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SB 548

Relating to marriage.

2025 Regular Session Introduced by Tom Andersen and 49 co-sponsors

SB 548 codifies custody factors and requires explicit findings on the record, boosting transparency, consistency, and child-centered outcomes in Maryland.

Effective date, January 1, 2026.
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Bill Summary · SB 548

SB 548 — Family Law: Child Custody — Determinations (Ch. 484, 2025)

Status: Approved by the Governor (Chapter 484). Signed May 13, 2025. Effective October 1, 2025.
Introduced: February 20, 2025.

Main purpose / intent

SB 548 codifies in Maryland statute a detailed set of factors that courts may consider when determining legal and physical custody in child custody and visitation proceedings, and it establishes standards for modifying existing custody/visitation orders. The statute is intended to make judicial custody determinations more transparent, consistent, and child‑centered by requiring explicit findings on the record (or in writing).

Key provisions

  • Adds Subtitle 2, “Legal and Physical Custody — Judicial Determinations” (Family Law §§ 9‑201 and 9‑202).
  • Enumerates factors the court may consider when deciding what custody arrangement is in the child’s best interest, including (non‑exhaustive list):
    • Stability and foreseeable health and welfare of the child;
    • Frequent, regular, continuing contact with parents who can act in the child’s best interest;
    • How parents not living together will share rights/responsibilities;
    • Child’s relationships with parents, siblings, relatives, and other important persons;
    • Protection from exposure to conflict and violence;
    • Developmental needs (safety, emotional security, self‑image, interpersonal and cognitive development);
    • Day‑to‑day needs (education, socialization, culture/religion, food, shelter, health);
    • Age of the child and effect of any parental military deployment;
    • Prior court orders/agreements; parents’ roles and how they have changed; geographic considerations for coordinating parenting time; parents’ ability to co‑parent and resolve disputes without court intervention;
    • The child’s preference, when age‑appropriate; and any other factor the court deems appropriate.
  • Requirement that the court “articulate its findings of fact on the record or in a written opinion,” including consideration of each listed factor and any additional factors relied upon.
  • Authorizes modification of custody or visitation orders when: (1) there has been a material change in circumstances since the prior order relating to the child’s needs or the parents’ ability to meet them, and (2) modification is in the child’s best interest. A parent’s proposal to relocate in a way that would make physical custody impracticable is explicitly treated as a material change of circumstances.
  • Existing statutory protections regarding abuse, neglect, and bars on custody for certain homicide convictions (Family Law §§ 9‑101, 9‑101.1, 9‑101.2) remain in force and are incorporated by reference.

Who is affected

  • Maryland trial courts and judges making custody determinations.
  • Parents, guardians, children, family law practitioners, mediators and custody evaluators.
  • May affect court clerks and recordkeeping because of the new requirement for articulated findings.

Procedural/timing notes and likely impact

  • Effective date: October 1, 2025.
  • The law largely codifies factors already considered in case law and local rules, but it formalizes them statutorily and requires explicit findings — likely increasing transparency and reducing variability in rulings.
  • May produce modest administrative effects (more detailed written/oral findings), but no substantive fiscal impact is indicated in the legislative history. The change could influence appellate review by providing clearer grounds for assessing trial court decisions.

Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.

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