El Paso · Custody · Visitation · Child Support
Texas judges decide custody on the record actually put in front of them. Get your dates, a realistic schedule, and the cost of representation — today.
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Was your child not returned, or were you served with custody papers? Both run on dates.
A court can act quickly when someone asks it to, with dates and documentation. General information about Texas law, not advice about your case.
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Some custody problems can wait for an appointment. These generally cannot.
Also call rather than email if there has been violence or a threat of violence around the children, if you were served with custody papers and the answer date is coming, or if CPS has contacted you. Emergencies are not solved by a form sitting in an inbox. A court can act quickly when someone asks it to, with dates and documentation — but someone has to ask.
Write down what happened while it is fresh: dates, times, who said what, what was returned and what was not. Screenshots of messages. Courts act on specifics, and the record you keep this week is the record we use later.
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How Texas frames it
Who decides — school, medical care, where the child lives — is conservatorship. When the child is with each parent is possession and access. They are decided separately, and people lose ground by arguing the wrong one.
Texas courts start from a presumption that both parents should be joint managing conservators. Joint does not mean equal time, and it does not by itself answer who decides where the child lives. Those details are where preparation matters, because the judge decides on the evidence in front of them.
Texas applies guideline percentages to the paying parent's net monthly resources — starting at 20% for one child and rising with additional children — applied up to a statutory cap on net resources that is adjusted periodically. A court can order more above the cap if a child's proven needs justify it, and can deviate from the guidelines when circumstances call for it.
The real argument is almost never the percentage. It is what counts as net resources: self-employment income, overtime, a second job, bonuses, other children being supported, who carries the health insurance. Get that wrong and the number is wrong for years. If your order was set years ago on income nobody earns any more, that is worth one phone call.
A court can modify custody, possession, or support when there has been a material and substantial change in circumstances since the order and the change is in the child's best interest. Orders do not update themselves, and the longer a mismatch runs, the harder it is to explain to a judge why it was tolerated.
A Texas order is also enforceable. Missed support, refused exchanges, and unilateral schedule changes are things a court can act on — but only when someone brings them with dates and documentation.
Say that on the first call. Under Texas Family Code § 153.501, when credible evidence shows a risk of international abduction of a child, the court must consider whether protective measures are needed. Section 153.503 lets a court order measures such as passport and travel controls, limits on who may apply for a child's passport, supervised possession, and a bond. None of that happens automatically — someone has to ask, with evidence.
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“Outstanding service. My divorce was handled with professionalism and compassion from start to finish. Thank you.”
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“Simple divorce took 3 1/2 months. Good communication with us. Easy peasy.”
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“Really helpful. They help me with my divorce and made everything easier for my ex wife and myself.”
The rating and the count are the firm's overall public Google reviews across its practice areas; the three excerpts above are family-law reviews from that same public profile, quoted as written. Individual experiences vary; reviews do not guarantee a similar outcome.
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Family hearings turn on preparation: the dates, documents, and witnesses put in front of the judge.
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Unless otherwise noted, the firm's attorneys are not certified by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization. Your matter is staffed out of the El Paso office.
What happens next
Your current order if there is one, and a short list of what has actually been happening — with dates. Phone photos are fine.
What the best-interest standard means in practice, whether an emergency filing fits your facts, what schedule is realistic, and the fee in writing.
If you hire us, the paperwork is prepared with your dates and documents in it, and you know what the next court step is before it happens.
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Questions
By the best interest of the child. Courts look at the child's needs and routine, each parent's involvement and stability, and the ability of each parent to meet those needs. Texas courts presume both parents should stay involved as joint managing conservators unless the facts show otherwise.
No. Joint managing conservatorship is about decision-making rights and duties. The time each parent has the child is possession and access, and it is set separately.
Moving out does not by itself decide conservatorship or possession. What does matter is the routine that develops afterward, because temporary orders often follow what has actually been happening. That is why the early weeks are the ones to get right.
Often, yes. A court can modify an order when circumstances have materially and substantially changed since it was signed and the change is in the child's best interest.
A child's preference is not the deciding factor, and there is no age at which a child simply picks. Depending on the child's age, a judge may hear from the child in chambers, but the court decides on the best interest of the child.
Not from us. Consultations are confidential whether or not you hire us, and we do not contact the other parent unless you hire us and ask us to. Tell us if a voicemail is not safe.
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