Background

On November 6, 2007, Mother filed a petition to modify the child custody arrangement. Mother’s petition to modify followed Father’s earlier petition for enforcement and access after Mother denied him access to their child. The judge ruled for Father on his petition for enforcement and access.

In her later petition, Mother alleged that K.T.W.’s circumstances had materially and substantially changed since the entry of the previous order. She requested that Father’s “terms and conditions for access to and possession of the child be modified… to reflect visitation in regard to the over 100 mile visitation,” and that, since Father resided in Houston, he should “be responsible for pickup and return for visitation of the child.” Mother further pleaded that Father’s “change of address had caused [her] to incur increased costs.” Father answered and denied that there had been any “change of circumstances which would be grounds for any modification of the present Orders regarding access and possession.”

Discussion

At the trial court level Mother won her case and the judge modified custody to restrict Father’s access to his child. The Father appealed the ruling.

On appeal, Father claimed the trial court abused its discretion in signing the modification order because the record is devoid of evidence that the modification order was in the best interest of the child.

Pursuant to the modification order, the trial court reduced K.T.W.’s visitation with Father to only one weekend per month. To support the change, the trial court found the limitation was in K.T.W.’s best interest because of the “distance and travel time” from Mother’s residence to Father’s residence. The record of the hearing, however, shows that Father had lived in Houston continuously since 2002, when K.T.W. was born. Moreover, while Mother noted that she had moved to Allen from McKinney, Texas prior to the hearing, she agreed the move actually reduced the distance between her and Father. Mother also testified regarding alleged hardships in weekend travel and scheduling K.T.W.’s Taekwondo classes, but her testimony showed the Taekwondo lessons had been successfully rearranged to accommodate the visitation schedule. There is no other evidence regarding any extracurricular, sports, or school-related scheduling conflicts or difficulties. Mother acknowledged that the only change in K.T.W.’s circumstances since the entry of the previous order was that he had grown older. As for the “sporadic and unpredictable behavior” noted in the trial court’s findings, the evidence showed that Father had been late to pre-arranged pick-ups on two occasions, and that on each occasion he attempted, without success, to contact Mother to update her on the status of his arrival.

“The Texas Legislature has specifically stated that it is the public policy of the state to ‘encourage frequent contact between a child and each parent for periods of possession that optimize the development of a close and continuing relationship between each parent and child.’” “To achieve this end, the legislature established a presumption that a standard possession order provides the reasonable minimum possession of a child for a parent named as a joint managing conservator, as in the case here, and such order is in the best interest of the child.” Given this policy and the absence of any evidence to support a finding that it was in the best interest of K.T.W. to limit his weekend contact with Father to only one weekend per month, the Court of Appeals concluded the trial court abused its discretion in modifying the possession and visitation provisions of the previous order.

About The Author

The Woodlands Divorce Resource is here to help you with your divorce, child custody, or other family law issue in Montgomery County or Harris County. Many of our visitors come from the areas of The Woodlands, Conroe, Oak Ridge North, Cut and Shoot, and other communities in the Montgomery County area or Houston and North Harris County. If you need legal assistance with your family law issue call (832) 426-3913 to speak with a divorce lawyer in The Woodlands, TX today and protect your rights.

Related posts:

1. Alcoholism and Child Conservatorship
2. The Standard Possession Order Part 1
3. The Standard Possession Order Part 2

What Will the Court Consider?

Once your Woodlands Divorce Attorney is able to successfully rebut the presumption that the standard guidelines should apply the court should consider all the relevant factors of your case in determining the appropriate child support. Some of the most important factors the courts have traditionally considered are:

1. the age and needs of the child;
2. the ability of the parents to contribute to the support of the child;
3. any financial resources available for the support of the child;
4. the amount of time of possession of and access to a child;
5. the amount of the parent that pays child support’s (obligee) net resources, including the earning potential of the obligee if the actual income of the obligee is significantly less than what the obligee could earn because the obligee is intentionally unemployed or underemployed and including an increase or decrease in the income of the obligee or income that may be attributed to the property and assets of the obligee;
6. child care expenses incurred by either party in order to maintain gainful employment;
7. whether either party has the managing conservatorship or actual physical custody of
   another child;
8. the amount of alimony or spousal maintenance actually and currently being paid or
   received by a party;
9. the expenses for a son or daughter for education beyond secondary school;
10. whether the obligor or obligee has an automobile, housing, or other benefits furnished by his or her employer, another person, or a business entity;
11. the amount of other deductions from the wage or salary income and from other
    compensation for personal services of the parties;
12. provision for health care insurance and payment of uninsured medical expenses;
13. special or extraordinary educational, health care, or other expenses of the parties or of
    the child;
14. the cost of travel in order to exercise possession of and access to a child;
15. positive or negative cash flow from any real and personal property and assets, including a business and investments;
16. debts or debt service assumed by either party; and
17. any other reason consistent with the best interest of the child, taking into consideration
    the circumstances of the parents.

That is a long list. The details of your divorce case may require additional factors be considered as well. Speak with a Woodlands Divorce Lawyer today if you need help determining the appropriate child support in your unique situation.

About the Author

The Woodlands Divorce Resource is here to help you with your divorce, child custody, or other family law issue in Montgomery County or Harris County. Many of our visitors come from the areas of The Woodlands, Conroe, Oak Ridge North, Cut and Shoot, and other communities in the Montgomery County area or Houston and North Harris County. If you need legal assistance with your family law issue speak with a divorce lawyer in The Woodlands, TX today and protect your rights.

Related posts:

1. Modifying a Child Support Order
2. Child Support for a Disabled Child
3. Child Support and Disability Benefits

The first automatic order of the Montgomery County Courts is “No Disruption of Children.” Specifically, both parties to the lawsuit are ordered to refrain from doing the following acts concerning any children who are subjects of the case:

1. Removing the children from the State of Texas, for the purpose of changing the residence of the children or evading the jurisdiction of the court, acting directly or in concert with others, without the written agreement of both parties or an order of the court.
2. Disrupting or withdrawing the children from the school or day-care facility where the children are presently enrolled, without the written agreement of both parents or an order of the court.
3. Hiding or secreting the children from the other parent or changing the children’s current place of abode, without the written agreement of both parents or an order of the court.
4. Disturbing the peace of the children.
5. Making disparaging remarks regarding the other party or the other party’s family in the presence or within the hearing of the children.
6. Consuming alcohol within the 24 hours before or during any period of possession of or access to the children.
7. Permitting an unrelated adult with whom either party has an intimate or dating relationship to remain in the same residence with the children between the hours of 9:00pm and 8:00am.

We will continue reviewing the automatic orders in the next post. If you need assistance enforcing or modifying a court order in connection with your divorce speak with a Montgomery County Divorce Lawyer today.

Related posts:

1. Montgomery County Standing Orders, Part 6
2. Montgomery County Standing Orders, Part 2
3. Montgomery County Standing Orders, Part 3