What Are My Legal Rights in a Child Custody Case?

When you are involved in a child custody case, it can be easy to feel overwhelmed by the legalities and possibly even by attacks from an ex-partner. It’s important to have an experienced San Antonio family law attorney working with you closely so that you’re fully aware of all your rights and have someone working to protect those rights throughout the process.

Your Legal Rights in Child Custody

The Right to Equal Treatment

Texas law does not allow favoritism towards either parent, mother or father, when it comes to making decisions about custody or child support. Children do not automatically get put with their mothers when it comes to physical custody (known as “conservatorship” here in Texas). Likewise, fathers do not automatically have to pay child support just because they are fathers. Instead, both parents are assumed to be equally capable of caring for their child through having physical custody and equally likely to be able to support their child unless proven otherwise.

The goal of the court is always the best interest of the child, and the law assumes that it is in the child’s best interests to have both parents in their life in most cases. The court will default towards giving the parents more or less equal physical custody unless there is some compelling reason not to do so, such as one parent living significantly closer to the places that the child needs to be every day or abuse or violence on the part of a parent that makes it unsafe for the child to be with them alone.

And when it comes to child support, the goal of the court is typically to keep the child enjoying the same standard of life, no matter which home they’re in. If the parents have more or less similar incomes and home situations, it’s likely that no child support will be ordered at all. If one parent makes a significantly higher income than the other, the court may very well order the parent who makes more money to pay child support to level the playing field and provide the child with a consistent experience.

The Right to Be Involved in Your Child’s Life

As stated, Texas law assumes that it is in the best interest of the child for both parents to be involved in their life, and it takes significant proof to show that this would not be the case in a given situation. Even if the court believes that one parent should not have physical custody of the child, it may still order regular visitation, even if that visitation is supervised.

If the other parent is trying to block your visitation rights or keep you from being involved in your child’s life, talk with your San Antonio family law attorney right away to find out what your legal options are. Whether the other parent is denying you scheduled visitation, not allowing you to talk to your child on the phone, or trying to bully you into avoiding important events, such as sports that your child is participating in, the court will not look kindly on this behavior and your lawyer can help you.

The Right to Make Decisions for Your Child

As mentioned above, Texas uses the term “conservatorship” to describe what’s commonly called “custody.” There are two types of conservatorship in Texas: possessory and managing. Possessory conservatorship refers to who has physical oversight of the child; i.e., who the child lives with. Possessory conservatorship can be sole or joint, meaning that the child can live full-time with just one parent, with the other parent having visitation rights or no visitation rights; or, more commonly, it can be a joint conservatorship where the parents share time with their child.

Managing conservatorship refers to making decisions for the child. These are not little decisions, like what they eat for breakfast or what color socks they wear. This is about major life decisions, such as where they go to school, whether or not they will have a certain medical treatment, what their religious instruction might be, etc. The assumption is that both parents should usually be involved in these decisions, and so joint managed conservatorship is the most common situation.

Even if sole possessory conservatorship has been awarded to one parent, the other parent will almost always still have a say in all major decisions about the child’s life unless there are extraordinary circumstances. Again, if the other parent of your child is trying to block you from knowing about important life events for your child or having a say in them, talk to your lawyer.

The Right to Forge Your Own Relationship With Your Child

You have the right to build a good relationship with your child on your own terms, without the interference of their other parent. In child custody cases, it’s unfortunately common for one parent to attempt to use the child as a weapon to punish their ex-partner or make them suffer in some way out of spite. A parent who is doing this may badmouth or complain about the other parent in front of the child or even deliberately lie to undermine the parent-child relationship.

Even when a parent is not doing this deliberately, it can still happen. Sometimes, one parent has a legitimate grievance against the other when it comes to the marriage relationship and is not able or willing to see that the issues which made their ex a poor marriage partner don’t necessarily make them a poor parent. If you suspect that an ex-partner is trying to undermine your relationship with your child, it’s important to deal with this as quickly as possible. Talk to your lawyer right away about options for court intervention.

The Right to Safety and Privacy

Unfortunately, there are situations where one parent is abusive or violent and needs to be kept away from both their child and also their ex-partner. While the court is very keen to keep both parents involved in their child’s life if it all possible, this should not come at the expense of anyone’s safety. If an ex-partner is threatening you or your child, your lawyer can help you to get protective orders from the court. These protective orders can cover an array of situations and make it essentially illegal for your ex-partner to do certain things that would normally not be illegal, such as contacting you by phone or visiting you at work.

In some extreme cases, it may be possible for you to legally conceal your child’s physical whereabouts from an ex-partner. However, it’s important not to attempt to do this alone. You are not authorized to hide a child from the other parent on your own initiative. If you’re in immediate danger, call the police and then your lawyer and follow their instructions. Otherwise, talk to your lawyer about getting an official court order that protects you and makes it legal for you to protect your child in the way you think is best.

Talk with a San Antonio Family Law Attorney

The best way to fully understand all your rights and defend them vigorously is with the help of a lawyer who has experience not only with the Texas family code but also in the local family courts. Contact us today at Hoelscher Gebbia Cepeda PLLC in San Antonio to schedule a consultation.