Maine Child Custody Agreement
In Maine the deference a court owes your agreement turns on which of three statutory categories you agreed to, so the label you pick does real work.
Find out where you stand in Maine
Where are you with the custody arrangement?
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Introduction
Maine does not award custody. Title 19-A of the Maine statutes awards parental rights and responsibilities in one of three defined forms: shared, where most or all aspects of the child's welfare remain the joint responsibility and right of both parents and both parents confer and make joint decisions; allocated, where responsibilities for the various aspects of the child's welfare are divided so that the parent allocated a particular responsibility has the right to control that aspect; and sole, where one parent is granted exclusive parental rights and responsibilities as to all aspects. Which of those three you agree to decides how much weight your agreement carries. Under 19-A M.R.S. 1653(2)(A), when the parents have agreed to an award of shared parental rights and responsibilities, or so agree in open court, the court shall make that award unless there is substantial evidence that it should not be ordered, and the court shall state in its decision the reasons for not ordering it. No comparable clause applies to an agreement for allocated or sole parental rights and responsibilities. In every case the award is the court's to make, so the agreement is input to an order rather than an order in itself.
Key Things to Know
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The rule that matters is 19-A M.R.S. 1653(2)(A). When the parents have agreed to an award of shared parental rights and responsibilities, or so agree in open court, the court shall make that award unless there is substantial evidence that it should not be ordered. The same paragraph then requires the court to state in its decision the reasons for not ordering a shared award the parents agreed to. That is a mandatory verb with a narrow exit and a written explanation attached to it.
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Read the scope of that rule carefully, because it is where Maine parents go wrong. The mandate is written for agreements to shared parental rights and responsibilities only. If you agree instead to allocated parental rights and responsibilities, or to sole parental rights and responsibilities, 1653(2)(A) does not reach your agreement and the court applies the ordinary best interest standard in 1653(3). In Maine you buy deference by choosing the statutory category, not by agreeing as such.
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The three categories are defined at 19-A M.R.S. 1501. Shared, under 1501(5), means most or all aspects of the child's welfare remain the joint responsibility and right of both parents, who confer and make joint decisions. Allocated, under 1501(1), means responsibilities for the various aspects of the child's welfare are divided between the parents, exclusively or proportionately, with the parent allocated a particular responsibility having the right to control that aspect. Sole, under 1501(6), means one parent has exclusive parental rights and responsibilities as to all aspects.
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Maine's vocabulary is a genuine replacement, not a rename. Title 19-A does not define legal custody, physical custody, or joint custody, and in the chapter that decides these cases the word custody never names what the court awards. Time with a child is parent-child contact. Where the child lives is primary residence, or shared primary residential care where both parents share it. An agreement written in joint legal and joint physical custody language names nothing the Maine statute defines, so use the statutory terms.
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Maine has no parenting plan. There is no separate plan document the parents file, so generic parenting plan checklists do not apply here. What the statute prescribes instead is the contents of the court's order: 19-A M.R.S. 1653(2)(D) requires the order to state the allocation itself, and where shared rights are awarded, either primary residential care in one parent with parent-child contact to the other or shared primary residential care; contact conditions in cases involving domestic abuse; a child support provision or the reasons for not ordering support; a statement that each parent must have access to the child's medical, dental and school records and to information on school activities whether or not the child resides with that parent; a statement that violating the order may bring contempt and sanctions; and, for a shared award, a recital of the statutory definition of shared parental rights and responsibilities. 19-A M.R.S. 1653(14) adds a relocation notice requirement to every shared or allocated order.
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Mediation is compulsory, and the resulting agreement is still not self-executing. Under 19-A M.R.S. 251(2) the court shall refer the parties to mediation before a contested hearing where there are minor children, waivable only on affidavit showing extraordinary cause, and 251(4) allows sanctions for failing to mediate in good faith. But 251(3) requires an agreement reached in mediation to be reduced to writing, signed by the parties, and presented to the court for approval as a court order. Maine compels you into the process and then still requires a judge to sign off on what it produces.
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Domestic abuse operates as a hard gate in Maine, not as a presumption. Under 19-A M.R.S. 1653(6)(A) a court may award primary residence or parent-child contact to a parent who has committed domestic abuse only if it finds that contact is in the child's best interest and that adequate provision can be made for the safety of the child and of the victim parent. If it does, 1653(6) supplies a menu of conditions it may impose, including exchanges in a protected setting, supervised contact, and completion of a certified domestic abuse intervention program. Domestic abuse is also factor (L) in the best interest list, which directs that the other factors be considered in light of past or current abuse. If abuse is part of your situation, this belongs with a lawyer rather than on a form.
Key decisions before you file
Before you file a Child Custody Agreement in Maine, a few decisions shape the document: which option to choose and what each one means. The Child Custody Agreement guide walks through them.
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Maine Requirements for Child Custody Agreement
Where the parents have agreed to an award of shared parental rights and responsibilities, the court shall make that award unless there is substantial evidence that it should not be ordered, and shall state its reasons in the decision if it does not. Use the statutory phrase in the agreement.
Name the award as shared, allocated, or sole parental rights and responsibilities. The mandate in 1653(2)(A) is written for shared awards only, so an agreement to allocated or sole rights is reviewed under the ordinary best interest standard.
Where shared parental rights and responsibilities are awarded, the order must also provide either primary residential care in one parent with parent-child contact to the other, or shared primary residential care. Say which one you are asking for.
