Two Years Without My Son: How Montgomery County Circuit Court Refuses to Enforce Custody Orders

It has now been nearly two years since I last saw my son. Not because I disappeared, not because I failed to show up, not because I did anything wrong—but because the Montgomery County Circuit Court refuses to enforce its own custody orders.

The truth is, there has never been a stable or predictable schedule for my son since the day he was born. Despite court orders that were supposed to guarantee stability, his mother has withheld and interfered with my time for years. I have filed multiple Petitions for Contempt, each backed by documentation. Yet the judges of Montgomery County Circuit Court have consistently denied, dismissed, or deferred them, leaving my son without stability and me without access.

A Childhood Without Stability

From the very beginning, there was no predictable schedule. Court orders were treated like suggestions, not obligations. I would prepare for visits, only to have them canceled at the last minute. Calls were blocked or ignored. Exchanges were missed. Every time I tried to exercise my rights as a father, I met a wall of interference.

Instead of protecting my child’s right to stability, Montgomery County Circuit Court enabled instability by failing to enforce its own rulings. Judges had countless opportunities to intervene. They chose not to.

The Court’s Pattern of Inaction

Under Maryland law, when a parent violates a custody or visitation order, the other parent can file for contempt. I did—again and again. Each time, I provided proof: text messages, visitation logs, emails, and witnesses. Each time, judges in Montgomery County Circuit Court refused to act.

Rather than hold the violating parent accountable, they minimized the violations as “co-parenting disputes” and deflected responsibility back onto me. In doing so, they allowed the violations to pile up until my son’s life was defined by chaos, instability, and eventually, total estrangement.

From Instability to Alienation

The court’s refusal to act culminated in what I live with now: nearly two years of no contact with my son. What began as irregular and unpredictable visitation has now escalated into complete denial.

Every birthday, every school event, every ordinary moment that should have belonged to both of us has been stolen—not just by the other parent’s interference, but by the judges who enabled it through silence and inaction.

Why Judges Don’t Take It Seriously

Why does this happen in Montgomery County? The reasons are systemic:

• Judges hide behind the phrase “best interest of the child” to avoid holding custodial parents accountable.
• Custodial interference is treated as a “technical violation,” not the serious harm it truly is.
• The court pushes Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR)—mediation, parenting coordination, supervised visitation—over enforcement, feeding a system that profits from ongoing conflict instead of resolving it.
• Judges lecture both parents equally, even when evidence shows one parent is willfully violating the order. This false equivalence shifts blame away from the guilty party and punishes the innocent one.

The Human Cost

For my son, this has meant a childhood without stability. He has never been able to count on a consistent schedule with his father. He has lost years of love, guidance, and the security that comes from knowing both parents are there.

For me, it has meant nearly two years of complete alienation—robbed of the right to see my child grow, to be present, to fulfill my role as a father.

The system in Montgomery County has not protected my son. It has destroyed our bond by refusing to enforce its own orders.

The Need for Reform

Montgomery County is not unique; parents across Maryland face the same nightmare. But my story shows the problem in sharp focus: when judges refuse to enforce custody orders, they are not neutral—they are complicit.

We need reform:

• Mandatory enforcement of visitation orders when violations are proven.
• Recognition of parental alienation as psychological abuse.
• Court transparency and accountability through court watchers, cameras, and oversight.
• Consequences for judges who consistently refuse to enforce the very orders they issue.

Conclusion

Two years without my son is two years too long. But the truth is, my child has never had stability—not once since his birth—because the Montgomery County Circuit Court chose not to enforce it.

A custody order should mean something. A child’s right to both parents should mean something. Until judges in Maryland take custodial interference seriously, more children will lose a parent, more parents will be erased, and more families will be permanently broken by a system that claims to protect them.