Modifying a custody agreement in Texas can be done, but it needs to be done right if you want the court to sign off on your modification request. A San Antonio, TX custody attorney can help you ensure that you dot all your i’s and cross all your t’s so your custody modification motion has the best chance of being accepted.

What Steps Should You Take When Modifying a Custody Agreement?

Contact a San Antonio, TX Custody Attorney

Having a lawyer is always a good idea in these situations because they can provide you with experienced and accurate legal advice, help you understand the potential long-term implications of changing your agreement, review the current agreement, and help you present your modification in a way the court is likely to accept. They will also give you advice about every aspect of the process, take care of much of the paperwork on your behalf, and represent you in all hearings.

A lawyer is a good idea in any situation, but it’s especially important if you and the other child’s parent are not in agreement about the proposed modification. A lawyer can help you to negotiate and be a third party providing an objective perspective. A lawyer can also help you fight back if your modification request is reasonable but your ex partner is not.

Determine Which County to File In

In Texas, you need to file your modification request in the same county court as the original custody request was filed. This is the case even if you have moved to another county or even to another state. However, if the child has moved to another county, the case may be moved to that county if the child has been living there for six months or more.

Determine if You’re Eligible to File

Most likely you are eligible if you’re asking this question, but, for the record, you must be one of the child’s parents or a named adult on the existing custody orders, such as a guardian, to be eligible to file a motion to modify a custody agreement. If both of the child’s parents are dead, as well as all guardians, then grandparents, aunts and uncles, nieces and nephews, siblings, and great-grandparents become eligible.

In most cases, you can’t bring a motion for changing custody until at least a year has passed since the original custody orders were made, unless you are the primary custody holder. There are a few exceptions to this, particularly if there is a reason to believe the current orders are putting the child in danger, but for the most part, you will need to wait for a year.

Decide the Grounds for Your Modification

There are only certain grounds that the court will accept. The first and most common is a “material and substantial change” to the situation. This could be a change for you, the child, the other parent, or any combination of the three. Common “material and substantial” changes include loss of job, serious illness on the part of one of the parents or a child, one of the parents moving out of state, or a substantial change in the child’s schooling situation.

The second acceptable grounds is if the child is 12 years old or older and now has a preference for living with their noncustodial parent and wants to make a change. The court will meet with the child privately and hear them out, asking questions about why they wish to make this change. The child’s wishes are important, but they are certainly not the determining factor. The court will still decide based entirely on what it believes is best for the child. If the child’s primary reason for wishing to change custodial situations is simply that one parent is more “fun,” this is unlikely to be considered grounds for a change. However, if a child can articulate important emotional or physical reasons for wishing to make this change, the court will seriously consider it.

Finally, if the parent who currently has primary custody voluntarily wishes to relinquish it, this is also grounds for modifying existing custody orders. It’s always a good idea to talk with a lawyer, no matter what reason you may have for requesting a change, as your lawyer can help you to understand whether the court is likely to accept it and the best way to present your grounds for requesting a modification.

Sign All the Paperwork With the Child’s Other Parent, Or…

If you and the child’s other parent are in agreement about the modifications you want to make, the two of you should review the modification request with your lawyers, so your lawyers can ensure the requests are made in the right way and are likely to be accepted by the court as in the child’s best interest. You would then sign the paperwork and your lawyer will file it with the court.

…File and Serve the Other Parent

If you and the other parent do not agree on the custody modifications, you will have to file a motion to modify custody and then “serve” the other parent with notice of your motion. If they refuse to sign off on the agreement or file an answer against you or a waiver of service, you will then have to request a final hearing to have this court make a decision on the modification.

You must give the other parent 45 days to respond. If they do not respond within this time, the court will likely give a default judgment in your favor unless it believes some aspect of the modification is not in the child’s best interest. More likely, the other parent will file an answer against the request, and you will need to go to court with your lawyer to prove why you believe the modification you’re requesting is in the child’s best interests.

Gather Evidence to Prove the Validity of Your Request

The evidence you need will depend on the grounds upon which you are seeking a modification, and your lawyer will help you here. The evidence you need may include financial documentation, testimony from a child’s therapist or doctor, medical records, schooling information, and even police reports. It may be important to get the testimony of witnesses who know you, the child, the other parent, or all of you. You may also need copies of communications that you’ve had with the other parent.

Hang Tight

When all of this has been done, your lawyer will put the evidence together to make a convincing case for why a modification should be granted. Your lawyer will make sure that all paperwork is filled out correctly and filed with the right court at the right time. Everything stated in the paperwork will be said in a way that puts your request in the best possible light and shows exactly why it is the best thing for your child. At that point, you’ll wait for the courts to communicate with you and will rely on your lawyer’s advice and help for next steps.

If you’re seeking the modification of a custody order, contact us today at the Rojas Law Firm, PLLC in San Antonio for help.