How to File for Custody in Texas: Conservatorship, Possession and Standing
When parents separate in Texas, the first surprise is the vocabulary. The Texas Family Code does not use the word custody. It uses conservatorship, possession and access, and child support, and one court order decides all three. If you want to know how to file for custody in Texas, start with what the court will actually be deciding.
This post gives a plain-language overview of a Texas custody case in the order it happens. It is written for parents on either side, and it does not predict an outcome.
What does custody mean in Texas?
Conservatorship is about rights and duties: who makes decisions about school, medical care and where the child lives. Possession and access is the schedule: when the child is with each parent. Child support is the money. A parent can share decisions and still have a different schedule and a support obligation.
Texas starts from a presumption that parents should be named joint managing conservators (Texas Family Code § 153.131). Joint does not mean equal time. It means both parents keep rights and duties, and the order usually gives one parent the right to decide where the child lives, often inside a set geographic area. A history of family violence can remove the presumption (§ 153.004).
What is the best interest of the child standard in Texas?
Every conservatorship and possession decision turns on one rule: the best interest of the child is the court's primary consideration (§ 153.002). The judge is not deciding which parent is the better person. The judge is deciding which arrangement serves this child. Evidence about the child's needs, each parent's involvement and the stability of each home carries more weight than accusations.
Can a Texas court hear your custody case?
Before a court looks at the merits, it asks whether it has the power to act. Three questions come first.
Home state: Texas is generally the child's home state if the child has lived here with a parent for at least six months in a row before the case is filed (§ 152.102).
Standing: the person filing must be someone the law allows to file, such as a parent, or a person who has had actual care, control and possession of the child for at least six months (§ 102.003).
Continuing jurisdiction: if a Texas court has already made an order about this child, that court usually keeps the case.
How does the Texas Standard Possession Order work?
The Standard Possession Order is the default schedule in the Family Code, and it is presumed to be in the best interest of a child who is three or older (§ 153.252). In broad terms, it gives the parent the child does not live with the first, third and fifth weekends of each month, time on Thursdays during the school year, alternating holidays and extended time in the summer. The details change with the distance between the parents' homes.
Read the order as a calendar, not as a paragraph. Most disputes after a case ends are about exchange times, holidays and summer notice dates that were in the order all along. Parents can agree to a different schedule, and a court can order one when the standard schedule does not fit the child.
What happens after you file for custody in Texas?
A custody case that is not part of a divorce is called a suit affecting the parent-child relationship. After the petition is filed, the other parent must be served. The deadline to file a written answer is 10 a.m. on the first Monday after 20 days from the date of service. Missing it can let the court rule without you.
From there, most cases move through temporary orders, the exchange of information called discovery, and mediation. Many cases settle in mediation. The rest go to a final hearing, where the judge signs the order that controls from then on.
Free checklist: the Texas Divorce Checklist puts the steps on one page, in order, and is sent to your inbox. Get the free checklist.
Frequently asked questions
Is Texas a 50/50 custody state?
Texas presumes that parents should be joint managing conservators, which is about sharing rights and duties. It does not presume equal time. The default schedule is the Standard Possession Order. Parents can agree to an equal schedule, or ask the court for one if it is in the child's best interest.
At what age can a child decide which parent to live with in Texas?
A child does not decide. In a case heard by a judge without a jury, the judge interviews a child who is 12 or older about the child's wishes if a party asks (§ 153.009). The judge still decides based on the child's best interest.
Can a Texas custody order be changed later?
Yes. A court can modify an order when circumstances have materially and substantially changed since it was signed and the change is in the child's best interest (§ 156.101).
Get the full guide
Get Child Custody (Conservatorship) in Texas as an eBook and follow your case from standing and filing to the final order, modification and enforcement. Read Child Custody (Conservatorship) in Texas.
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Legal information, not legal advice. Laws change, and every situation is different. For advice about your situation, talk to a licensed Texas attorney.
