Summer Custody Disputes in Maryland: When to Call a Parent Coordinator
By mid-June, the calls start coming in.
A parent is supposed to hand off the kids for a two-week vacation, and the other parent will not confirm the flight details. Camp registration deadlines passed weeks ago, and nobody signed the form. The custody order says alternating weeks in summer, but one parent took a job that requires Thursday-Friday travel, and the schedule no longer fits. A grandparent is in town and wants the kids for the weekend, which is not technically anyone's weekend. A child has decided they do not want to go to the other parent's house this summer, and one parent is refusing to make them.
These are the actual disputes I see across Howard County and Anne Arundel County every summer. Most of them are not legal emergencies. They are scheduling problems with high emotional weight, and they are the exact category of conflict a parent coordinator is built to handle. My earlier post, Navigating Summer Co-Parenting Challenges, covered the broader emotional terrain of summer co-parenting. This post is the practical follow-up: when a summer dispute calls for a parent coordinator rather than a return to court, what a Maryland parent coordinator can and cannot do, and how the process works in our region.
When Should I Call a Parent Coordinator About a Summer Custody Dispute in Maryland?
Call a Maryland parent coordinator when you and your co-parent have a recurring or escalating custody dispute that is too small or time-sensitive to take back to court, but too contentious to resolve on your own. Common summer triggers include vacation planning, camp registration, travel logistics, schedule changes due to new jobs or relocations, holiday weekends, and disputes over who attends summer events. A parent coordinator can help you communicate, identify options, and in some cases make minor, temporary modifications to the existing custody schedule. Going back to court for these disputes is often impractical: hearings cannot be scheduled fast enough to address a vacation that starts in three weeks, and the cost of court intervention often exceeds the cost of the dispute itself. A parent coordinator solves that problem.
That is the short answer. Below is the longer one.
The Summer Disputes That Bring Parents In
Summer concentrates conflict in a way other seasons do not. The school schedule that normally provides structure for custody disappears. Travel happens. Extended family wants time. Camps and sports leagues run on their own calendars. Children have opinions about where they want to be. And the custody order, however carefully written, rarely accounts for every situation that comes up between Memorial Day and Labor Day.
The disputes I see most often in our region:
Vacation scheduling and notice. One parent wants to take the children on a vacation that overlaps the other parent's regular time, and the order requires advance notice or written consent that did not happen or happened too late.
Travel and international travel. Passport applications, international travel consent, airline policies for unaccompanied minors, or whether a new partner can travel with the children.
Camp registration disputes. Both parents have to consent to a camp, or only one is paying, or the camps overlap with the other parent's time.
Schedule changes from new jobs. A new schedule, a relocation across county lines, a remote-work change that affects who can be at home during the day.
Holiday weekends inside summer. Memorial Day, Fourth of July, and Labor Day weekends often have their own rules that override the regular schedule, and the rules are sometimes ambiguous in the original order.
Children's preferences. A child who is old enough to express a strong opinion about where they want to spend summer, and a parent who is unsure whether to enforce the schedule.
Extended family events. A grandparent's significant birthday, an out-of-state wedding, a family reunion that conflicts with the other parent's time.
None of these are constitutional questions. They are practical conflicts that need a practical solution, and they typically need it within a few weeks, not the eight to sixteen weeks a Maryland court would take to schedule a hearing.
What Is a Parent Coordinator in Maryland?
A parent coordinator (PC) in Maryland is an impartial mental health professional or a legal professional with mediation experience who helps separated or divorced parents identify conflicts and consider ways to parent more effectively. The role is governed by Maryland Rule 9-205.2, which Maryland adopted in July 2011. A Maryland PC can help parents create or modify a parenting plan, mediate disputes, educate parents about their children's needs, and monitor whether the parenting plan is being followed.
The role is different from a mediator, a custody evaluator, and a therapist:
A mediator helps parties reach a one-time agreement. A parent coordinator works with parents over time, often through repeated disputes.
