Building a strong custody case in Texas depends on one simple principle: base everything you do on the best interest of your child. Texas family courts use the child’s best interest as the standard for making custody decisions. To show the court that granting you custody is in your child’s best interest, make a point of being an active and consistent parent. Avoid behaviors that a court might view as not in the child’s best interest. Document everything you can so you have evidence for child custody hearings.
Steps to Strengthen Your Custody Case
Steps you can take to strengthen your custody case in Texas include:
- Understanding the best interest of the child custody standard
- Deciding whether to seek joint custody or sole custody
- Developing a winning strategy for your custody case
- Preparing for your custody hearing
- Gathering evidence to support your custody case
- Avoiding common custody mistakes
- Seeking legal representation for your custody case
Understanding Texas custody standards is the most important step to strengthen your custody case.
Understanding Custody Laws and Standards
Texas family law prioritizes the best interest of the child. The law assumes that it is in the child’s best interest to be raised by their parents. For this reason, a court will grant you either sole or joint custody unless granting you custody would significantly impair:
- Your child’s physical health
- Your child’s emotional development
Joint Custody or Sole Custody
Under the best interest of the child custody standard, the court will assume you should have joint custody. That doesn’t mean the child will spend equal time with each parent. Texas requires parenting plans for custody cases to specify which parent has the right to designate the child’s primary residence. You can create a parenting plan with your former spouse that gives each parent scheduled time with the children. However, a parenting plan must minimize any disruption to:
- Education
- Daily routine
- The child’s ability to associate with friends
The court will approve any plan it considers to be in the child’s best interest. If you’re asking for sole custody, you must convince the court that granting joint custody would not be in your child’s best interest. The court will not grant custody to a parent with a history of family violence. If a parent has a history of family violence, the court will grant only supervised visitation.
Strategies for Winning Custody Cases
The basic strategy for winning custody cases is prioritizing your child’s best interests. That’s the standard the court will use when making custody decisions. To demonstrate that you are prioritizing your child’s best interest:
- Provide a safe and stable place for your child to live
- Give your child consistent care and support
- Encourage your child to have a healthy relationship with their other parent if possible
- Demonstrate your ability to be cooperative, calm, and respectful
Consider mediation if you have difficulty communicating with your ex without conflict. A professional mediator can help you create a parenting plan without getting caught up in conflict with your ex.
Child Custody Preparation Tips
Here are some tips to help you prepare for a child custody hearing:
- Gather evidence to support your custody case
- Create a parenting plan with a well-defined schedule
- Do everything you can to establish a healthy co-parenting relationship with your ex
If your ex is willing to build a healthy co-parenting relationship with you, the court will probably order joint custody. If your ex refuses to co-parent in the best interest of your child, the court may grant you sole custody.
Gathering Evidence to Support Your Custody Case
Whether you’re asking for joint or sole custody, you must gather evidence to support your custody case. Get in the habit of documenting everything, including:
- Taking your child to school activities
- Taking your child to medical appointments
- Voicemail messages, texts, and emails demonstrating that you are an involved parent
- Any examples of inconsistent or unreliable parenting from your former partner
Court documentation for custody cases can include:
- Written parenting plans and custody agreements
- Records of child support payments
- School records
- Medical records
- Financial records demonstrating that you can provide a stable living environment
- Police records showing incidents of domestic violence or drug or alcohol abuse
- Character references
Child custody witness testimony can include statements from friends, family, and medical professionals. Anyone who can tell the court about your parenting and relationship with your child can help your custody case.
Avoiding Custody Case Mistakes
Divorce can be an emotionally challenging experience for anyone, especially when a child custody dispute is involved. Avoiding child custody mistakes is largely a matter of not getting caught up in your own emotional reactions. Behaviors to avoid include:
- Focusing on your anger toward your ex rather than your child’s well-being
- Saying bad things to your child about your ex
- Ignoring court orders
- Failing to follow an agreed-upon parenting plan
- Not doing whatever you said you would do
- Missing child support payments
- Using drugs or alcohol to deal with your negative emotions
- Family violence of any kind
Your goal is to demonstrate that it’s in your child’s best interest for you to have custody. You must demonstrate to the court that you can provide a safe, consistent, loving home environment.
Seeking Legal Representation in Custody Disputes
Seeking legal representation in a custody dispute is always a good idea. An experienced family law attorney can do many things for you, including:
- Helping you design a parenting plan
- Helping you gather evidence
- Negotiating with your ex’s attorneys so you don’t have to
- Helping you set up mediation to resolve any difficult disputes
- Helping you come up with an effective custody dispute strategy
- Presenting evidence in custody hearings
- Representing you in family court
The Texas law firm of Smith & Bledsoe Family Law represents families in the Austin area. We have extensive experience with child custody disputes, and we can help you get the results you’re looking for. We’re known for taking on the most difficult cases and vigorously representing our clients’ interests. If you are going through a custody dispute in Austin, Texas, contact us today to discuss your case with an experienced family law attorney.