)

Grandparent visitation

Yes. A grandparent or great-grandparent can ask for reasonable visitation by filing a separate case with an affidavit. The grandparent must first show standing: a sufficient existing relationship with the child (extraordinary contact, such as having been the child's primary caregiver for a significant time), or another compelling reason that justifies overriding the parents' right to say no. The judge decides standing from the papers first. If there is standing, the court may order mediation and appoint a guardian ad litem. The judge can grant visits only if they are in the child's best interest and would not significantly interfere with the parent-child relationship or the parent's authority. The judge looks at factors such as the child's age, the relationship and past contact with the grandparent, whether a parent has died, the child's preference, stability, and any sex offense conviction of the grandparent.

Custody by someone who is not a parent

A judge can give parental rights and responsibilities to a third person only after finding that giving them to either parent would put the child in jeopardy (as child protection law defines it). The judge can also give reasonable contact to a third person. A person who has acted as a full, committed parent (lived with the child, cared for the child, with a bond the other parent supported) can ask the court to declare them a de facto parent, which makes them a legal parent; this must be proven by clear and convincing evidence. Relatives can also ask for guardianship.

Custody and visitation in the order

Yes. A temporary PFA order made the same day without the other parent can include temporary parental rights and responsibilities. A final order can give temporary parental rights or contact, with conditions in the child's best interest. These awards do not bind a later divorce or custody case; that judge decides fresh. There is no filing fee for a PFA.