Reply to Maryland custody arrangements -- what's likely?

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[quote=Anonymous]Friend  separated from husband almost exactly one year ago.  Filed for divorce 6 mos. ago.  They have sought an interim custody/support order.... hasn't happened yet, but is scheduled in a few months.

Before the separation, and in some ways the impetus for it, H (husband) treated the two kids badly in anger/frustration.  H hit one kid with a metal instrument and kicked the other on an earlier date.  The kids are in elem school.  Before the separation, H had very little interest in spending time with the kids -- rarely if every went to their games/practices, would require them all to stay up and wait for him to get home every night to have dinner at 8:00 or 9:00, etc.  Now that W (wife) and kids are gone, H has taken some version of anger management classes and become an assistant coach for teams, and wants to spend lots and lots of time with the kids.  H has made efforts to be a better dad since the separation.

Over the past year, H has had custody/visitation of every other weekend (fri-sun overnights) and every Wed evening (not overnight).  H has continued to insist that he needs more time with the kids and argues that W is abusive to the kids by not re-assembling the family (i.e. moving back).  H talks about the family being "broken" to the kids and tells W that she is sinning by not coming back.  H will not agree to letting the kids go to counselling unless it is with a "christian" counselling group (one that rejects divorce as an option).  So the kids haven't been to counselling.

H is not happy with only seeing the kids every other weekend and on Wed evenings. He has created a new custody schedule whereby he has the kids for a couple of days, then they switch back to W for a night or two, then back to him, etc. etc.  It requires one to map out his plan on a calendar to figure out which days the kids would be where.  Multiple switches during any week.... but supposedly it would involve 50% of time at each parent's home.  He is implementing it whenever he has the kids (i.e. keeping them overnight on Wed. even though W has not agreed to this and the kids do not have the things they need for the next day).  Since there is no court-ordered custody, each parent currently has equal rights to the kids.

My question to DCUM is what kind of custody arrangement do you think a judge in Md. would set up?  Do they ever make the kids switch back and forth (even week by week) to ensure that each parent gets 50% of the kids' time?  Or do the judges place weight on minimizing the switching for the kids -- even if that means one parent gets less than 50% of the kids' out-of-school time?[/quote]

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