Pro Se AcademyCustody (SAPCR): Conservatorship & Possession
How Texas decides who makes decisions for a child and who has the child when.
1. Vocabulary: conservatorship and possession
- Define managing and possessory conservator.
- Explain the joint managing conservatorship presumption.
- State the best-interest standard.
Texas uses conservatorship instead of "custody." A managing conservator has decision-making rights such as school, medical care, and usually the right to set the child's primary residence. A possessory conservator has visitation (possession and access). A case about children that is not part of a divorce is called a SAPCR (Suit Affecting the Parent-Child Relationship).
The main question is always the child's best interest (Tex. Fam. Code § 153.002). Texas presumes parents should be appointed joint managing conservators (Tex. Fam. Code § 153.131). Credible evidence of family violence can defeat that presumption, and the court must consider it (Tex. Fam. Code § 153.004). Even with joint conservatorship, one parent usually gets the exclusive right to designate the child's primary residence, often within a geographic area.
Practice questions
Practice 1. Two fit parents are divorcing. Neither has a history of family violence. What does Texas law presume about conservatorship?
Practice 2. In a custody case, what standard controls every decision the judge makes about the child?
2. Possession schedules: the Standard Possession Order
- Describe the basic Standard Possession Order (SPO).
- Know when a child's wishes can be heard.
The Standard Possession Order (Tex. Fam. Code § 153.312 et seq.) is presumed to be in the best interest of a child age 3 or older. For parents who live within 100 miles of each other, it generally gives the possessory parent the 1st, 3rd, and 5th weekends, Thursdays from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. during the school year unless the order elects otherwise (Tex. Fam. Code § 153.312(a)(2)), alternating holidays, and extended summer time. When parents live within 50 miles, the possessory parent generally gets expanded times (for example, from the end of school Thursday through school Monday) unless they elect out or the court finds it is not in the child's best interest (Tex. Fam. Code § 153.317, Tex. Fam. Code § 153.3171). For children under 3, the court sets a schedule based on the child's needs (Tex. Fam. Code § 153.254). TexasLawHelp.org's Standard Possession Order form (FM-Chil-306) is attached to the decree or order.
A judge must interview a child age 12 or older in chambers on request about the child's wishes, and may interview a younger child. The child's wishes are not binding (Tex. Fam. Code § 153.009).
Practice questions
Practice 1. During a pending divorce in a county with a standing order, Ana wants to move with the children from Allen to Austin and enroll them in a new school next week. Her husband objects. What does the standing order provide?
Practice 2. A 13-year-old wants to tell the judge which parent she wants to live with. What does the Family Code provide?