A parenting schedule established by a Maryland custody order is not optional. When a court awards a parent specific parenting time, the other parent generally cannot decide on their own that the scheduled time will no longer occur.

Yet interference with parenting time can take many forms. One parent may repeatedly refuse exchanges, schedule activities during the other parent’s time, make a child unavailable for visits, interfere with required phone or video contact, or create other obstacles that prevent the parenting schedule from working as ordered.

Maryland courts have several tools available when a parent unjustifiably denies or interferes with court-ordered visitation or parenting time. Depending on the circumstances, a court may order make-up time, impose additional requirements, award attorney’s fees, address violations through contempt proceedings, or consider the parent’s conduct when determining whether custody arrangements should change. Maryland law specifically authorizes several remedies for unjustified interference with visitation.

If another parent is interfering with your court-ordered time with your child, understanding what conduct matters and what evidence you should preserve can be important before returning to court.

What Counts as Interference With Parenting Time?

Maryland uses the term parenting time, also called physical custody, to describe where a child lives and how much time the child spends with each parent. Interference does not necessarily have to involve a parent explicitly saying, “You cannot see the child.” Depending on the terms of the custody order and circumstances, problematic conduct might include:

  • Refusing to release the child for scheduled parenting time
  • Repeatedly canceling visits without adequate justification
  • Consistently arriving so late that the other parent’s time is substantially reduced
  • Picking up a child during the other parent’s scheduled time without authorization
  • Scheduling vacations or activities that conflict with the parenting schedule
  • Refusing to follow holiday or summer schedules
  • Preventing court-ordered telephone or video communication
  • Making a child unavailable at the designated exchange location
  • Refusing to provide information necessary for an exchange
  • Taking the child elsewhere during the other parent’s scheduled time
  • Creating new conditions for parenting time that are not contained in the custody order

The exact language of the custody order matters. Before alleging that the other parent violated an order, it is important to determine what the order actually requires.

An Occasional Scheduling Problem Is Different From a Pattern

Family life does not always follow a perfect schedule. A sick child, genuine emergency, severe weather event, unexpected transportation problem, or mutually agreed schedule change does not necessarily mean that one parent is improperly interfering with the other’s relationship with the child. Courts can distinguish ordinary parenting complications from repeated or intentional noncompliance.

A pattern may become much more significant when one parent repeatedly prevents the other from exercising parenting time despite a clear court order.

For example, there is an important difference between:

“Our child has a fever, so can we exchange tomorrow instead?”

and:

“I decided the child doesn’t want to go, so you aren’t getting your weekend.”

Context, frequency, the language of the custody order, and the parent’s explanation can all matter.

What Does Maryland Law Say About Interference With Visitation?

Maryland Family Law § 9-105 directly addresses unjustifiable denial or interference with visitation granted by a custody or visitation order.

If the court finds that a party has unjustifiably denied or interfered with visitation, the statute currently allows the court, consistent with the child’s best interests, to take one or more specified actions:

  1. Reschedule the visitation;
  2. Modify the custody or visitation order by adding terms or conditions intended to ensure future compliance; and
  3. Assess costs or counsel fees against the party responsible for the unjustified interference.

Those remedies give courts considerable flexibility. The objective is not simply to punish one parent. The court must act consistently with the best interests of the child.

Courts Can Award Make-Up Parenting Time

One of the most straightforward remedies is rescheduling the parenting time that was wrongfully denied.

Suppose a parent was entitled to have the children for several weekends but the other parent refused to permit the exchanges. A court can address that lost access by ordering replacement parenting time. Make-up time can be especially important because simply telling a parent to comply in the future does not restore time that has already been lost. If you are documenting denied parenting time, keep track of the specific dates and amount of time missed. That information can help establish both the pattern of interference and the extent of the lost parenting time.

The Court Can Add More Specific Requirements to the Custody Order

Sometimes interference reveals that an existing custody order leaves too much room for conflict. Maryland law permits a court that finds unjustifiable interference to modify the custody or visitation order by imposing additional terms or conditions designed to promote future compliance. For example, depending on the circumstances, a more detailed order might establish clearer:

  • Pickup and drop-off times
  • Exchange locations
  • Holiday schedules
  • Summer vacation procedures
  • Transportation responsibilities
  • Communication expectations
  • Notice requirements
  • Procedures for schedule changes

Specificity can become especially important in high-conflict custody cases. An order stating that parents should arrange time “as agreed” may create opportunities for continuing disagreement. A detailed schedule can reduce the number of issues that require ongoing negotiation.

