Maine Child Custody Laws for Unmarried Parents

Under Maine child custody laws for unmarried parents, the non-birth parent has no automatic rights until legal parentage is formally established, and once it is, either parent can ask the court for “parental rights and responsibilities” (Maine’s term for custody) that a judge will allocate based on the best interest of the child. The same best-interest standard applies whether the parents were ever married or not, but unmarried parents have an extra step at the front: proving the legal parent-child relationship before the court will hear anything about where the child lives or who makes decisions.

Step One: Establish Legal Parentage

A biological connection by itself does not give you standing to file for custody time or decision-making authority in Maine. Until parentage is legally recognized, a non-birth parent cannot petition for parental rights, and a birth parent cannot obtain child support against the other parent. The Maine Parentage Act, at 19-A M.R.S. §§ 1831–1939, provides several routes.¹

Voluntary Acknowledgment of Parentage

The simplest route is signing a Voluntary Acknowledgment of Parentage. Both parents sign the form, usually at the hospital shortly after the child is born, and it is filed with Maine’s Office of Vital Records.² Once filed, it carries the same legal force as a court order of parentage. If a presumed parent exists who is not the biological parent, that person must also sign a denial of parentage before the acknowledgment takes effect. For most unmarried fathers, signing this form at the hospital is the single most protective step they can take.

Presumed Parentage

Under 19-A M.R.S. § 1881, a person who was never married to the birth parent can still be recognized as a presumed parent if they lived with the child continuously from birth, openly treated the child as their own, and took on personal and financial responsibility for the child for at least two years.³ Each of those conditions must be met. Someone who moved in when the child was six months old would not qualify, because the residence has to run from birth or adoption.

De Facto Parentage

Maine recognizes de facto parentage for a person who has stepped fully into a parental role without a biological tie. Under 19-A M.R.S. § 1891, the court can adjudicate someone a de facto parent if they prove by clear and convincing evidence that they lived with the child for a significant period, provided consistent day-to-day care, formed a bonded parental relationship that was fostered by one of the child’s legal parents, and took on the role without expecting payment.⁴ The court must also find that continuing the relationship serves the child’s best interest.

Court-Ordered Genetic Testing

When biological parentage is disputed, a parent or a child support enforcement agency can ask the court to order DNA testing under 19-A M.R.S. § 1911. The request must be supported by a sworn statement laying out a good-faith basis for the claim or denial.⁵ A person who refuses a court-ordered test can have the court rule against them on that refusal alone. A legally admissible DNA test generally costs between $350 and $500 through accredited laboratories.

What “Custody” Is Called in Maine

Maine’s statutes do not use the word “custody.” The law refers to “parental rights and responsibilities,” which covers both decision-making authority and where the child physically lives. Under 19-A M.R.S. § 1653, a court can structure these rights in three ways.⁶

Shared parental rights and responsibilities. Both parents have equal say in major decisions such as education, healthcare, and religious upbringing. When both parents agree to shared rights, the court will approve the arrangement unless substantial evidence shows it would not serve the child’s interests. Shared rights can mean one primary residence with contact time for the other parent, or a schedule that splits primary residential care between both homes.

Sole parental rights and responsibilities. One parent holds exclusive authority over all significant decisions. Courts reserve this for situations where shared decision-making is impractical or harmful.

Allocated parental rights and responsibilities. The court divides specific decision-making areas between the parents. One parent may control medical decisions while the other handles education, for example.

Every order also specifies the child’s primary physical residence and the schedule of time with each parent, no matter which decision-making structure the judge chooses.

How a Judge Decides: Best Interest of the Child

Every parental rights decision runs through the same filter: the best interest of the child. Section 1653 lists 19 factors (labeled A through S) that a judge must consider, with the child’s safety and well-being as the primary concern.⁶ Factors that carry the most weight in practice include:

The child’s age and existing bonds with each parent or caregiver.
How well the child has adjusted to their current home, school, and community.
Each parent’s capacity to cooperate and to support the child’s relationship with the other parent. A parent who undermines contact does not get credit for it.
Any history of domestic abuse between the parents, including its effect on the child, and whether a parent has misused protection-from-abuse proceedings for tactical advantage.
The child’s preference, when the child is old enough to express a meaningful one.
Whether a child under one year old is being breastfed.
Criminal history of anyone residing with a parent, including sex offenses.

Judges have wide discretion in balancing these factors. No single factor is automatically decisive, and the statute also lets the court weigh “all other factors having a reasonable bearing on the physical and psychological well-being of the child.”

Filing the Case

To open a case, you file a Complaint for Determination of Parentage, Parental Rights and Responsibilities, and Child Support (Form FM-006), along with the Family and Probate Matters Summary Sheet (Form FM-002) and, because minor children are involved, the Child Support Affidavit (Form FM-050).⁷ Forms are available from the Maine Judicial Branch website or any District Court clerk’s office. The complaint asks about the child’s current living situation, both parents’ identifying information, and the relief you want.

The filing fee is $120.⁸ If you cannot afford it, file an Application to Proceed Without Payment of Fees (Form CV-067) with a financial affidavit, and the court will decide whether to waive the fee.

