Child custody and child visitation laws in Texas are flexible and can accommodate different types of family structures and the different desires of the parents and the children. Custody can be joint or be assigned to one parent. The parent who has custody has the legal right to determine where and with whom the child will live. The other parent will usually get visitation rights, which are normally documented in great detail.
Child custody is decided with the best interest of the child in mind, and as such will depend on a large number of factors. Child custody is usually decided as part of a divorce or, if the parents are unmarried, as part of a suit affecting the parent-child relationship.
In order to determine what is in the best interest of the child or children the court will look at the age of the children, the children’s preference, the location of schools, each parent’s living situation and ability to provide for the children,any incidents of domestic violence, drug use, etc.
In addition, the court may look at whether the parents have a good relationship with the children, who puts the children to bed, who makes the educational and medical decisions, who drops them of at school, who attends after school activities, etc. It is therefore important to document all of this.
When parents do not live together, the parent who does not have custody can be ordered by the court to pay child support. Child support is meant to only support the child, not the custodial parent. Child support is determined as a percentage of the paying parent’s net income, mostly based on the number of children that parent is obligated to support (including children that parent had with someone other than the person who is currently seeking child support). Child support usually must continue to be paid until the child graduates from high school or turns 18 (whichever one comes later), or until the child becomes emancipated.
Even when you agree on child custody, child support, and visitation rights, it is important to document the agreement in detail. It is not unusual for disagreements to rise up even years after a divorce or custody determination when circumstances have changed. If either one of the spouses decides to remarry the child custody order might have to be changed. I will advocate for your interests, and if the other parent contests your preferred outcome, I will put forth the strongest case possible for you.