What the default actually says
Section 153.312 of the Texas Family Code gives the Standard Possession Order for parents who live within 100 miles of each other. The non-primary parent has the first, third and fifth weekends of every month from Friday at 6:00 pm to Sunday at 6:00 pm, plus Thursday evenings from 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm during the school year.
The Expanded Standard Possession Order in section 153.317 keeps the same calendar but changes the hours. Weekends begin when school is dismissed on Friday and end when school resumes on Monday, and the Thursday period becomes an overnight ending at school on Friday. A parent living within fifty miles can elect it, and that election moves a parent from roughly a third of the overnights to something close to forty-five percent. It is the most under-used provision in Texas family law.
Counting weekends is where the fights start
The weekend number is determined by the Friday. If the first Friday of the month is the 2nd, that is the first weekend, regardless of whether the 1st fell on a Saturday. Five-Friday months give the non-primary parent two weekends in a row, at the end of one month and, sometimes, immediately again at the start of the next.
That back-to-back stretch surprises people every year, and it is not a mistake in the order. It is the arithmetic working as intended. Print a calendar each January, mark the weekends in two colours, and send it to the other parent. Most possession disputes we see in the first year after a decree are calendar misunderstandings, not defiance.
Holidays override the weekend schedule
Holiday periods sit on top of the regular schedule and take priority over it. Under the default order the non-primary parent has spring break in even-numbered years and Thanksgiving in odd-numbered years, and Christmas is split with the changeover at noon on 28 December, alternating which half each parent takes.
Summer is thirty days for the non-primary parent under the standard order, or forty-two under the expanded version, and it must be designated in writing by 1 April. Miss the deadline and the statute defaults it to 1 July through 31 July, which is rarely what anybody wanted. Put the 1 April date in your phone the day the decree is signed.
When the standard order is the wrong tool
The standard order is presumed appropriate for children three and older. For infants and toddlers, section 153.254 directs the court to build a schedule around caregiving history, feeding, and how the child handles separation, and a well-drafted order includes a step-up provision that takes effect automatically at age three so nobody has to return to court.
It is also the wrong tool for shift workers. A parent on a rotating four-on, four-off roster cannot use a schedule built around fixed Fridays. We map those schedules to the published rotation and produce a fixed calendar ninety days ahead, which judges in El Paso have been receptive to when the roster is documented.
Write it down, then follow it exactly
For the first year after a decree, follow the order to the letter even when informal flexibility would be easier. Not because flexibility is wrong, but because a documented year of precise compliance is worth an enormous amount if you ever need to go back to court.
Keep the exchanges short, neutral and on time. Confirm every variation in writing through one channel. Do not make the children the messengers. These are small disciplines, and they are the difference between an order that settles into a routine and one that generates an enforcement action in eighteen months.
