You can file for child custody in Maryland online through the Maryland Electronic Courts (MDEC) system by registering on the Odyssey File & Serve portal, uploading your completed complaint and supporting forms as PDFs to the circuit court in the county where your child lives, and paying the $165 filing fee. Self-represented parents can choose between online and paper filing; attorneys must file electronically. The online route timestamps your submission the moment you hit submit and gives you an immediate digital record of everything the court has received.
Confirm Maryland Can Hear Your Case
Before you register for anything, check that a Maryland court actually has authority over your custody dispute. Maryland follows the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act. A Maryland court can make an initial custody decision only if Maryland is the child’s “home state,” meaning the child has lived here for at least six consecutive months before filing, or lived here within the last six months and a parent still resides in the state.1New York Codes, Rules and Regulations. Maryland Code Family Law 9.5-201 – Initial Child-Custody Jurisdiction If your child moved to Maryland recently, you may need to wait until that six-month mark.
Once jurisdiction is clear, you file in the circuit court for the county where the child lives. Most circuit courts are active on MDEC, but confirm yours is before you start.
Decide What You’re Asking For
The complaint form asks you to check boxes for the type of custody you want, so sort this out first. Legal custody is the authority to make major decisions about education, religion, and non-emergency medical care. Physical custody is where the child lives day to day; shared physical custody in Maryland means the child spends at least 35% of their time with each parent, which also affects child support calculations. You can ask for any combination — sole legal and sole physical, joint legal with primary physical to one parent, or joint everything.
The Forms You’ll Upload
Every Maryland custody filing begins with a packet of standardized forms, free to download from the Maryland Courts website. The core document is the Complaint for Custody (Form CC-DR-004), which asks you to identify both parents, list every child, specify the custody arrangement you want, and explain why it serves the child’s best interest.2Maryland Courts. Complaint for Custody This form is only for cases with no prior custody order in place.
Attach the following alongside it:
- Civil Domestic Case Information Report (Form CC-DCM-001), which helps the court classify and schedule your case.2Maryland Courts. Complaint for Custody
- A financial statement if you’re also requesting child support. Use Form CC-DR-030 when combined gross monthly income of both parents is $30,000 or less, and Form CC-DR-031 when it exceeds $30,000.2Maryland Courts. Complaint for Custody
The complaint also requires a five-year residency history for each child: every address the child has lived at and every person the child has lived with during that period.2Maryland Courts. Complaint for Custody You must also disclose any existing custody orders or pending cases involving the same children in any state. Missing this information can delay or dismiss your case.
Get Your PDFs Ready
MDEC only accepts PDF files. The court’s fillable forms are already PDFs, so completing them on your computer works. Paper documents should be scanned at 200 or 300 dpi and saved as PDFs.3Maryland Courts. Preparing to E-File Word files, images, and other formats will be rejected. Give each file a clear name — “Complaint for Custody,” “Financial Statement” — so the clerk can identify it during review.
Handle restricted information carefully. Financial statements in family cases, Social Security numbers, and financial account numbers all fall under Maryland’s restricted information rules.4Maryland Courts. The Restricted Information Form When a document contains a mix of restricted and non-restricted content, you must submit two versions: an unredacted copy labeled “unredacted — to be shielded,” and a redacted copy with the sensitive data removed.5New York Codes, Rules and Regulations. Maryland Rules, Rule 20-201.1 – Restricted Information Skip this step and the clerk will reject your filing.
Register on Odyssey File & Serve
You need an account on the Maryland Odyssey File & Serve portal to upload anything.6Maryland Courts. E-filing – How to Register Registration takes a working email address, which becomes your main channel for court notifications, and a valid credit card.7Maryland Courts. E-filing for Self-Represented Litigants You’ll identify yourself as a self-represented litigant during setup and build a payment profile even if you plan to request a fee waiver, because the system requires one to process the filing attempt.
Understand one commitment before you register. Once you e-file a single document as a self-represented litigant, Maryland Rule 20-106 requires you to e-file every document after that in the same case and in any future cases.7Maryland Courts. E-filing for Self-Represented Litigants8New York Codes, Rules and Regulations. Maryland Rules, Rule 20-106 – When Electronic Filing Required; Exceptions If you’d rather keep the option of filing on paper later, use the courthouse from the start.
The Filing Fee
The fee for a new custody case in a Maryland circuit court is $165.9New York Codes, Rules and Regulations. Maryland Court Fee Schedule If you can’t pay it, request a waiver using Form CC-DC-089 (Request for Waiver of Prepaid Costs) and file it with your custody complaint.10Maryland Courts. Request for Waiver of Prepaid Costs CC-DC-089 The court reviews your finances and decides. Domestic violence cases filed under Family Law Section 4-504 and certain child support proceedings handled through the Child Support Administration are automatically exempt from the fee.
Submitting the Filing
Log into Odyssey File & Serve and start a new case. Select the circuit court for the county where the child lives, choose “Domestic” as the case category, and pick “Custody” as the case type. The portal walks you through entering party information for yourself as the petitioner and the other parent as the respondent.
Upload your PDFs and assign each one a filing code so the clerk can tell what it is. The complaint is tagged as the initiating document; the case information report and financial statement attach alongside. Verify your payment or waiver selection and hit submit on the confirmation screen. The system stamps your submission with the exact time it arrives, and that timestamp is the official filing date.
You’ll receive an automatic email confirming receipt, followed by a second email telling you whether the clerk accepted or rejected the filing. Rejections usually come from formatting errors, missing forms, or improper handling of restricted information. Fix the problem and resubmit.
Serving the Other Parent
Filing does not notify the other parent. That’s a separate step called service of process, and until it’s completed the court will not schedule hearings or issue orders. After the clerk accepts your filing and the court issues a summons, you must arrange for the other parent to receive copies of everything you filed. Maryland Rule 2-121 allows three methods: hand-delivering the papers to the other parent, leaving them with a suitable adult at the other parent’s home, or sending them by certified mail with restricted delivery and a return receipt requested.11New York Codes, Rules and Regulations. Maryland Rules Rule 2-121 – Process – Service – In Personam
You cannot serve the papers yourself. Use a private process server, the sheriff’s office, or certified mail. Once service is complete, file an Affidavit of Service (Form CC-DR-056) through MDEC to prove the other parent received the documents.12Maryland Courts. Family Law Court Forms
If You’re Modifying an Existing Order
If a Maryland court has already entered a custody order and you want to change it, don’t use the Complaint for Custody. File a Petition to Modify Custody/Visitation using Form CC-DR-007 instead.13Maryland Courts. Petition to Modify Custody/Visitation CC-DR-007 The fee is $31 rather than $165.9New York Codes, Rules and Regulations. Maryland Court Fee Schedule File in the same circuit court that issued the original order. The MDEC upload process is otherwise the same. To succeed on a modification, you generally have to show a material change in circumstances since the last order.
Filing on an Emergency Basis
If your child faces an imminent risk of harm or the other parent is about to remove the child from the state, file a motion for emergency relief along with your custody complaint. Emergency motions must be written and supported by a verified affidavit laying out specific facts showing the danger. You’re generally required to give the other parent 24 hours’ notice before an emergency hearing, though exceptions exist in extreme situations.
A judge or magistrate reviews the motion, often within 24 business hours, and decides whether the facts rise to the level of an actual emergency. If they do, the court can enter a temporary order before the full case is heard. Emergency filings go through MDEC using the same upload process, but call the clerk’s office directly to flag the urgency so the request doesn’t sit in the queue.