Best Interest of the Child Standard in Maine Custody Cases
When a Maine family court magistrate or judge decides where your child will live and who makes major decisions, they apply one test: the best interest of the child, with the child's safety and well-being treated as primary for residence and contact decisions. It's codified in Title 19-A M.R.S. § 1653(3), and it governs every custody outcome in the state.
The problem is that "best interest" sounds subjective. Parents walking into a Case Management Conference often have no idea what the magistrate is actually weighing. Here are several of the statutory factors and how they play out in practice.
Examples of the 19 Factors Maine Courts Must Evaluate
The statute requires judges to consider these and the other statutory factors — no single factor is automatically decisive:
Relationship quality. The court examines the child's relationship with the parents and any other people who may significantly affect the child's welfare. A parent who handles bedtime routines, school pickups, and doctor visits daily has an evidentiary advantage over one who has been less involved — but this is about demonstrated involvement, not gender.
Cooperation capacity. Maine courts weigh each parent's willingness and ability to encourage a healthy relationship between the child and the other parent. Badmouthing your co-parent, restricting phone calls, or refusing to share school information works against you.
Stability of arrangements. The child's current adjustment to home, school, and community matters. Courts are reluctant to uproot a child from a stable environment without strong justification.
Child's preference. If the child is old enough to express a meaningful preference, the court will consider it — but it's never binding. Preferences from children around age 12 and older are often given significant weight, though judges stay alert to signs of parental coaching.
Domestic violence history. The court considers domestic abuse between the parents and how it affects the child, along with any history of child abuse by a parent. Under § 1653(6), a finding of domestic abuse requires the court to establish contact conditions; possible conditions include supervised visitation, protected exchanges, substance restrictions, and completion of an intervention program.
Safety and well-being allocation. The court considers whether allocating parental rights and responsibilities would best support the child's safety and well-being.
What Doesn't Matter
Gender. Maine law explicitly prohibits gender-based preferences. Courts cannot favor mothers over fathers or vice versa.
Marital fault. Adultery or other grounds for divorce don't factor into custody decisions unless they directly affected the child.
Income alone. Having a higher salary doesn't make you the better custodial parent. Child support exists to equalize the child's standard of living across both homes.
How to Prepare Your Case Around These Factors
The most effective thing you can do before your Case Management Conference is document your involvement. Keep records of school communications, medical appointments you've attended, extracurricular activities you've coordinated, and daily caregiving tasks you handle.
The Maine Child Custody & Parenting Plan Guide includes a best-interest self-assessment worksheet that walks through all 19 factors with specific prompts for gathering the evidence that matters most.
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