Does Texas use the word 'custody'?

Not in the statute. Texas law uses 'conservatorship' for legal rights and 'possession and access' for physical time with the child. People still say 'custody' in everyday conversation, and it means the same thing in practice, but the paperwork and court orders use the Texas terms.

What is a managing conservator?

A managing conservator holds legal rights over the child: decisions about education, health care, and often the right to determine the child's primary residence. Managing conservatorship can be joint (both parents share these rights) or sole (one parent holds them).

Is joint managing conservatorship the default in Texas?

There's a rebuttable presumption that appointing both parents as joint managing conservators is in the child's best interest (Texas Family Code § 153.131(b)). This is a presumption about shared legal rights, not a presumption of a 50/50 time split, those are decided separately.

What is the Expanded Standard Possession Order (ESPO)?

It's the current default possession schedule for parents who live 50 miles or less apart, in cases filed on or after September 1, 2021 (Texas Family Code § 153.3171). It extends the older Standard Possession Order's Thursday visits to overnights and starts/ends weekend time at school release and Monday drop-off instead of fixed evening times, giving the noncustodial parent roughly 46-48% of parenting time instead of the older schedule's 20-24%.

What if we live more than 100 miles apart?

A separate schedule under Texas Family Code § 153.313 applies, generally allowing the possessory conservator (the parent with less time) to choose one weekend per month rather than following a fixed first/third/fifth weekend rotation, along with extended summer time.

Can custody be split evenly (50/50) in Texas?

Yes, but it's not the statutory default schedule, the ESPO gives roughly 46-48% to the noncustodial parent, not an even split. A 50/50 arrangement is possible if both parents agree or a judge orders it based on the child's best interest, but it has to be specifically requested rather than assumed.

Can I move away from Texas with my child?

Only if your order doesn't include a geographic restriction, or the other parent agrees, or a court modifies the order. Most Texas custody orders include a residency restriction (often the county of filing and contiguous counties), and moving outside it without agreement or a court order can be a violation.

Texas, United States

Texas Child Custody: A Parent's Guide

How child custody works in Texas, in plain English: conservatorship vs. possession and access, the Expanded Standard Possession Order, and where to find official forms.

Last reviewed: 2026-08-09

In short: Texas doesn't legally use the word "custody", it uses conservatorship (legal rights) and possession and access (the physical schedule). Joint managing conservatorship is presumed to serve a child's best interest, but that's a presumption about shared decision-making, not about an even time split. The default possession schedule, the Expanded Standard Possession Order, gives the noncustodial parent roughly 46-48% of parenting time when parents live within 50 miles of each other, with different defaults at greater distances. Texas has 254 counties, each with its own local rules, so specifics vary more here than in many states.

This is an educational overview written for parents, not lawyers. It isn't legal advice. For anything beyond general understanding, talk to a licensed Texas family law attorney or check your county's family court self-help resources.

What Texas generally provides

Texas Family Code Chapter 153 sets the framework: a rebuttable presumption favoring joint managing conservatorship (Family Code § 153.131(b)), a default possession schedule that scales with the distance between parents' homes, and county-level family courts that handle the specifics, procedure varies meaningfully across Texas's 254 counties, more so than in states with more centralized family court administration.

Important terminology

Texas family law uses two separate terms in place of "custody":

Conservatorship: legal rights and decision-making authority, education, health care, and often the right to designate the child's primary residence. This can be joint (both parents share these rights) or sole (one parent holds them).
Possession and access: the actual schedule, when the child is physically with each parent.
Managing conservator: the parent (or parents, if joint) holding the legal rights described above.
Possessory conservator: the parent with a scheduled right to time with the child but not the full rights of a managing conservator, common when conservatorship isn't joint.

There's a rebuttable presumption that joint managing conservatorship serves the child's best interest (Family Code § 153.131(b)). That's a presumption about shared legal rights, not about an even time split, those are two different questions decided separately.

How custody works in Texas

Conservatorship (legal custody)

Conservatorship covers decision-making authority: education, health care, and often the right to designate the child's primary residence. Joint managing conservatorship, both parents sharing these rights, carries a legal presumption in its favor, though a court can order sole conservatorship if joint isn't in the child's best interest.

