Me. Rev. Stat. » Title 22
Maine Revised Statutes

Me. Rev. Stat. tit. 22, § 4037 (2026)

Authority of custodian

✓ current as of May 2026
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When custody of the child is ordered to the department or other custodian under a preliminary or final protection order, the custodian has full custody of the child subject to the terms of the order and other applicable law.   [PL 2015, c. 187, §1 (NEW).]
1.  Adoption.  Custody does not include the right to initiate adoption proceedings without parental consent, except as provided under Title 18‑C, section 9‑302.  
[PL 2017, c. 402, Pt. C, §63 (AMD); PL 2019, c. 417, Pt. B, §14 (AFF).]
2.  Withhold or withdraw life-sustaining medical treatment.  Except as provided in paragraphs A and B, the custodian may not withhold or withdraw life-sustaining medical treatment.  
A. The custodian may withhold or withdraw life-sustaining medical treatment if the parental rights of the parents of the child have been terminated pursuant to section 4055 and the custodian determines that withholding or withdrawing life-sustaining medical treatment is in the best interests of the child after considering the factors in paragraph C and the opinions of the child's treating physicians.   [PL 2015, c. 187, §1 (NEW).]
B. If the parental rights of one or more parent of the child have not been terminated, the custodian under a preliminary or final child protection order may withhold or withdraw life-sustaining medical treatment:  
(1) If the parent or parents whose parental rights have not been terminated consent to the custodian having that authority and the custodian determines that withholding or withdrawing life-sustaining medical treatment is in the best interests of the child after considering the factors in paragraph C and the opinions of the child's treating physicians; or  
(2) If any parent whose parental rights have not been terminated does not consent, after notice and hearing, the District Court finds by clear and convincing evidence that:  
(a) All of the nonconsenting parents are unfit under one or more of the grounds for termination in section 4055, subsection 1, paragraph B, subparagraph (2), division (b); and  
(b) Withholding or withdrawing life-sustaining medical treatment is in the best interests of the child.   [PL 2015, c. 187, §1 (NEW).]
C. Withholding or withdrawing life-sustaining medical treatment is in the best interests of the child if the child is in a persistent vegetative state or suffers from another irreversible medical condition that severely impairs mental and physical functioning, with poor long-term medical prognosis, and the child would experience additional pain and suffering if life-sustaining medical treatment were administered.   [PL 2015, c. 187, §1 (NEW).]
[PL 2015, c. 187, §1 (NEW).]
SECTION HISTORY
PL 1979, c. 733, §18 (NEW). PL 1981, c. 369, §11 (AMD). PL 1993, c. 686, §10 (AMD). PL 1993, c. 686, §13 (AFF). PL 1995, c. 694, §D44 (AMD). PL 1995, c. 694, §E2 (AFF). PL 2015, c. 187, §1 (RPR). PL 2017, c. 402, Pt. C, §63 (AMD). PL 2017, c. 402, Pt. F, §1 (AFF). PL 2019, c. 417, Pt. B, §14 (AFF).
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Notes of Decisions
Cited in 3 cases, 1988–2015 · leading case: In Re Matthew W., 2006 ME 67 (Me. 2006).
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In Re Matthew W., 2006 ME 67 (Me. 2006). · cites it 7× “Following the emergency judicial review requested by the Department on October 28, the court entered a finding that 22 M.R.S. § 4037, as a matter of law, authorizes the Department to make all medical decisions, including a decision to approve a DNR.”
In re Z.S., 2015 ME 110 (Me. 2015). · cites it 2× “Here, the terms of the court’s order specifically require the Department, as the child’s custodian, to “make arrangements for the child to have a full medical evaluation, including an evaluation of his hearing and hernia, and [] approve such vaccinations as are deemed essential…”
In re Daniel T., 544 A.2d 1302 (Me. 1988). “Full custody is not the same as termination of parental rights; its scope is limited to the terms of the court order and does not, for example, "include the right to initiate adoption proceedings without parental consent_" 22 M.R.S.A. § 4037. . Obviously, sudden unvailability of…”
Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.