Interfering With Summer and Vacation Time Can Matter Too

Parenting-time disputes do not only involve ordinary weekends. Summer vacations, school breaks, birthdays, and holidays can become major sources of conflict, particularly when parents attempt to schedule activities during time assigned to the other parent.

In one Maryland appellate case, the court addressed findings that parents had selected summer vacation schedules in ways that maximized their own parenting time at the other’s expense. The circuit court ultimately established a fixed summer schedule intended to ensure that both parents received time with the children, and the appellate court concluded that the requirements of § 9-105 had been satisfied.

The lesson for parents is important: do not treat the other parent’s court-ordered time as available simply because you would prefer to schedule something else.

Can a Parent Be Held in Contempt for Violating a Custody Order?

A parent may ask a Maryland court to address an alleged violation of an existing court order through a petition for contempt.

Maryland Courts provides Form CC-DR-112, Petition for Contempt, specifically for telling the court about a violation of an existing court order. Contempt proceedings are fact-specific. The parent seeking enforcement generally needs to establish the relevant order and the alleged failure to comply with it.

This is one reason a detailed custody order can be so important. The clearer the obligation, the easier it may be to establish what each parent was actually required to do.

Can Parenting-Time Interference Affect Custody?

Potentially, yes. A parent’s behavior surrounding parenting time can become relevant to broader custody questions, particularly when the conduct demonstrates an ongoing inability or unwillingness to support the child’s relationship with the other parent.

Maryland’s parenting-plan framework specifically identifies frequent, regular, and continuing contact with parties who can act in the child’s best interest as one consideration relevant to determining parenting arrangements. That does not mean a single missed exchange will cause a parent to lose custody. A substantial, documented pattern of intentionally undermining court-ordered parenting time, however, is much more serious.

In a recent unreported Maryland appellate decision, for example, a trial court found that a mother’s interference with the father’s parenting time harmed the child and reflected negatively on her parental fitness. The court ultimately changed primary physical and legal custody, and the appellate opinion described those findings when reviewing the case. Because the opinion is unreported, it should not be treated as binding precedent, but it demonstrates how severe and persistent interference can become part of a broader custody analysis.

What If the Child Says They Do Not Want to Go?

This can be one of the most difficult situations for parents. A child’s reluctance to visit the other parent does not necessarily give a parent unilateral authority to disregard an existing custody order.

The circumstances matter enormously. A young child’s reluctance at an exchange presents a very different situation from a teenager expressing serious concerns. Allegations involving abuse, neglect, threats, substance abuse, or an immediate safety issue require particular care.

If there is a legitimate reason to believe that following the existing order could endanger the child, a parent should obtain legal advice promptly about the appropriate way to seek court intervention rather than simply assuming that the existing order can be ignored indefinitely.

What If You Believe the Other Parent Is Unsafe?

Parenting-time enforcement should not be confused with situations involving genuine safety concerns. If circumstances have changed and you believe the existing parenting arrangement places the child at risk, there may be legal procedures available to ask the court to modify custody or parenting time. The important distinction is between seeking a lawful change to the custody arrangement and simply deciding not to comply with an existing court order. Depending on the urgency and circumstances, an attorney can help determine what relief should be requested and how quickly the matter can be brought before the court.

Can a Parent Interfere Without Completely Denying a Visit?

Yes. Complete denial is not the only possible form of interference. Consider a parenting order that gives one parent every other weekend from Friday evening through Sunday evening.

The other parent technically allows every visit but repeatedly:

  • Delivers the child several hours late
  • Demands an early return
  • Schedules activities during the weekend
  • Makes exchanges unnecessarily difficult
  • Creates conditions that are not contained in the court order

A court may look at the practical effect of the conduct rather than simply whether some parenting time occurred. Maryland’s statute expressly addresses both denial and interference, reflecting that the issue can extend beyond completely preventing contact.

What About Phone Calls, FaceTime, and Other Communication?

Modern custody orders may address communication between children and a parent when the child is physically with the other parent. If an order specifically guarantees telephone, video, or other contact, repeatedly preventing that communication can become another compliance issue. Parents should review the exact terms of their order before assuming a particular amount or type of communication is required. If the existing order says very little about communication and it has become a persistent source of conflict, more specific provisions may be worth addressing through an agreement or request for modification.

