Who has done the parenting
Courts look hard at who takes the child to appointments, who knows the teacher's name and who has historically handled bedtime. Bring the calendar.
Practice area
Child custody and conservatorship
Conservatorship, possession and access, and the parenting plan that will govern the next decade.
What the law actually says
Texas does not use the word custody in its statutes. It uses conservatorship, which describes decision-making rights and duties, and possession and access, which describes the schedule. Understanding that split is the single most useful thing a parent can learn early, because parents who fight about the wrong word often spend money on the wrong issue.
Section 153.131 creates a rebuttable presumption that the parents should be appointed joint managing conservators. Joint managing conservatorship does not mean equal time. It means shared rights. One parent is usually given the exclusive right to designate the child's primary residence, typically restricted to El Paso County and contiguous counties so that neither parent can move the child away without a court order.
Every decision is measured against the best interest of the child, and Texas courts apply the Holley factors: the child's wishes, the child's present and future emotional and physical needs, any danger to the child, the parenting abilities of each party, available programs, stability of the home, and the acts or omissions of each parent. A child twelve or older may file a written choice of primary residence, but the judge is not bound by it.
Governed principally by Tex. Fam. Code ch. 153
What we handle in this area
- Original suits affecting the parent-child relationship, filed alone or inside a divorce
- Establishing paternity and conservatorship for unmarried parents
- Geographic restriction disputes and relocation requests
- Requests for a 50/50 week-on week-off or 2-2-5-5 schedule
- Grandparent and non-parent standing petitions under chapter 102
- Appointment of an amicus attorney, guardian ad litem or child custody evaluator
- Supervised possession and step-up schedules after a period of absence
- Interstate jurisdiction disputes under the UCCJEA
How the case runs
Durations below are what we typically see on the El Paso County family docket. They are not statutory guarantees, and a case with a contested issue can sit outside them entirely.
- Day 0
Petition and standing orders
The SAPCR is filed. The standing order immediately restricts moving the child out of the county.
- Week 2 to 6
Temporary orders
The court sets the interim schedule, interim support and who stays in the home. This hearing sets the tone for the whole case.
- Month 2 to 7
Investigation, if ordered
An amicus attorney, social study or custody evaluation is ordered in contested cases. Expect home visits and collateral interviews.
- Month 2 to 6
Discovery and records
School records, medical records, counselling notes where privilege allows, and text message exports.
- Month 4 to 9
Mediation
Parenting plans settle at mediation far more often than they are tried. A mediated settlement agreement on conservatorship is binding.
- Month 6 to 15
Final trial
Either party may demand a jury on conservatorship and primary residence, though not on the possession schedule itself.
What drives the cost and the timeline
Stability and distance
Two homes fifteen minutes apart make a 50/50 schedule realistic. Two homes across the county line during a school week usually do not.
Family violence findings
A finding of family violence within two years triggers statutory limits under section 153.004 and can remove the joint managing presumption entirely.
How the parents communicate
Judges notice co-parenting app logs. Calm, factual, child-focused messages are evidence. So are the other kind.
I work nights at the hospital and thought that meant I could not get real time with my son. Alejandra built the schedule around my rotation and the judge signed it.
Questions we get about child custody
A child twelve or older may tell the judge their preference in chambers, and either party may ask the court to interview the child. The judge must conduct the interview on request for a child twelve or older, but the preference is one factor among many, not a decision.
No. Section 153.003 prohibits the court from considering the sex of the parent. In practice El Paso judges appoint fathers as the primary conservator regularly when the evidence supports it.
A clause limiting where the primary conservator may establish the child's residence, usually El Paso County and contiguous counties. Lifting it later requires proving relocation is in the child's best interest, which is a genuinely difficult showing.
Yes. Texas courts routinely approve agreed week-on week-off or 2-2-5-5 schedules where the parents live close, communicate adequately and the child's school situation supports it. Courts order 50/50 over objection less often.
A lawyer appointed to assist the court in determining the child's best interest. Unlike an attorney ad litem, an amicus does not represent the child and does not owe the child confidentiality. The parties usually share the cost.