It happens. Practically every family with young children who divorces later realizes that the custody arrangements the court signed off on when the kids were little no longer fit the needs of your family as your children grow older.
You want to remain compliant with Texas civil custody laws, but the current custody order has become a real stumbling block. Do you have any options?
Texas law allows for custody modifications
Face it — the custody schedule that worked so well when the kids were toddlers and primary schoolers has become untenable for your tweens and teens. If you and your co-parent can agree on a modified arrangement between yourselves, it’s still best to formalize it legally.
That way, neither parent could ever be held in contempt of court should the co-parenting relationship break down.
Do the kids’ preferences count?
Perhaps, dependent upon their ages, level of maturity and reason for preferring to live with one parent instead of the other. If they simply want to live with the parent with fewer or laxer rules, their preference is not going to carry much weight with the family law court.
However, if it’s the kids’ involvement in sports, extracurriculars, jobs or access to AP courses or early college credits that motivates the change to the custody order, the courts will usually take that into consideration when deciding whether to modify the agreement.
Also, if it is an uncontested modification where both parents willingly sign off on the arrangement, most courts will agree to the parents’ modification without holding a hearing on the matter.