Not all parents obey custody orders. It happens all the time;
special days and holidays are missed; vacations are ruined; time
with one's child that is so precious is ignored—even when
there is a court order requiring a particular schedule. Yet most
family lawyers will agree that the contempt power of a family court
to right such wrongs is very weak.
Contempt powers are weak because contempt hearings take so long
to be scheduled and even when make-up time is ordered, this cannot
recreate the important time that has already been lost.
However, now an alternative remedy exists. Many states now
recognize the torts of interference with rights of custody, and
interference with rights of visitation. This matters because with a
tort comes money damages, which usually gets the attention of the
parent who is behaving badly. The Maryland Court of
Appeals—Maryland's Supreme Court—was one of the
first courts to hold that such torts must exist. In Khalifa v.
Shannon, 404 Md.