An order awarding shared parental rights and responsibilities must state the statutory definition in 1501(5), so the order tells both parents on its face that they confer and make joint decisions. Include that language in the agreement you submit.
The order must state that each parent has access to the child's medical, dental and school records and to information on school activities, whether or not the child resides with that parent, unless the court finds access contrary to the child's best interest or sought to cause detriment to the other parent.
The order must state that a violation may result in a finding of contempt and the imposition of sanctions under 1653(7). Carrying that statement into the agreement keeps the submitted document aligned with the order the court has to enter.
Notice must be given to the other parent at least 30 days before the intended relocation of a child, and every order awarding shared or allocated parental rights and responsibilities must require it. There is no distance threshold, and safety valves cover short-notice moves and cases where notifying the other parent would create danger.
Receipt of a relocation notice is itself a substantial change in circumstances, and 1657(2)(A-1) presumes disruption where the child moves more than 60 miles from either parent's residence. Expect that serving notice may prompt a motion to modify.
The court refers the parties to mediation before a contested hearing where there are minor children, waivable only on affidavit for extraordinary cause. An agreement reached in mediation must be reduced to writing, signed, and presented to the court for approval as a court order.
A court may award primary residence or parent-child contact to a parent who has committed domestic abuse only if it finds that contact is in the child's best interest and that adequate provision for the safety of the child and the victim parent can be made. This is a gate on the award, not a presumption to be rebutted.
Frequently Asked Questions
It depends on what you agreed to. Under 19-A M.R.S. 1653(2)(A), where the parents have agreed to an award of shared parental rights and responsibilities, or so agree in open court, the court shall make that award unless there is substantial evidence that it should not be ordered, and it must state its reasons in the decision if it refuses. That mandate is written for shared awards. An agreement to allocated or sole parental rights and responsibilities is not covered by it, and the court applies the ordinary best interest standard in 1653(3).
Yes. The award is always made by the court, not by the parents' signatures. A divorce court may make an award of parental rights and responsibilities under 19-A M.R.S. 1001, parents living apart may seek an award under 1654, and an existing order may be changed under 1657(1). Where the agreement came out of mediation, 19-A M.R.S. 251(3) requires it to be written down, signed, and presented to the court for approval as a court order. Until that happens it is not enforceable.
Not for what the court awards. Maine awards parental rights and responsibilities, and time with the child is called parent-child contact. Where the child lives is described as primary residence or primary physical residence, and 19-A M.R.S. 1653(2)(D)(1) also contemplates shared primary residential care. Title 19-A does not define legal custody, physical custody, or joint custody, so an agreement drafted in those terms does not line up with the statute.
Maine has no parenting plan instrument, and no plan document is filed. What the statute prescribes is what the court's order must contain, set out at 19-A M.R.S. 1653(2)(D) and 1653(14). Writing your agreement to match those required items is the practical equivalent, because it is the order that carries the terms.
19-A M.R.S. 1653(2)(D) requires the allocation itself and, where shared rights are awarded, either primary residential care in one parent with parent-child contact to the other or shared primary residential care; contact conditions in cases involving domestic abuse; a child support provision or a statement of the reasons for not ordering support; a statement that each parent must have access to the child's medical, dental and school records and to school activity information regardless of where the child lives; a statement that violation may bring contempt and sanctions; and, for a shared award, a recital of the statutory definition of shared parental rights and responsibilities. 19-A M.R.S. 1653(14) adds the relocation notice requirement.
Usually yes. 19-A M.R.S. 251(2) directs the court to refer the parties to mediation before a contested hearing where there are minor children of the parties, and a waiver requires an affidavit showing extraordinary cause. Under 251(4) a party who fails to make a good faith effort to mediate can face dismissal, a default judgment, fees, or another sanction. 19-A M.R.S. 1653(1)(A) states as policy that encouraging mediated resolutions of disputes between parents is in the best interest of minor children.
19-A M.R.S. 1653(3) lists nineteen factors, lettered (A) through (S), and the preamble directs that in decisions about residence and parent-child contact the court shall consider as primary the safety and well-being of the child. Factor (N) is an open catch-all covering all other factors having a reasonable bearing on the child's physical and psychological well-being, so the list is a floor rather than a closed set. Factor (L), the existence of domestic abuse between the parents, requires the other factors to be considered in light of that abuse. Factor (O), wilful misuse of the protection from abuse process for tactical advantage, carries its own clear and convincing evidence standard, and the voluntary dismissal of a protection from abuse petition may not on its own be treated as evidence of misuse.
19-A M.R.S. 1653(14) requires a parent to give the other parent notice at least 30 days before the intended relocation of a child, and every order awarding shared or allocated parental rights and responsibilities must contain that requirement. There is no distance threshold on the notice duty. If the move must happen sooner, notice is given as soon as possible, and if the relocating parent believes notifying the other parent would endanger that parent or the child, notice goes to the court instead. Note what follows: 19-A M.R.S. 1657(2)(A-2) makes receipt of that notice itself a substantial change in circumstances, and 1657(2)(A-1) presumes that moving the child more than 60 miles from either parent's residence disrupts parent-child contact, so serving notice can open the door to a motion to change the order.
19-A M.R.S. 1653(7) lets either parent petition for a hearing on noncompliance with an order issued under 1653(2). On finding a violation the court may hold the parent in contempt and may impose additional or more specific terms, order make-up visitation to take the place of visitation that was wrongfully denied, or order a parent found in contempt to pay a forfeiture of at least $100. The order itself has to warn about this, because 1653(2)(D)(5) requires a statement that violation may result in contempt and sanctions.