If you are confused about Texas child custody laws, then I can’t say that I blame you. No one has ever accused the legal system of being user-friendly or easy to understand. Have you ever tried to take a look at the Texas family code? A couple of sentences is in, and you will either be asleep, or you will be wondering why you even started to look in the first place. The fact is that the family code is about as clear as mud, and what the family code means to actual families like yours is anyone’s guess. But where the rubber hits the road is where you and I are concerned. We can look at the code as a reference point for attorneys and judges. What does the Texas family code mean to you and your family as you consider your family law case?
Texas family law attorneys are supposed to be the people who bridge the gap between the laws of Texas that have to do with child custody and families like yours that have to deal with the consequences of them in day-to-day life. Without a doubt, we see that families like yours do better when they understand what it’s like to go through with a child custody or divorce case. When we talk about child custody laws in Texas, there are so many facets two how these laws impact your family that we could write an entire book on them. When you meet with one of our experienced family law attorneys for a free-of-charge consultation, you should ask them for a copy of Mr. Fagan’s book on divorce and child custody. The text is highly readable, approachable, and an excellent place to start your journey regarding child custody laws in Texas.
This is where I think attorneys can provide the most significant amount of benefit to clients and potential clients alike. Information is a powerful tool, and that can be lost amid a complex child custody case. You can become so fixated on the outcome of your case that you lose track of the why behind your actions. Why are you going through with this case in the first place? Why is your child in need of you starting one of these cases? Why has your Co-parent brought you to the point of moving forward with the child custody case? These are all questions that you need to answer before you can fully move on with a lawsuit. With that being said, I would like to walk you through what it means to file for conservatorships in possession In Texas.
First, it is essential for us to understand what you are looking for when it comes to an experienced family law attorney. For one, you need an attorney who practices primarily in family law. You do not want to leave your case and your relationship with your children to an inexperienced attorney who has a general practice or even focuses on other areas of the law besides family. Imagine going to a dentist to have your heart looked at or looking up the phone number to a cardiologist to get your teeth cleaned. It is just as silly to contact a General practitioner or a contracts attorney to fight for your rights in a child custody matter.
Just the same, you would not want to move forward on a child custody case without the assistance of an attorney. Rest assured, you can proceed on a child custody case without a lawyer. However, we do not pull our teeth; most of us do not change the oil in our car and change the tires on the vehicle. To do those things, we go to the experts. Professionals who do these things for a living all day, every day. If you wouldn’t consider going under your vehicle’s hood, then why would you consider stepping into a courtroom or even filing documents without an attorney? The mistakes you make could impact your relationship with your children, your time and cost you money. All of this can be avoided by hiring and working with an experienced family law attorney.
An experienced family law attorney has the heart of a teacher. This is an essential qualification; in my opinion, lawyers often underutilize that. I can’t think of two occupations that R more different than being a teacher and being an attorney in most people’s minds. However, I believe it is essential for an attorney to take on the qualities of a teacher in many regards. For instance, let’s consider the need to talk with you as a client about complicated matters in child custody laws. We have already covered how difficult it to understand and read the Texas family code is. Blogs like this one are essential but can only go so far when it comes to helping you apply the law to your own life. Where can you go from there to gain an understanding of the Texas Family Code?
That question starts with a conversation with an experienced family law attorney. Most family law attorneys offer consultations with them when you are in the information-gathering phase of a case. In many cases, the attorney will charge you some amount of money for this consultation. Yeah, you can check with the attorney before meeting with them as to whether or not those conversations will be free of charge or will carry with it some payment for their time.
However, the Law Office of Bryan Fagan n offers free of charge consultations six days a week by phone, via video, and in Person. These consultations with our experienced family law attorneys are an excellent resource for you, especially while you are beginning to learn more about the process of applying the law to your specific circumstances. A lot of the benefit of these consultations isn’t merely talking to the attorney about your situation but also hearing from the attorney how they are best to help you. It can be not easy to listen when you want to tell someone about your situation and help you. However, you need to understand how the attorney would work on your case specifically and how your personality would be combined with theirs. Not every attorney is well suited to work with every Person and vice versa.
The steps involved in filing a child custody case in Texas
I have found that simply understanding what it means to file a divorce for a child custody case in Texas can be extremely helpful for a person in your position. Having a road map of what to expect and how to get to where you need to be can be a perfect place to understand what is expected of you and your family in conjunction with a case. As with most things in life, knowing removes some of the worry concerning the unknown. Once you know where you’re headed, you can feel more comfortable about what it takes to get there.
The great thing about family law cases is that you and your opposing party are co-parents of a child. This means that theoretically speaking, the two of you interact consistently and can discuss matters important to a case or hypothetical family law case. With this in mind, you and your co-parent have ample opportunity to work with one another to discuss the essential issues in your child’s life. You may even be able to reach informal settlement agreements with one another on issues like custody, possession, visitation, child support in a host of other problems.
The benefit of having an attorney work on these issues alongside you is that the attorney is knowledgeable about what has to be contained in a court order for a judge to sign their name to the order and make it applicable for the two of you. While you and your Co-parent are fully capable of discussing the issues on your own and coming to a broad consensus on issues, an experienced family law attorney can help both of you understand what is most important. Both you and your Co-parent should have attorneys of your own. This is because each of you has different needs and perspectives that need to be considered. Having your attorney to help guide you takes those needs and wants and puts them at the forefront.
