Texas Child Custody Laws: Conservatorship, Possession and Access, and Your Rights

Texas decides all custody matters under the best interests of the child standard and uses its own terminology: "conservatorship" instead of custody and "possession and access" instead of visitation. Texas law presumes that appointing both parents as joint managing conservators serves the child's best interests, though that presumption says nothing about equal possession time.

How does Texas decide child custody?

Texas family courts apply the best interests of the child as the primary consideration in every conservatorship determination, under Tex. Fam. Code 153.002. The court that handles conservatorship is the district court (or statutory county court at law) in the county where the child has lived for the previous six months. Texas has adopted the UCCJEA (Tex. Fam. Code ch. 152), so jurisdiction follows the child's home state.

When parents cannot agree on a parenting arrangement, the judge evaluates the circumstances using a combination of statutory guidance and the Holley factors developed by the Texas Supreme Court. The Holley factors include the child's desires, the child's emotional and physical needs, any emotional or physical danger to the child, the parental abilities of the individuals seeking custody, the programs available to help those individuals, the plans for the child by the individuals seeking custody, the stability of the home environment, the acts or omissions of a parent that indicate the existing parent-child relationship is not a proper one, and any excuse for those acts or omissions. Courts look at the totality of circumstances rather than a rigid checklist.

Types of custody in Texas

Texas divides parental authority into two categories. A managing conservator holds legal rights over the child, including the authority to make decisions about education, health care, and religious upbringing. Managing conservatorship can be joint (both parents share rights and duties) or sole (one parent holds exclusive rights). A possessory conservator has the right of access and possession at specified times but holds fewer independent decision-making rights.

Possession and access is the Texas equivalent of physical custody or parenting time. It refers to which parent the child lives with and when. A written parenting plan, often built around the Standard Possession Order, sets the schedule for possession during the school year, summers, holidays, and vacations. Under the Standard Possession Order, the non-primary parent typically has possession on the first, third, and fifth weekends of the month, Thursday evenings, and an extended summer period when the parents live within 100 miles of each other.

Does Texas presume joint or 50/50 custody?

Texas carries a rebuttable presumption of joint managing conservatorship, not a presumption of equal possession time. Under Tex. Fam. Code 153.131(b), a court presumes that the appointment of both parents as joint managing conservators is in the best interest of the child in any original proceeding. This is a presumption about shared legal authority, meaning both parents participate in major decisions, not a requirement that the child spend equal time with each parent.

The presumption is rebutted if credible evidence shows that a parent has a history of family violence or a pattern of child neglect or abuse. When the presumption is rebutted, the court may instead name one parent as sole managing conservator.

Because joint managing conservatorship deals with legal rights rather than possession schedules, parents named as joint managing conservators frequently have unequal parenting time. The court sets the possession schedule separately, often by reference to the Standard Possession Order. A parent who wants significantly more time than the SPO provides must present evidence that an alternative schedule serves the child's best interests. Texas is not a 50/50 state; equal possession time is possible but is not the default.

The best interests factors Texas courts weigh

Texas courts use the Holley factors (from Holley v. Adams, 544 S.W.2d 367, Tex. 1976) together with the statutory framework of Tex. Fam. Code 153.134 to evaluate conservatorship. The key considerations include:

• The child's desires, given appropriate weight based on age and maturity
• The child's present and future emotional and physical needs
• Any present or future emotional or physical danger to the child
• The parental abilities of each person seeking custody
• The programs available to assist those individuals in promoting the child's best interest
• Each parent's plans for the child
• The stability of the home or proposed placement
• Acts or omissions by a parent that indicate the existing relationship with the child is not appropriate
• Any reasonable explanation for those acts or omissions

In addition, Tex. Fam. Code 153.004 directs courts to consider family violence when determining whether to appoint a parent as sole managing conservator. A history of family violence raises a rebuttable presumption that appointing the abusive parent as sole managing conservator or giving that parent joint managing conservatorship is not in the child's best interest.

Relocation: moving with your child

Most Texas custody orders include a geographic restriction that limits the child's primary residence to a specific county or set of counties. When such a restriction is in place, the primary conservator cannot move the child outside that area without either the other parent's written agreement or a court order modifying the conservatorship. Tex. Fam. Code 156.101 governs modification and requires a showing of a material and substantial change in circumstances plus a finding that modification is in the child's best interests.

If no geographic restriction is in the existing order, neither statute nor case law imposes a blanket advance-notice requirement, though many parenting plans include notice provisions. When a parent does seek court approval to relocate, the cost of additional travel to maintain the non-relocating parent's possession time is typically allocated to the relocating parent.

Courts treat a proposed relocation as a significant factor in deciding possession schedules. A move that would make the Standard Possession Order difficult to exercise may lead to a modified schedule that concentrates the non-relocating parent's time during summers and school breaks.

Changing a custody order (modification)

To change a Texas conservatorship or possession order, the requesting party must show both a material and substantial change in circumstances since the existing order was rendered and that modification serves the child's best interests, under Tex. Fam. Code 156.101. A change is material and substantial if it is significant rather than merely inconvenient, and unanticipated at the time the original order was entered.

Courts have recognized the following as sufficient changed circumstances: a significant change in a parent's work schedule, a parent's relocation, a parent's remarriage, a child's changing needs as the child grows older, documented family violence that postdates the original order, or a child's reasonable preference if the child is 12 or older. (Under Tex. Fam. Code 153.009, a child 12 or older may express a preference in chambers, and the court must consider it, though the preference is not binding.)

There is no minimum waiting period before a conservatorship modification can be filed in Texas, unlike some other states that bar modifications for one to two years absent endangerment. For families navigating related financial issues, see Texas child support laws and Texas alimony laws.

If you are facing a custody case in Texas

Texas family courts expect parents to come prepared. Here are practical steps:

Propose a detailed parenting plan. Describe the possession schedule you seek, how the child will transition between homes, and how you will communicate with the other parent about education and medical decisions. Courts take seriously parents who think concretely about the child's day-to-day life.

Document your involvement. Courts weigh each parent's demonstrated role in the child's life. Maintain records of school events you attended, medical appointments, extracurricular activities, and day-to-day caregiving you provided.

Focus on the child's needs, not the dispute. Judges evaluating the Holley factors look for parents who can put the child's interests above adult conflict. Avoid disparaging the other parent in communications that could become evidence.

Attend any required parenting class. Many Texas courts require both parents to complete a court-approved parenting education program in a suit affecting the parent-child relationship.

Consider mediation. Texas courts encourage mediation before contested trials. Many families reach workable agreed orders through mediation and avoid the time and expense of a hearing.

Consult a licensed Texas family-law attorney for advice specific to your facts, especially if family violence, substance abuse, or a relocation is involved.

This article is general legal information, not legal advice. Child custody law varies by state and turns on the specific facts of each family. For advice about your situation, consult a licensed family-law attorney in Texas.

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Sources

• Texas Family Code, Chapter 153 (conservatorship, possession, and access): statutes.capitol.texas.gov
• Texas Family Code, Chapter 156 (modification of conservatorship orders): statutes.capitol.texas.gov
• Texas Family Code, Chapter 152 (UCCJEA jurisdiction): statutes.capitol.texas.gov

Related resources

For the full national framework, see the Child Custody Laws hub. Texas parents dealing with related financial matters may also find these pages useful: Texas Child Support Laws, Texas Alimony Laws, and Texas Emancipation Laws.