San Marcos, TX Child Custody Attorney

Experienced Child Custody Attorney Protecting Parent-Child Relationships in Hays County, Texas

Texas law refers to child custody as conservatorship and possession and access. Conservatorship refers to who holds the right to make decisions for your child. Possession and access is the visitation schedule. You can share full decision-making authority and still have a limited schedule, or the reverse.

Our San Marcos child custody attorney has 15 years of legal experience, building cases around the rights of parents and the best interests of children. If you are facing a custody case in Hays County, Texas, Brandon Wong & Associates can help.

Conservatorship and Possession Under Texas Law

The law presumes that naming you and the other parent as joint managing conservators serves your child's best interests, unless there is a history of family violence. As joint conservators, you share authority over major life decisions, such as schooling and medical care. It does not automatically give you equal time, because possession is decided separately.

When creating a schedule, courts start from the standard possession order and presume it gives you a fair amount of time. Fathers' rights cases run on this same framework rather than a separate standard. Texas courts apply the same presumptions to you regardless of gender.

Your Child's Preference and Your Right to Raise Your Child

Your child's preference matters, but it is not the sole deciding factor in a custody case. If you or the other parent asks, the judge must privately interview a child who is 12 or older about conservatorship or which parent should have the exclusive right to decide the child's primary residence. The judge may interview a younger child at his or her discretion. Whatever your child says, the judge weighs it alongside everything else in the case and then decides.

Decision-making rights are divided in the order itself. Disputes over custody and religion are common. During your scheduled time, you generally direct your child's moral and religious upbringing, which means two parents may raise the same child in two different traditions. Problems arise when one parent's practice cuts into the other's time or the child's activities, so a well-drafted order addresses these issues before they become conflicts.

Distance, Relocation, and Geographic Restrictions

Most Texas custody orders include a geographic restriction limiting where your child's primary residence may be, often to Hays County and the counties next to it. That restriction is what governs parental relocation. If you want to move your child outside the restricted area, you typically need the other parent's agreement or a court order changing the current terms.

The schedule works differently when you already live far apart. If you live more than 100 miles from your child, you may keep the first, third, and fifth weekends or instead choose one weekend per month with advance notice. You also receive spring break every year and a longer stretch in the summer. Your long-distance visitation order should spell out who pays for travel and who handles the exchanges, since those details cause more disputes than the schedule itself.

Grandparent Access in Texas

Texas sets a high bar for grandparents' rights. If you are a grandparent seeking access, you must file an affidavit and then overcome the legal presumption that denying you access would significantly impair your grandchild's physical health or emotional well-being.

You must also be the parent of one of the child's parents, and that parent must be deceased, found incompetent, incarcerated during the three months before you file, or without actual or court-ordered possession of the child. At least one parent's rights must remain intact for you to bring the claim at all.

Enforcing and Changing an Existing Child Custody Order

An order is only as good as the compliance behind it. If the other parent is denying you time with your child, visitation enforcement starts with a written record. A court needs specific dates, times, and locations before it will act. Keep track of every missed exchange as it happens. A parent who disregards the order may be held in contempt, ordered to pay your attorney fees, and required to make up the time you lost.

Custody modification is a separate matter with its own standard. To change conservatorship or the schedule, you generally must show a material and substantial change in circumstances since the last order was entered. We can help you gather the evidence needed to show that the change is justified.

Contact Our San Marcos, Texas Child Custody Lawyer Today

At Brandon Wong & Associates, we can help you create a parenting plan, address disputes over conservatorship and possession, and enforce the order when necessary. We can also help with modifications when your family's circumstances change. Contact our San Marcos, TX child custody attorney at 210-201-3832 to discuss your situation.