After filing, the other parent must be formally served with copies of the complaint and summons. Maine Rule of Civil Procedure 4(f)(2) allows service in family matters by registered or certified mail with restricted delivery and a return receipt requested.⁹ Service can also be done in person through a sheriff’s deputy or someone specially appointed by the court. Service is complete when the receipt is signed, or, if the other parent refuses the mail, when you follow up with ordinary mail and file an affidavit documenting the refusal.

Case Management and Mandatory Mediation

Once service is proven, the court schedules a Case Management Conference run by a Family Law Magistrate. The magistrate explains the process, identifies issues the parents already agree on, enters any needed interim orders covering parental rights, child support, or use of the family home, and maps out how remaining disputes will be resolved.¹⁰

If the parents cannot settle on their own, the court will order mediation before any contested hearing. Under 19-A M.R.S. § 251, mediation is mandatory in cases involving minor children unless a party shows extraordinary cause for a waiver, such as domestic violence.¹¹ The court can still hear emergency motions before mediation begins when good cause is shown. Skipping ordered mediation will stall your case.

Child Support Is Decided at the Same Time

Child support is almost always resolved in the same proceeding that establishes parentage and parental rights. Maine uses an income shares model under 19-A M.R.S. § 2006, so both parents’ incomes feed the calculation.¹²

The court combines both parents’ annual gross incomes and looks up the base support amount on the Maine Child Support Table. Gross income includes wages, self-employment earnings, bonuses, dividends, pensions, Social Security, disability payments, and spousal support received from someone other than the other parent. Public assistance like TANF, SSI, and SNAP does not count. The table amount is then divided between the parents in proportion to each one’s share of the combined income, and the parent who does not provide primary residential care pays their share in money. Add-ons increase the base: childcare costs for children under 12, the cost of adding the child to a parent’s health insurance, and extraordinary medical expenses for chronic or recurring conditions. When both parents share roughly equal residential care, a separate formula adjusts the figure. Parents use Maine Child Support Worksheet Form FM-040 to run the numbers.

Support obligations end when the child turns 18, with one automatic extension: if the child is still enrolled in secondary school at age 18, support continues until the child graduates, drops out, is expelled, or turns 19, whichever happens first. Support ends earlier if the child marries, joins the military, or is emancipated by court order. Maine courts cannot order a parent to pay college expenses, and there is no statutory provision extending support for adult children with disabilities.

If a parent does not pay, Maine’s Division of Support Enforcement and Recovery within the Department of Health and Human Services can withhold wages, seize bank accounts when the debt exceeds $500 and is at least 60 days overdue, intercept state and federal tax refunds, place liens on property, revoke driver’s and professional licenses, and report the debt to credit bureaus.¹³ The receiving parent can also file a Motion for Contempt independently.

Moving With the Child After an Order

Once a shared or allocated parental rights order is in place, a parent who intends to relocate with the child must give the other parent at least 30 days’ written notice.⁶ If the move must happen in fewer than 30 days, notice is required as soon as possible. A parent who believes direct notice would create a safety risk can instead notify the court, which then arranges notice in a way designed to protect the relocating parent and child.

A move of more than 60 miles from either parent’s current residence is presumed to disrupt the existing contact schedule, and moving out of state while the other parent remains in Maine is specifically identified as a substantial change in circumstances.¹⁴ Either triggers the other parent’s right to petition for modification, and the court will apply the same best-interest factors to decide whether the move or the parenting arrangement should change.

Changing an Existing Order

Either parent can later petition to modify parental rights and responsibilities, but only by showing a substantial change in circumstances since the last order.¹⁵ A significant income change, a relocation, a shift in the child’s needs, or a safety concern can all qualify. The court then evaluates the request using the same best-interest factors it applied the first time. Being unhappy with the current arrangement is not enough on its own; something has to have genuinely changed.

1
Maine State Legislature. Maine Code 19-A 1851 – Establishment of Parentage
2
Maine Center for Disease Control. Paternity and Parental Rights
3
Maine State Legislature. Maine Code 19-A 1881 – Presumption of Parentage
4
Maine State Legislature. Maine Code 19-A 1891 – De Facto Parentage
5
Maine State Legislature. Maine Code 19-A 1911 – Court Order for Testing
6
Maine State Legislature. Maine Code Title 19-A 1653 – Parental Rights and Responsibilities
7
Maine Judicial Branch. Court Process in a Family Matters Case
8
Maine Judicial Branch. Court Fees Schedule
9
Maine Judicial Branch. Maine Rules of Civil Procedure Rule 4
10
Maine State Legislature. Maine Family Law Advisory Commission Report to Maine Legislature
11
Maine Legislature. Maine Code Title 19-A 251 – Mediation
12
Maine State Legislature. Maine Code 19-A 2006 – Support Guidelines
13
Maine Judicial Branch. Child Support
14
Maine State Legislature. Maine Code Title 19-A 1657 – Modification or Termination of Orders for Parental Rights and Responsibilities
15
Maine Judicial Branch. Changing or Enforcing a Final Order in a Family Matters Case