In the past few years, the Maryland Legislature and the Maryland State Bar Association have been hard at work revamping and modernizing Maryland law controlling divorces, child custody and access, and child support. The 2025 legislative season brought about several game-changing adjustments in Maryland family law. Look for more posts from SmollonLaw to further highlight those changes. This post takes a look at a major change in child support calculation.
Effective October 1, 2025 child support calculations MAY include an allowance for each child living in a parent’s home if 1) the parent owes a legal duty of support to that child and 2) if the child spends more than 92 overnights per year in the parent’s home.
This means that Moms and Dads who have an older or younger child from a previous or subsequent relationship living in their home for at least 92 overnights per year will be able to ask the Court to give them some credit for the child rearing costs they are incurring when calculating child support.
This is ground-breaking. For decades, parents have been raising this issue and Judges and lawyers have had to tell them that per Maryland law the cost of supporting their other children was irrelevant.
However, proceed with caution. The credit will not be an automatic factor in the calculation of child support. In every case dealing with children, the child’s best interest is an ever-present and over-arching principle. Parents should always be mindful that it is the child’s right; not the parent’s right, to receive child support.
Therefore, the Court will be allowed to refuse to include the credit in the child support calculation if the Court believes that including the credit will be unjust or inappropriate after weighing the evidence and considering the best interest of the child who would be receiving the child support.
It is always best practice to hire counsel to assist in navigating the many in’s and out’s of family law litigation. At SmollonLaw we are here to help. Call or email when you need help with family law.
