Maine Family Court: Custody and Parenting-Time Guide
Plain-language Maine information for a custody or parenting-time route, including filing, official forms, free help, fee waivers, and legal-cost context.
This page provides general legal information, not legal advice. State law, court rules, forms, and local procedures can change. Confirm current requirements with the court handling the case.
State laws, court rules, and forms can change. Automated link checks will run every week once the monitoring job is deployed. Please check each cited source before relying on it. Report a broken link or changed law.
Find the right family court
The custody or parenting-time route described in this guide is handled through the Maine District Court. Other family-law matters can follow a different court or procedure.
Maine's Judicial Branch directs people to use its town-based directory to identify the District Court for their town.Sources:Find a Court by City/Town
How Maine courts decide custody
Maine calls custody decision-making parental rights and responsibilities. The court applies the child's best interest standard when making an award.Sources:Title 19-A, section 1653, Parental rights and responsibilities
In deciding a child's residence and parent-child contact, Maine law makes the child's safety and well-being primary considerations and lists additional best-interest factors.Sources:Title 19-A, section 1653, Parental rights and responsibilities
Key legal sources
Maine Revised Statutes, Title 19-A § 1653(3)Sources:Title 19-A, section 1653, Parental rights and responsibilities
Parenting time
A Maine parental-rights-and-responsibilities order can allocate decision-making, a child's primary residence, and parent-child contact under the best-interest standard.Sources:Title 19-A, section 1653, Parental rights and responsibilities
The Judicial Branch explains that shared, allocated, and sole parental-rights-and-responsibilities arrangements are possible; the court decides the arrangement in a parental-rights-and-responsibilities case.Sources:Decisions about Children
Key legal sources
Maine Revised Statutes, Title 19-A § 1653(2)(D)Sources:Title 19-A, section 1653, Parental rights and responsibilities
How to file
This route is limited to opening a Maine District Court FM-006 case for determination of parentage, parental rights and responsibilities, and child support involving minor children, ending when the signed initial papers and proof of service are filed. It excludes divorce, post-judgment modification or enforcement, emergency protection, child protection, adoption, guardianship, interstate registration, de facto-parent claims, response, mediation, hearing, and final-order stages.Sources:Complaint for Determination of Parentage, Parental Rights and Responsibilities, and Child Support (FM-006), Court Process in a Family Matters Case
Confirm the route and court location
The current Judicial Branch process identifies Form FM-006 for parentage, parental rights and responsibilities, and child support. Use the Judicial Branch town directory to identify the District Court location; venue and jurisdiction details require confirmation for the particular case.Sources:Court Process in a Family Matters Case, Complaint for Determination of Parentage, Parental Rights and Responsibilities, and Child Support (FM-006), Find a Court by City/Town
Prepare the current initial materials
The Judicial Branch's current family-process page identifies the Family and Probate Matters Summary Sheet (FM-002), Form FM-006, the confidential Social Security Number Disclosure form, and Child Support Affidavit (FM-050) for a case involving minor children. It also says the original Family Matters Summons and Preliminary Injunction must be obtained from a clerk's office.Sources:Court Process in a Family Matters Case
Arrange service and retain proof
The current Judicial Branch process describes service by an acknowledgment, certified mail with restricted delivery, or a sheriff, followed by proof of service for filing. Confirm any service variation with the handling court.Sources:Court Process in a Family Matters Case
File signed originals with required proof
The Judicial Branch says to mail or hand-deliver signed originals, proof of service, and the required filing fee to the court; a person who cannot afford the fee may request a fee waiver using the court's current application and affidavit.Sources:Court Process in a Family Matters Case, Application to Proceed without Payment of Fees (CV-067), Affidavit Accompanying Application to Proceed without Payment of Fees (CV-191)
Official forms
Open the official forms portal.
Maine's current family-process page identifies initial family-case forms and states that the original Family Matters Summons and Preliminary Injunction must come from a clerk's office. The linked PR&R packet is dated 2020, so this draft does not treat it as proof of a complete current statewide packet.Sources:Court Process in a Family Matters Case, Parentage, Parental Rights and Responsibilities Case: What to do with these Court Forms (FM-082)
Free court self-help
Find court self-help near you.
AmeriCorps Legal Access Navigators
The program offers free civil-court form assistance, legal education, and referrals. The Judicial Branch lists locations in Biddeford, Portland, and Lewiston and says schedules can change.Sources:AmeriCorps Legal Access Navigators
Legal-aid organizations
Pine Tree Legal Assistance
Area served: Maine
Pine Tree Legal Assistance says it provides free civil legal aid in Maine and offers a Divorce, Custody, and Family self-help topic.Sources:Self-Help Tools, Legal Aid Resources in Maine
Eligibility: The Judicial Branch lists Pine Tree Legal Assistance for low-income people; contact the provider directly to determine eligibility and availability.
Maine Volunteer Lawyers Project Family Law Clinics
Area served: Maine, with remote CHAP appointments and listed Lewiston in-person availability
VLP describes short family-law consultations and help preparing for a court event; its volunteers do not represent people in court.Sources:Family Matters, Legal Help and Guides
Eligibility: The clinics have income-based eligibility and limited appointment capacity; an intake request does not assure an appointment.
Fee waivers
Maine Rule of Civil Procedure 91 allows an applicant to seek leave to proceed without payment of fees or costs; the court decides the request.Sources:Maine Rule of Civil Procedure 91, Proceedings for Waiver of Payment of Fees or Costs
Who may qualify
Rule 91 requires an application accompanied by an affidavit addressing income, necessary expenses, other available sources for fees, public-assistance income when applicable, and good faith.Sources:Maine Rule of Civil Procedure 91, Proceedings for Waiver of Payment of Fees or Costs
What to do
File the current fee application with the complaint
The Judicial Branch identifies Application to Proceed without Payment of Fees (CV-067), with its accompanying affidavit (CV-191), for a person who cannot afford the filing fee.Sources:Court Process in a Family Matters Case, Application to Proceed without Payment of Fees (CV-067), Affidavit Accompanying Application to Proceed without Payment of Fees (CV-191)
Official fee-waiver forms
Key statute or rule
Maine Rules of Civil Procedure § 91Sources:Maine Rule of Civil Procedure 91, Proceedings for Waiver of Payment of Fees or Costs
Attorney cost benchmark
Lawyer fees vary by county, experience, services, and the facts of a case. This state benchmark is context for planning, not a quote.
State and local details to confirm
For this route, the Judicial Branch says the Family Matters Summons and Preliminary Injunction must be an original obtained from a clerk's office rather than an online copy.Sources:Court Process in a Family Matters Case, Parentage, Parental Rights and Responsibilities Case: What to do with these Court Forms (FM-082)
Part of Family Law in Your State.