Pursuant to Maryland law, there are two ways in which child support is calculated: primary physical custody to one parent, or shared physical custody between both parents. Beginning on October 1, 2020, the percentage of time a parent has physical custody of their children in order to be considered “shared” custody under the guidelines will decrease to 25% of the time (92 overnights). Child support is then calculated based on the percentage of time the children spend with each parent. Under the new law, if a parent has shared physical custody of their children more than 25% percent of the time (92 overnights), but less than 30% of the time (109 overnights), there are new calculations for each increment between 25% and 29%.
This law changes the number of overnights a parent needs to have “shared physical custody” by 36 overnights per year and will allow the parent having 92 or more overnights per year to get the benefit of paying shared physical custody child support guidelines (which are usually less than primary physical custody).
The new laws are not applied retroactively and only apply to cases filed after October 1, 2020.