Conservatorship

Texas calls “custody” conservatorship. Conservatorship is the decision-making ability of a parent for their child. The presumption in Texas is that parents should be named joint-managing conservators, meaning both parents are involved in the decision-making process for their child. Possession and access is what parenting-time or visitation is called in Texas.

While parents are often Joint Managing Conservators, that does not always mean equal decision-making power. Generally, one parent has the right to decide where a child resides and often has the right to also make educational decisions for that child. Courts generally limit where a child resides to a geographic area – for example, if your case is pending in Dallas, the geographic area may be Dallas and contiguous counties. The biggest decision-making rights are the right to decide where a child lives, educational decisions (and enrollment in school), invasive (non-emergency) medical and dental decisions, and psychological and psychiatric treatment decisions for a child. It is not uncommon for one parent to have the final say in certain decision-making rights and courts can order some rights be exclusive and others be shared by agreement or independent. There are other rights and duties, but those are often the ones clients find most important.

In cases of family violence, the court presumes that one parent should be the Sole Managing Conservator of a child, meaning, they get the decision-making power for that child. In cases where it’s appropriate, the other parent may be a possessory conservator, where there is a possession schedule for the child, but not necessarily a ton of decision-making power.

Conservatorship issues affect your child’s day-to-day and can be really hard to modify in the future so it’s important to speak with an attorney to know your rights and the legal ramifications of entering into an agreement or the implications of a judge’s rulings. Email us or call us at 214-528-3344 to learn more about conservatorship issues in Texas and how the law applies to your case.