Child custody in the Lone Star State is known by the legal term “conservatorship.” When parents are awarded joint custody, it’s known as “joint managing conservatorship,” giving both parents input into the child’s upbringing.
When there are issues with one of the parents, especially if there is a history of violence, drug abuse, or other problems, joint managing conservatorship may not be best for the child. In this case, the judge will consider sole managing conservatorship, sometimes called “sole custody.”
What Conservatorship Means
The Texas Family Code indicates that children are entitled to support from both parents. It also takes the stance that both parents should maintain an active relationship with their children and that the parents both have a continuing financial obligation to them. This is the basis of conservatorship.
When parents end their relationship, the courts employ conservatorship to determine how each parent will contribute to the child’s care and well-being. These decisions set out each parent’s role and contribution, including child support.
Both parents have rights and responsibilities, including:
• Providing the child a home and everyday care, including
o Food
o Clothing
o Medicine
o Education
o Other regular needs
• Making decisions for the child, such as:
o School and education
o Medical and dental care
o Extracurricular activities
o Religious upbringing
o Decisions for legal affairs
• Access any of the child’s earnings
• Give legal consent to marriage and US armed forces enlistment prior to age 18
• Apply for, renew, and hold your child’s passport
• Act as an agent for the child’s estate
• Reasonable disciplinary decisions
Conservatorship for a child includes all these decisions. A joint conservatorship gives both parents all the rights to their child.
The Texas Family Code also indicates that “a court may not render an order that conditions the right of a conservator to possession of or access to a child on the payment of child support.”
Sole Managing Conservatorship
Texas’ family law presumes that both parents will make decisions for the child’s best interest. Unfortunately, not all parents do, or have the ability to properly care for their child. In some cases, the court may award sole conservatorship to a parent. This applies to cases of both married and unmarried parents, including those in a common-law marriage. Managing conservatorship is handled and decided separately from divorce decrees in Texas.
In this scenario, one parent takes responsibility for everything involving the child. That parent has the right to make the aforementioned decisions for the child, including their domicile, education, medical and dental care, and other decisions. The court may also award child support to the sole conservator.
The other parent may be called a “possessory conservator” if they are awarded visitation rights and some rights while the child is in their care, such as access to healthcare information, education, attending a child’s extracurricular activities, and consenting to emergency medical care if the child is injured while in their care. But the primary decisionmaker and caretaker is the parent named as the sole managing conservator.
When Sole Managing Conservatorship Is Appropriate
Texas family law puts the child’s best interest at the forefront of all conservatorship decisions. In some cases, joint conservatorship is not applicable for several reasons:
• A history of family violence, neglect, abandonment, or any type of abuse by one parent
• A history of substance abuse
• The existence of any physical or emotional danger to the child
• When joint conservatorship may negatively impact the child’s physical or mental health or their development
• Emotional and physical needs of the child, current and future
• Inequal parenting abilities of parents (i.e., one parent better than the other)
• Unstable home environment of one parent
• Long-term absence from the child’s life, or no interest in being involved with the child
• False accusations of child abuse
Typically, domestic abuse indicates to the court that joint conservatorship would not be in the child’s best interest. The court may not award possessory conservatorship in these cases.
Conservatorship decisions are more gender-neutral than in prior years. Women are not necessarily awarded sole managing conservatorship, and men are also appointed as their children’s sole managing conservators. Working with a Fort Worth family law attorney is vital for gathering evidence, navigating the process, and protecting your rights and your children’s.
Each case is unique, and professional legal counsel is vital for this process to help you navigate the process. A family law attorney understands both Texas family law and the family court system and is prepared to help. They can help you through the process and represent you and your children during court hearings.
Getting Sole Managing Conservatorship of Your Children
If you believe your children would not benefit from joint conservatorship, there are processes to assist you in getting a sole conservatorship. The first part is called Suit Affecting the Parent-Child Relationship (SAPCR). You would need to demonstrate that not only are you are able to provide a stable home for your child, but their continued relationship with the other parent could be detrimental to them.
One of the biggest mitigating factors is to show that you as a sole managing conservator are in the best interests of the child. If the child is over the age of 12, their wishes may be considered by the court. Depending on the circumstances, the other parent’s rights could be terminated, including if a parent abandons their children for six months or longer.
In the SAPCR, you must offer considerable evidence to support your claim of why you should be the sole managing conservator. The first is to prove your suitability and fitness as a parent; this is crucial to your success in court. Keeping and maintaining records of your child’s daily routines, offering homework assistance, handling their appointments, treatments, and similar activities demonstrates active involvement in the child’s life. Attending school events and other extracurricular activities offers additional evidence of involvement.
In-home evaluations are also vital to show how the child is being cared for, interactions between the parent and child, as well as living conditions, including safety, and other factors. The evaluator reports these findings to the court. They can also refute any false allegations made by the other parent, bolstering your case for sole managing conservatorship.
Note that child conservatorship is different from guardianship. In a conservatorship, at least one of the parents is alive, whereas guardianship is employed when both parents are deceased and the children are under 18.
Call The Law Office of Wendy L. Hart for Help
Getting sole custody of your child or children is not an easy undertaking. We’re here to help
At the Law Office of Wendy L. Hart, We will represent your interests, and the interests of your child, for your family’s future. Schedule your consultation with attorney Wendy L. Hart, call our Mansfield-Fort Worth law office today at (817) 842-2336.