Document Every Instance of Interference

If parenting-time interference becomes a pattern, documentation can be extremely important. Keep a chronological record that identifies:

  • The scheduled parenting time
  • The date and time the exchange should have occurred
  • What actually happened
  • How much parenting time was lost
  • The explanation the other parent provided
  • Whether make-up time was offered
  • Relevant text messages or emails
  • Attempts you made to resolve the issue
  • Witnesses who were present for an exchange
  • Other facts directly related to the incident

Keep the documentation factual.

A record stating, “August 14: Pickup scheduled for 6 p.m. I arrived at 5:55. At 6:10, I received a text stating that the children would not be coming. No make-up date was offered,” is generally more useful than a long entry describing how terrible you believe the other parent is.

Preserve Written Communications

Texts, emails, messages through parenting applications, and other written communications can help establish what happened.

Preserve messages showing:

  • Refused exchanges
  • Canceled parenting time
  • Reasons given for cancellations
  • Requests for make-up time
  • Attempts to change the schedule
  • Threats to withhold parenting time
  • Statements about refusing to follow the order
  • Your efforts to resolve the problem

Avoid turning those communications into arguments. Assume that messages exchanged during a serious custody dispute could eventually be reviewed by attorneys, custody professionals, or a judge.

Do Not Retaliate by Violating the Order Yourself

If the other parent withheld your weekend, withholding their next weekend may seem fair. It can also create another violation. Two parents independently rewriting the custody order can make an already difficult enforcement dispute substantially more complicated.

Continue following your own obligations unless your attorney or the court advises otherwise. Document the violation, request appropriate make-up time, and use the legal process when informal attempts at resolution fail.

Do Not Use Child Support as Leverage

Parenting time and child support are separate legal obligations. A parent should not assume that missed parenting time permits them to stop paying court-ordered child support. Likewise, a dispute over unpaid child support does not automatically authorize the other parent to withhold court-ordered parenting time. Each issue has its own enforcement mechanisms.

What Evidence Will a Maryland Court Consider?

Every custody dispute is different, but potentially relevant evidence may include:

  • The current custody and parenting-time order
  • Parenting plans
  • Calendars
  • Emails
  • Text messages
  • Parenting-app records
  • School schedules
  • Travel records
  • Exchange records
  • Witness testimony
  • Prior court filings and orders
  • Evidence concerning the reasons for missed parenting time

The court will be concerned not only with whether time was missed, but also why it was missed and whether the interference was unjustified.

What Should You Do Before Going Back to Court?

If circumstances permit, begin by reading your custody order carefully. Determine exactly what it requires regarding parenting time, exchanges, holidays, transportation, communication, and schedule changes. Then document the specific violations. If communication with the other parent is appropriate and safe, written requests to follow the existing schedule or provide make-up time may also establish that you attempted to resolve the problem.

When interference continues or becomes serious, speak with a Maryland family law attorney about the appropriate enforcement or modification strategy.

When Parenting-Time Interference Becomes a Larger Custody Problem

Occasional disagreements over schedules are common after separation and divorce. Persistent interference is different.

A child should not repeatedly lose court-ordered time with a parent because the adults cannot resolve their disagreements. Maryland’s custody framework focuses on the child’s best interests, including considerations related to maintaining important relationships and continuing contact.

Repeated interference may therefore become relevant beyond the individual weekends or holidays that were lost. It can raise broader questions about whether the existing custody arrangement is functioning and whether additional safeguards are necessary.

Talk to a Maryland Child Custody Attorney About Parenting-Time Interference

If another parent is repeatedly interfering with court-ordered parenting time, you do not necessarily have to accept the lost time or continually renegotiate an order that is already in place. Maryland law provides remedies when a court determines that parenting time has been unjustifiably denied or interfered with, including rescheduled visitation, additional conditions designed to ensure compliance, and potentially costs or attorney’s fees. Other legal remedies may also be available depending on the circumstances. Blackford Law can review your existing custody order, evaluate the history of interference, and help determine the appropriate way to address continuing parenting-time problems.

If you are dealing with denied visitation, custody-order violations, parenting-time interference, or another Maryland child custody dispute, contact Blackford Law to discuss your situation.