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When people talk about child custody, they may be thinking about possession of the child or the legal ability to direct the child’s day-to-day life. Custody involves both aspects—the legal control of the child as well as physical possession of the child. Understanding how those different types of custody, as well as the different types of custody arrangements—shared, primary, sole, and partial—impact a parent’s rights is crucial.
Since these cases are often so emotional, having an excellent lawyer to guide you through the types of custody in Austin could help prepare you for determining custody. Our child custody attorneys could put you in an excellent position to reach a custody settlement or a successful court battle.
Texas does not recognize anything known as sole custody. Instead, it recognizes sole managing conservatorship. Sole managing conservatorship gives one parent the exclusive right to make significant decisions for the kid, including choosing the child’s school, getting medical care for the child, and managing the child’s money.
Most parents share rights over the child—one will often be the possessory conservator while the other is the managing conservator. Sole managing conservatorship is not the default setting. Instead, a court generally needs a reason to order that custody arrangement. Domestic violence, drug or alcohol abuse, or neglectful parenting are some of the reasons that a judge might award this type of custody in Austin.
While managing conservatorship discusses the legal decision-making aspects of parenting, possessory conservatorship discusses who has physical possession of the child. When someone is referred to as the possessory conservator, it generally means that they are the parent who has visitation rights.
Texas has a standard visitation schedule, which is relatively traditional and has changed very little over the last several decades. In this schedule, the possessory conservator gets the first, third, and fifth weekends of the month, some holidays, extended visitation during the summer, and the second and fourth Thursday nights of the month.
However, in Austin, there is plenty of flexibility with this type of custody. Parents can agree to different visitation schedules. Some want to share custody of the child. When parents cannot agree on visitation, the court may order the standard visitation schedule.
Many people refer to joint managing conservatorship as shared or partial custody. In this type of custody, an Austin judge makes both parents shared decision-makers. Sharing decision-making is not the same as sharing physical custody of the child. One parent may have primary physical custody. That parent is known as the primary conservator. The primary conservator often has more substantial rights than the other conservator, such as the right to determine where the child lives, choose their school, and more. The other parent may have visitation rights.
Joint managing conservatorship also opens up the possibility for parents to share custody equally. Many families are opting for 50/50 custody situations, where the children spend alternating weeks with each parent. When those arrangements are not practical, families may still explore custody scenarios that give children close to equal time with both parents.
Determining custody of a child should follow the best interests standard. Custody should always be about what arrangements are in the child’s best interests. The state presumes that, in the absence of evidence to the contrary, continued relationships with both parents are in a child’s best interests.
Whether your family situation is average or has unique characteristics, the attorneys at Kimbrough Legal, PLLC, could help you with custody decisions, starting by helping you understand the types of custody in Austin. Schedule a consultation to learn more today.
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