Bill
HB 120
Allows a minor who is the legal and custodial parent to file a child support action without a guardian or next friend.
Status & Key Dates
- Bill title: Family Law — Child Support — Capacity of Minors to File Action
- Sponsor: Delegate Taveras
- Assigned to: Judiciary Committee
- Hearing: 1/30 at 1:00 p.m. (as scheduled)
- Effective date (as drafted): October 1, 2025
Purpose / Intent
- The bill clarifies that a minor who is both the legal and custodial parent of a child has the capacity and the explicit right to file a child support action in Maryland courts. This applies to both temporary (pendente lite) and permanent child support actions.
What the bill does (primary provision)
- Adds Family Law §12–106 to the Annotated Code of Maryland, stating: “Notwithstanding Maryland Rule 2–202, a minor who is the legal and custodial parent of a child has the capacity and right to file an action for child support, whether pendente lite or permanently.”
- The language expressly overrides Maryland Rule 2–202 to the extent that rule would otherwise require a guardian, next friend, or court-appointed fiduciary for minors to sue.
Who is affected
- Directly: minors who are legal and custodial parents (i.e., under 18 who have legal custody of their child) — this group will be able to initiate child support proceedings on their own behalf without filing through a guardian or next friend.
- Indirectly: state and local courts (Family/Domestic Relations dockets), child support enforcement agencies, the Department of Human Services, custodial and noncustodial parents, and attorneys who handle child support matters.
Practical impacts
- Simplifies the procedural route for custodial minor-parents to obtain child support (may speed access to pendente lite relief and enforcement).
- May reduce need for next-friend or guardian filings in these specific cases; courts may still apply protective procedures as needed, but the bill removes the categorical inability for such minors to file.
- Does not create a new substantive child support standard — it is procedural (capacity to initiate suit), so determinations of support amounts, enforcement, and related substantive law remain governed by existing statutes and rules.
Fiscal impact
- Maryland Department of Legislative Services fiscal note: the bill does not materially affect State or local government operations or finances.
Context / Current law
- Maryland Rule 2–202 currently contemplates that minors (persons under disability) sue by guardian or next friend, and courts may issue protective orders for minors in litigation. This bill makes an explicit statutory exception for minors who are legal and custodial parents.
Notes for readers
- The bill is limited to minors who both are legal parents and have custody of the child; it does not broadly authorize all minors to sue in family-law matters.
- If enacted, the statute takes effect October 1, 2025 (per the draft).
Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.
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