Plano Child Custody Attorney | The Fox Firm

Plano Child Custody Attorney

Child Custody Lawyer in Plano and the Surrounding Areas

There are two main scenarios that lead to a child custody case being pursued. The first is if the parents of the child get divorced. When two parents file for divorce, the divorce must address the custody arrangement of the child. The second scenario is when two unmarried parents decide to end their romantic relationship, causing them to file formal custody proceedings in family court to divide parenting time. In either case, the outcome will result in a parenting plan dictated in a court order.

The parenting plan is extremely detailed and intricate and can span several pages as it outlines child custody decisions like whether there will be sole custody or joint custody, who has the legal rights to make certain types of decisions for the child (conservatorship), possession schedules, holiday schedules, when each parent is to have phone access to the child, and even what happens if one parent moves away.

Navigating the parenting plan itself is a difficult task. Make sure you arrive at a child custody decision from the court that is in the best interest of you and your children with the help of experienced family law attorney Sarah Fox.

Physical Custody

Physical custody is exactly what it sounds like. It’s whichever parent has physical custody of the child at the time.

Legal Custody

Legal Custody refers to the legal right to make certain life-impacting decisions about the child’s education, medical treatment, religion, and geographic location. Any number of scenarios can be crafted by the parties or compelled in a custody order.

Joint Custody

Parents who don’t live together have joint custody when they share the decision-making responsibilities for and physical custody of their children. This joint custody can consist of different situations including:

  • Parent A has full physical custody of the child, meaning the child only lives in Parent A’s home, but both parents have joint legal custody to make decisions concerning the child’s upbringing

  • Parent A has primary physical custody of the child, meaning the child lives mostly with Parent A and some with Parent B, but both parents have joint legal custody to make decisions concerning the child’s upbringing

  • Parent A and Parent B have equally shared joint physical custody and both parents have joint legal custody

Sole Custody

A court of family law will often award sole custody in cases where the other parent is deemed unfit. This can be the result of alcohol or drug dependency or charges of child abuse or neglect. In this situation

  • Parent A has sole physical custody of the child and sole legal custody.

Conservatorship

In Texas family law court, we have conservatorships. Conservatorship refers to the rights each parent has to make decisions for the child and the duties they have to provide care for the child.

Sole Managing Conservatorship

In some cases where it is shown to the court that it would not be in the best interest of the child for both parents to share the equal rights and duties to raise the child, one parent can be designated as the sole managing conservator. The sole managing conservator has the power to make those relevant decisions about the child’s upbringing as well as holding all or the vast majority of the physical possession of the child. In such a case, the other parent would be designated as the possessory conservator which would grant visitation rights to certain access periods with the child. Remember that in Texas, there is a rebuttable presumption that appointing both parents as joint managing conservators is in the best interest of the child, however, that presumption can be overcome by a myriad of factors that include domestic violence, physical or emotional danger to the child, excessive drug abuse, and sexual abuse.

Joint Managing Conservatorship

Joint managing conservatorship is when both parents are awarded the rights to make decisions regarding the child’s religion, education, medical care, and estate and also equally have the duties to provide proper care and support for the child. Although both parents share these rights and duties as joint managing conservators, one parent is often designated as the parent with the exclusive right to designate the child’s primary residence. In the state of Texas there is a rebuttable presumption in all child custody cases that appointing both parents as joint managing conservators is in the best interest of the child. “Joint” doesn’t always mean 50/50 possession, however, and when parents are named joint managing conservators, one parent can have more possession of the child than the other, or the two can have equal possession of the child.

Standard Possession Schedules

Joint Managing Conservators can share possession any way they want to so long as they agree. The possession order only controls when the parties cannot agree on their own.

The standard schedule when the parents live within 100 miles of each other is:

  • Parent A designated as parent with the right to determine child’s primary residence

  • Parent B has two hour possession every Thursday night

  • Parent B has possession from 6:00 pm Friday to 6:00 pm the following Sunday on first, third, and fifth weekends of each month

  • Parent B has possession from 6:00 pm on the day school lets out for Winter break until noon on December 28th on even numbered years, and Parent A has the same possession on odd numbered years

  • Parent A has possession from 6:00 the day school lets out for Thanksgiving until 6:00 pm the following Sunday on even numbered years and Parent B has the same possession on odd numbered years

  • Parent B has possession from 6:00 pm the day school lets out for Spring Break on even numbered years, and Parent A has the same possession on odd numbered years.

  • Parent B has 30 days of possession in the Summer

Expanded Standard Schedule when the parents live within 100 miles of each other

  • Looks exactly like standard schedule with the addition that Parent B has possession beginning when school ends every Thursday until school begins Friday morning, and possession continues on first, third, and fifth weekends until school resumes Monday morning.

50/50

There are many different ways to structure 50/50 possession schedule

  • Week on/Week off

  • 2/2/3 – Where Parent A has possession of child every Monday and Tuesday, Parent B has possession of child every Wednesday and Thursday, and they alternate weekends. That way, each week one parent has possession of the child for 5 days in a row, and in no week does a parent have possession of the child for less than 2 days.

Modifications

There are times that different scenarios of life render a child custody order less manageable than it was when it was first ordered. Oftentimes, small changes such as pick up and drop off times, or changing weekly overnights to a different night of the week can be modified simply by filing a written agreement of the parties. For larger changes, the law allows for a parent to file a modification suit to change certain elements of a child custody order no less than one year after the original order is entered. The only way a modification suit can open prior to that one year mark is if the court finds there was a substantial and material change in circumstances that justify opening a modification sooner. To find out if your case constitutes a substantial and material change, contact child custody attorney Sarah Fox for a consultation immediately.

Child Custody Lawyer

Child Custody arrangements can be incredibly complex. Contact child custody attorney Sarah Fox for a consultation to maintain the custody rights in the best interest of your child.