A custody evaluator investigates and makes recommendations to the court. A parent coordinator does not investigate or report to the court except in narrow circumstances.
A therapist treats individuals or families. A parent coordinator does not create a therapeutic relationship and communications are not confidential.
What a parent coordinator does is help two parents who are not going to be a couple ever again work together effectively enough to raise their children without litigation for every dispute.
What Can a Parent Coordinator Actually Decide?
This is the part most parents want to understand before engaging one.
By default, a parent coordinator in Maryland does not make binding decisions. The role is to help parents communicate, identify options, and reach their own agreements. If the parents cannot agree, the parent coordinator can help them present the dispute to the court but does not decide it.
There is one important exception. Under Maryland Rule 9-205.2(g), a parent coordinator may decide on a post-judgment dispute by making a minor, temporary modification to the existing child access schedule, but only if both of the following are true:
The court order or judgment authorizes the parent coordinator to make such decisions
The parties have agreed in writing or on the record that the parent coordinator may do so
Even with that delegation, the authority is intentionally narrow. A Maryland parent coordinator with full decision-making authority can decide whether the children spend Wednesday or Thursday with mom this week. A Maryland parent coordinator cannot:
Make material or permanent changes to the custody schedule
Choose the children's pediatrician
Make medical decisions
Decide what school the children will attend
Choose a daycare provider
For decisions in those categories, the parents either agree, or the matter returns to the court.
Most summer disputes fall squarely within what a parent coordinator can address either by helping the parents reach agreement or, where decision-making authority has been delegated, by making the minor, temporary modification needed to resolve the immediate conflict.
How a Maryland Parent Coordinator Helps with Summer Disputes
The work of a parent coordinator is structured and practical. A typical engagement looks something like this:
The parents engage the parent coordinator either by court appointment or by written agreement between themselves.
The parent coordinator reviews the custody order and any prior agreements.
When a dispute arises, either parent contacts the parent coordinator. The parent coordinator usually responds within a defined window (often 24 to 72 hours) and convenes a meeting or call.
The parent coordinator helps the parents identify the actual conflict, surface options, and reach an agreement. If decision-making authority has been delegated and the parents cannot agree on a minor, temporary issue within the parent coordinator's scope, the parent coordinator may decide.
The agreement or decision is documented in writing.
The pace matters. A vacation scheduling dispute that arises on June 18 for a trip starting July 5 can usually be resolved within a week with a parent coordinator. The same dispute in court would not reach a hearing date before the trip itself.
As part of our parenting coordination work, we work with parents across Howard and Anne Arundel Counties on exactly these kinds of recurring, time-sensitive disputes. The summer caseload is heaviest in June and early July, which is why parents who anticipate a summer dispute often benefit from engaging a parent coordinator in May rather than waiting until the conflict is already in progress.
When a Parent Coordinator Is Not the Right Tool
Parent coordination is built for parents who can communicate, even imperfectly, and who can engage in a structured process in good faith. It is not the right tool for every situation.
Parent coordination is not appropriate when:
There is domestic violence or coercive control between the parents
One parent is refusing to engage with the process
The dispute is about a permanent change to the custody schedule rather than a temporary modification
The dispute requires legal interpretation of the underlying order, not management of day-to-day disagreements
An immediate court order is needed, such as in cases involving safety or abduction risk
For those situations, the right tool is a return to court, often with the help of a family law attorney. A parent coordinator can sometimes help triage which disputes need court intervention, and which can be handled through coordination, but the role is not a substitute for court when court is what is needed.
How Parent Coordinators Are Engaged in Maryland
There are two ways to engage a parent coordinator in Maryland.
By agreement of the parties. Parents can agree in writing to engage a parent coordinator at any time, with or without a pending court case. No court approval is required when parents agree on their own. The parents and the parent coordinator sign an engagement agreement that sets the scope, fees, and process. This is the most common pathway for summer disputes that arise outside of active litigation.
