Legal Resources

The Children's Rights Fund advocates for shared parenting (joint custody) so that children of separated, divorced and never-married families will have two parents in their lives -- this would extend to children of same-sex couples. The Fund provides parents with resources to obtain low-cost attorneys and mediators to help resolve their matters concerning "legal decision making" and "parenting time" (custody/visitation).

Many parents have salaries that exceed the qualifications to be eligible for Legal Aid or other low-cost legal services, however they do not earn enough to afford the cost of an attorney at regular rates, that may cost as much as $300 or more per hour. The Children's Rights Fund is currently working with attorneys in Maryland that can provide help to these parents at a more reasonable cost or reduced rate.

This help would be for families involved in custody or access (visitation) issues. The CRF's focus is on the children. We want to help demilitarize divorce/custody conflict and keep children out of the middle of custody battles.

Our network of attorneys will generally seek to resolve differences first with a shared parenting plan, without going to court. Litigation will be made available where needed, should funding permit.