Another benefit of having attorneys represent you and your co-parent is that they would be well suited to help the both of you get into a situation where you can mediate your case. Mediation is a process whereby you can attend a meeting with an experienced family law attorney who is acting as a mediator. The mediation session will allow the two of you to do not only work on settling your case but can help each of your problems solved through areas that are of significant concern.
For example, suppose that each of you has an issue where a typical possession order would not work for your family. Maybe one of your work schedules requires you to be someone who keeps long hours. Or, you may be questioning whether you can have an inexperienced attorney assist you in creating a schedule that works well for your teenage children and your elementary-age children. Well, working with a mediator and an experienced attorney can be a great place to start. If nothing else, you can learn more about your case and begin to problem solve potential solutions. All this is more likely in mediation rather than working outside of a mediation session without an attorney.
Finally, but you should also know about mediation is that the result of mediation is that you can receive a mediated settlement agreement that locks you and your co-parent into an agreement together. This is a great benefit for you. For one, I put you both in a position where you cannot go back on your word in terms of changing your mind once the agreement is signed off on. The last thing you want is to work hard towards a settlement only to find that your Co-parent goes back on their word. This is possible given that informal agreements are not enforceable by a court and have no legally binding nature to them.
All in all, mediation may be the greatest gift that an attorney can provide you with. Having an iron-clad agreement that becomes a court order without too much time or effort is exactly what you are attempting to accomplish in a child custody case. A clear, concise, easily understood, and compiled order without much time or money being spent are worthwhile goals to have for your child custody case. An attorney can help you get to those end goals with the least number of bumps in the road between now and then.
Child custody laws create predictable outcomes for families- in theory.
The whole purpose of having a Texas family Code is to allow families across our state to have a set number of laws and guidelines to approach their family law circumstances. This is a great thing but can also be a challenge for families across our state. This challenge stems from the fact that your family is different from every other family in the state. Your specific circumstances and how they interact with the Texas Family Code is what your case will be about on a fundamental level. The attorney you work with must help the judge understand that relationship and how you are best suited to act in your child’s best interests.
At the end of a family law case, a judge will be tasked with making a decision based on what is in the best interests of your child. There is a presumption that you act in your child’s best interests when you perform any action about your child. Being able to put your child’s interests ahead of your own is crucial to achieving success in a case. Whether a decision benefits you is not relevant in a child custody case. Somewhat, how these decisions beneficially impact your child is most critical.
One of the last distinctions that I wanted to cover in today’s blog post is how you can become your child’s primary conservator. Being a primary conservator means that you can choose your child’s primary residence, receive child support payments, and make decisions on behalf of your child both in combination with your co-parent, exclusively by yourself, and independently in the event of an emergency. Primary conservatorship is a responsibility, to be sure, but it also allows you to be in contact more frequently with your child and to hold rights and duties to your child that are greater than your co-parent.
Many fathers, for example, will ask whether or not they have a chance at being named as the primary conservator of their children. The feeling among many fathers is that the law in Texas favors mothers when it comes to being named as primary conservators. I have even spoken with fathers who believe that the Texas Family Code explicitly favors mothers over fathers regarding conservatorship issues. Here are my thoughts on that.
An experienced family law attorney can help you as a father position yourself and possibly be named as the primary conservator of your children. Suppose you have a strong history of caring for your children, attending school activities, cooking, cleaning, and being the parent there for your kids daily. In that case, you have as strong a chance as your mother to be named as a primary conservator- all other factors being equal. This is important for you as a father to be aware of. With an experienced family law attorney by your side, these are factors that you may be unaware of.
Primary conservatorship is also a topic that frequently leads people to go to trial without a settlement agreement. While there is nothing wrong with taking a case to trial, if necessary, I would not recommend doing so when you have little chance to win on that issue. Speak with an experienced family law attorney before deciding to go to trial on a child custody issue in which you do not stand to win on.
Questions about the material in today’s blog post? Contact the Law Office of Bryan Fagan
If you have any questions about the material contained in today’s blog post, please do not hesitate to contact the Law Office of Bryan Fagan. These consultations are free of charge and available six days a week by phone, via video, or in Person. Additionally, these consultations are a great way to learn more about how your circumstances and those of your family may be impacted by filing a divorce or child custody case.
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Other Articles you may be interested in:
- 12 Texas Custody & Conservatorship Battle Tips
- Child Custody Basics in Texas
- Do I Have to Pay Child Support if I Have Joint Custody of My Child in Texas?
- Child Custody Basics in Texas
- Are Dads at a Disadvantage when trying to win 50/50 custody in a Texas Divorce?
- Sole Managing Conservator in a Child Custody Case in Texas?
- Help!! My Ex-Spouse Kidnapped my Child
- How Much Will My Texas Child Custody Case Cost?
- When Can a Minor Child Weigh in on Custody Decisions in Texas?“
- Child Custody Geographic Restrictions in Texas
- What to expect during your initial consultation
- How to Prepare for a Meeting with a Divorce Attorney
