Parents everywhere are very concerned about how to best protect their child while abiding by the existing Court Order.
What if the other parent and I cannot agree on a temporary modification?
The Court Order still controls ... but ... can you and the other parent agree to modify the terms and the schedule in order to protect your child. If so, get the changes in writing and agree that these changes are only temporary. Put your differences aside and focus on protecting the health of your child.
To come to a mutual agreement you can attempt to talk it out, you can consult a trusted mutual friend, pastor, family member, etc. Or you can employ a trained and experienced mediator who is also a family law attorney or a retired judge. A mediator's job is help you hear one another, to help you come up with great ideas and options, The mediator may also be able to give you an idea of what other parents and Courts are doing in this crisis. Please know that your child is also worried and the child wants to see both of you soon and often.
What is a reasonable adjustment to our schedule?
Anything that increases the chance of your child staying safe and healthy while still allowing a lot of time with both parents. But this depends on your unique situation.
How far away do you live from one another? Public transportation (air, rail, bus) is very risky because it over exposes your child to the public. Does one parent live in a COVID "hotbed" or has s/he recently returned from such a place (ex: New York City). Does your child have a compromised immune system and/or respiratory problems? Does one household have an occupant who is already sick with COVID? Or perhaps the child shouldn't go to the 2nd parent's house if that house has another person who is in fragile health.
There are some ways to mitigate the affects of not being able to maintain the current schedule -- and I strongly advise you to do everything you can to do so because (1) it is best for your child and (2) it is best for YOU if you have to defend your actions in Court later. DO allow frequent telephone and video contact. This applies to other family members as well since your child will want to see them and check on them - especially older family members. Allow your child to play on-line games with the other parent. If possible allow outdoor contact with the other parent albeit it a distance. Maybe the other parent can come over to see the child in your yard. Can the child do an activity like kick a soccer ball around or play lacrosse catch (two activities without hand contact to the ball). When it gets warmer they can squirt each other with water/squirt guns. Maybe they can play corn hole (gloves may be best) since the beanbags are made of cloth.
If the child is still going back and forth it could be better to switch to a week-on and week-off scenario or a lesser amount of days (ex: 3-4) in order to decrease the transitions between houses.
Do I need to quarantine my child for 14 days after they come from the other parent?
Almost definitely not ... unless ... they were exposed to someone who was diagnosed with COVID. You may want to quarantine you child if your ex was so reckless as to take the child to a large gathering of people where they are standing close together. (church, concert, sporting event).
We can tell you that a 14 day quarantine is NOT required just because the child went out of state - that is not a hard and fast rule. I would NOT advise my client to do that and I do not think I could defend that in Court. Traveling from Maryland to Virginia, while technically out-of-state, is a daily commute for 1,000s of people. We are separated by the Potomac River so a child visiting homes in Northern Virginia and Central Maryland is no different than a child traveling between homes in the Baltimore area and inside the Capital Beltway. What matters more is “how” both houses handle COVID and how each act keep the child and themselves safe.
Instead, of fighting over this and trying to establish which house is the safer alternative, can you agree on a shared procedure to decrease the chance of infecting both households. I know that this type of conversation is intrusive to what happens inside your own house but to protect your child you could both agree on some minimum safety procedures. For example, your child cannot play with neighborhood kids, social distancing when out of the house and wearing facemasks (not N-95 masks if you are not a health care worker), a lot of hand washing, disinfecting hard surfaces that are touched a lot, and changing clothes before the child enters your house from the last house and showering so as not to track in COVID. Doing so can significantly improve the safety of everyone. The CDC (www.cdc.gov) says these precautions save lives but these are just ideas, I am not an infectious disease expert, but you can both access guidelines on the internet. If one of you is being patently unsafe, or if the child has at-risk conditions then maybe you consider altering the arrangement and in extreme situations you may have to consider breaking the Court Order to protect your child. If you truly think that this is your situation then I strongly suggest that you consult an experienced attorney with reasonable judgment not a win-at-all costs litigator. Our attorneys are experienced and award-winning custody attorneys who are respected by the Bench. We can assist you come up with a solution and/or protect yourself and the child in a way that comports with the Law and how the Judges want you to handle this horrible situation.
What about child support?
This is a tough one.
If you are so lucky that both parents are still fully employed, then you could contact an attorney to run the Maryland Child Support Guidelines to temporarily adjust the amount of support based on a different, albeit temporary, physical schedule.
If one of you has a decrease income during COVIDor if the daycare costs is gone or reduced, you could also recalculate the child support also. You may want to wait a month or so before making temporary changes. In all things, please be reasonable.
But without a change that is agreed upon in writing (even email) the payor parent must keep paying child support per the Court Order. If the payor's income is garnished, you may see a reduction in support because by law the garnishment can only be up to 50% of his income although child support arrears will increase.
Our Office can assist with this and we can do so very quickly which will keep those costs down.
