Custody

Dallas Child Custody Lawyers

Definition of Child Custody under Texas Family Law

Child custody is the lay term used to describe the legal relationship between a parent and child. In Texas divorce cases, the term “custody” never appears in the law. Instead, Texas law uses the term “conservatorship”, which defines generally what rights and duties each parent will have to a child following governmental involvement in that relationship. Because the law favors marriage, there is rarely a situation where married parents have to have conservatorship arrangements. Conservatorship arrangements come in to play when married parents get a divorce and seek the assistance of the law to separate themselves, or when two parents are not married and, therefore, require the law to define each parents’ relationship with the child.

A Dallas divorce attorney would explain that custody or conservatorship generally involves four subareas of a parent’s rights to a child: conservatorship titles, rights and duties to the child assigned between the parents (including the right usually assigned to one parent to determine the child’s primary residence), parenting time allocation (also called visitation or Possession and Access), and financial support (child support and medical support).

Common Myths about Child Custody

Some parents seeking a Dallas child custody lawyer, use the term “physical custody,” which infers the day-to-day care of a child and establishing where the child will live. Some use the terms “sole custody” or “joint custody”, which they believe reflects whether the child lives with one parent solely or both parents equally. In Texas, these terms and concepts are a misnomer.

There are very few situations, even in the worst of circumstances, where one parent will have “custody” of a child 100% of the time and the other parent will never, ever see the child. In Texas, the law presumes that parents can work together to co-parent a child and make decisions in the child’s best interest, so the law automatically gives both parents the title of “joint managing conservators.” However, in Texas, the joint managing conservatorship title does not, contrary to some assumptions, mean the parents will have equal parenting time. The title of joint managing conservator simply denotes that the parents will be able to co-parent and make decisions regarding the child’s best interest together.

If the parents are unable to co-parent because of an impairment of one of the parents due, for example, to alcohol/drug use, domestic violence, or major conflict, then one parent can petition the court to be named the sole managing conservator. With that request, the parent would also request to have exclusive decision-making authority regarding the major decisions in the child’s life. In this circumstance, a parent might also request the court to limit the other parent’s access to something supervised. A parent can pursue a modification of a court order to establish new rules regarding child custody.

At O’Neil & Attorneys, we believe it is important for our clients to be informed. Our Dallas child custody attorneys are here to help you and answer any questions you may have.