Legal Expert

Visitation Rights

If you are facing a divorce, those issues related to conservatorship (also known as child custody) are naturally foremost on your mind. Because Texas places considerable value on both parents continuing to foster meaningful relationships with their children, it often employs a standard possession (or visitation) schedule for the noncustodial parent (the parent for whom the children don’t live primarily). If you are facing concerns related to your visitation rights, don’t delay consulting with an experienced Austin visitation rights attorney at Philley Law.

Possessory Conservatorship

In Texas, the noncustodial parent is known as the possessory conservator. This means that, while the children do not live primarily with him or her, this parent retains parental rights, including the right to a visitation schedule and more. The fact is that, if you and your divorcing spouse can find common ground and come to an agreement regarding when your children spend time with each of you, there is no limit to how creative you can get with your visitation schedule.

Because every family faces unique circumstances, this allows you to move forward with plans that address your specific situation and your children’s best interests. If you’re not able to come to a consensus, however, the court will do so on your behalf, and this often – but not always – means a standard possession schedule will be employed.

The Standard Possession Schedule

The State of Texas employs two standard possession schedules – one based on parents who live within 100 miles of one another and another based on parents who live farther than 100 miles from one another. If you and your ex live no more than 100 miles apart, the following standard possession schedule will likely apply:

• Visitation with your children on every first, third, and fifth weekend of the month
• Visitation with your children on every Thursday evening
• Visitation with your children on alternating holidays
• An extended visitation of 30 days with your children over summer vacation

If you and your ex live more than 100 miles apart, the standard possession schedule includes:

• The same weekend visitation schedule with your children as above (but this may be reduced to one weekend a month if the amount of travel involved is too much)
• The same alternating holiday visitation schedule with your children as above
• çVisitation with your children over spring break and a longer extended visitation of 42 days over the summer vacation

It is very important to note that the court can implement whatever possession schedule that it determines is in the best interest of your children (based on any number of important variables).