By court appointment. Under Maryland Rule 9-205.2(f), a Maryland court may appoint a parent coordinator on its own motion or at the request of either or both parties. Court-appointed parent coordinators must meet the qualifications in Rule 9-205.2(c). A court appointment can last up to two years and may be extended by written agreement of the parties.
For summer disputes specifically, the by-agreement pathway is faster. A court appointment may take weeks to obtain. A direct engagement can be in place within days.
Related Reading
If you are working through the broader emotional and logistical terrain of summer co-parenting, my earlier post, Navigating Summer Co-Parenting Challenges, covers the strategies that help parents reduce conflict before it requires outside intervention. This post addresses what to do when those strategies are not enough.
Frequently Asked Questions
-
A Maryland parent coordinator is an impartial mental health professional or a legal professional with mediation experience, governed by Maryland Rule 9-205.2, who helps separated or divorced parents identify and resolve disputes about their children. The role is to facilitate communication, identify options, help parents reach agreements, and monitor whether the existing parenting plan is being followed. Parent coordinators do not provide therapy, and their communications with the parents are not confidential.
-
Generally, no. A Maryland parent coordinator may decide on minor, temporary modifications to the existing child access schedule only if (1) the court order authorizes the parent coordinator to do so, and (2) the parties have agreed in writing that the parent coordinator may do so. Even with that authority, the parent coordinator cannot make material or permanent changes to the custody schedule, choose the children's pediatrician, make medical decisions, choose a school, or select a daycare provider. Those decisions require parental agreement or court intervention.
-
Faster than the court can. A parent coordinator engaged by written agreement of the parties can be in place within days, and most parent coordinators respond to disputes within 24 to 72 hours. A summer custody dispute that arises in mid-June for a trip starting in early July can usually be resolved through a parent coordinator within a week. The same dispute filed as a motion in Howard or Anne Arundel County Circuit Court would not reach a hearing date before the trip.
-
Not always. Parents can engage a parent coordinator by mutual written agreement, which requires both parents to consent. Alternatively, under Maryland Rule 9-205.2(f), a Maryland court may appoint a parent coordinator on its own motion or at the request of one party, even if the other party objects. The by-agreement pathway is faster. The court-appointment pathway is available when one parent is willing and the other is not.
-
Parent coordinator fees in Maryland vary by professional, region, and case complexity, and most parent coordinators bill hourly. For court-appointed parent coordinators, the court may set the fee, and the parent coordinator cannot charge or accept more than the court-allowed rate. The court decides which party pays and may divide the cost based on each party's financial resources. For parent coordinators engaged by written agreement of the parties, the fee and cost-sharing are set in the engagement agreement. Health insurance generally does not cover parent coordination costs. For a single summer dispute, the total cost is usually a fraction of what a court motion would cost.
-
Yes. Parent coordination in Maryland is available to any two parents who agree in writing to engage one, regardless of marital status or whether a court case is pending. Some parents engage a parent coordinator during separation, before a custody case is filed. Others engage a parent coordinator post-judgment, after a final order is in place. The role works in both situations.
Schedule a Consultation
Summer custody disputes are rarely about the surface issue. They are usually about communication patterns, calendar logistics, and the residual conflict that any divorced or separated parents carry forward. A parent coordinator addresses both the immediate dispute and the patterns underneath it.
Maryland family law attorney, mediator, and parent coordinator Jessica Zadjura works with families across Howard and Anne Arundel Counties, with offices in Columbia and Annapolis, on parenting coordination engagements for parents navigating recurring custody disputes.
Schedule a consultation to talk through whether parent coordination is the right tool for your situation.
Jessica Zadjura is a Maryland family law attorney, mediator, and parent coordinator with 15 years of experience. She is the founder of Zadjura Family Law LLC, serving clients across Howard and Anne Arundel Counties.