Possession and access (physical custody)

Possession and access is the actual schedule, when the child is physically with each parent. This is decided separately from conservatorship: a parent can be a joint managing conservator with full legal rights while still having less than half the physical time.

The Expanded Standard Possession Order (ESPO)

For cases filed on or after September 1, 2021, where parents live 50 miles or less apart, Texas applies the Expanded Standard Possession Order by default (Family Code § 153.3171), unless a parent opts out or the court finds a reason not to apply it.

Compared to the older Standard Possession Order, the expanded version extends Thursday visits to a full overnight, with the child going to school Friday morning, and starts weekend possession at school release Friday (instead of 6pm), extending through Monday morning drop-off (instead of ending Sunday evening). Together, this generally gives the noncustodial parent roughly 46-48% of parenting time, compared to about 20-24% under the older default schedule.

Distance changes the default:

Distance between parents	Default schedule
50 miles or less	Expanded Standard Possession Order applies automatically (§ 153.3171)
50-100 miles	Expanded times available by election, not automatic
Over 100 miles	Different schedule under § 153.313, often one elected weekend per month plus extended summer time

Parenting schedules

A genuine 50/50 split is possible in Texas, but it isn't the statutory default. It requires either both parents' agreement or a specific court order based on the child's best interest. See 50/50 custody for what an even split generally requires logistically, and the custody schedule generator to lay out whichever schedule you land on.

Parenting plans

Texas courts require a written order, sometimes reached by agreement and incorporated into the court's order, setting out conservatorship, the possession schedule, and other custody terms, similar in function to what other states call a parenting plan. See what is a parenting plan for what a strong plan generally covers regardless of jurisdiction.

Moving with your child

Most Texas custody orders include a geographic restriction, commonly limiting the child's primary residence to a specific county or set of contiguous counties. This is meant to keep both parents reasonably able to maintain their possession schedule.

Moving outside that restriction generally requires either the other parent's agreement or a court order lifting or modifying it. Moving without one, even if you're the parent who determines primary residence, can be treated as a violation of the existing order.

Example: a parent with the right to designate the child's primary residence gets a job offer 300 miles away. Because their order includes a geographic restriction to their home county and adjacent counties, they can't relocate the child there without either the other parent agreeing or a judge modifying the order, even though they hold that designation right within the restricted area. See moving to another state with shared custody for how notice requirements and relocation standards tend to work more broadly.

Common questions

How is child support calculated in Texas? Using statutory guideline percentages based on the paying parent's net income and how many children are covered, applied through the Office of the Attorney General's child support guidelines. The percentage generally increases with each additional child covered by the order.

Do grandparents have visitation rights? In limited circumstances. Family Code § 153.433 allows grandparents to petition for access, generally only when a parent's rights have been restricted or terminated, or another specific condition applies. Texas courts set a fairly high bar here given parents' constitutional right to direct their children's upbringing.

What if my co-parent won't follow the possession order? You can file an enforcement action with the court. Repeated violations can lead to makeup possession time, fines, or in serious or repeated cases, contempt of court.

Can a Texas custody order be modified later? Yes, generally if there's been a material and substantial change in circumstances since the last order, and the new arrangement would be in the child's best interest.

Practical considerations

Many Texas courts require or strongly encourage mediation before a contested custody hearing, though the exact requirement varies by county, check your local court's standing orders. Not every case needs an attorney, Texas courts have self-help resources for parents representing themselves, but for anything contested, involving a geographic restriction, or with safety concerns, consulting a Texas family law attorney is worth strongly considering given how much county-level procedure can vary. Whatever the possession order ends up being, the day-to-day part that comes after it, keeping both households looking at the same expanded-possession calendar, logging swap requests instead of relying on memory, and keeping a record if an enforcement issue ever needs to go back in front of the court, is a separate, ongoing piece worth planning for.

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This information is provided for educational purposes only and is not legal advice. Family law varies by individual circumstances and may change over time. Consult a qualified attorney or appropriate official resource for advice about your situation.