Grandparents' Visitation

Texas Court Denies Grandparents’ Request to Register Utah Visitation Order

Published on: April 23, 2023 | by Kelly McClure

iStock-1175949984-300x200 A child custody determination from another state may be registered so it can be enforced in Texas pursuant to Tex. Fam. Code section 152.305. A request must be sent to the Texas state court with a sworn statement the order has not been modified. The requestor must also identify who was awarded custody or visitation in the determination. The court will give the people identified in the request notice so they can contest the registration. To successfully contest the registration, the contesting party must show the prior court lacked jurisdiction, the determination has been vacated, stayed or modified, or they were not given proper notice before the court issued the determination order. Tex. Fam. Code 152.305(d). The grandparents of two children recently appealed a court’s denial of their request to register a foreign child custody determination containing their visitation rights.

After the parents divorced in Utah in 2016, the maternal grandparents were given grandparent time and certain related rights pursuant to a stipulation order in 2017. They later petitioned for modification, but the Utah court found it no longer had jurisdiction because the parties and children no longer lived in the state. The Utah court dismissed the petition, also noting in the order there had been a separate adoption case and termination of the mother’s parental rights.

Request for Registration

The grandparents requested registration of the divorce decree, stipulation order, and order dismissing their modification petition in Texas. Their request identified the father as the parent awarded custody or visitation in the custody determination.

Texas Grandmother Lacked Standing for Visitation

Published on: September 14, 2022 | by Kelly McClure

iStock-902725964-300x200 Parents have a fundamental right to make decisions about their child’s care, custody, and control. There is a presumption that a fit parent acts in the child’s best interest. A non-parent seeking visitation or custody over a parent’s objection must overcome the fit-parent presumption. They must have evidence of behavior or conduct that will probably result in the child’s health or well-being being significantly impaired. A non-parent seeking custody or visitation must also show that they meet the requirements for standing under Texas family law.

Grandmother Files Custody Suit

A mother recently challenged a court’s judgment awarding visitation to the child’s paternal grandmother. According to the appeals court’s opinion, the paternal grandmother petitioned to be appointed as possessory conservator of the child, but subsequently amended the petition seeking possession and access. She alleged denial of possession and access would significantly impair the child’s health and well-being. Her affidavit stated she was the parent of the child’s father and the child’s father had been incarcerated for more than three months. It further stated that the child lived in her home while the father temporarily had primary care of the child because of the “mother’s instability.” She also stated the father was incarcerated because she had made a report “to protect the child.”

The mother did not file an answer or appear at the remote trial.

Texas Appeals Court Denies Grandmother Standing in Custody Case

Published on: March 13, 2022 | by Kelly McClure

judge-and-gavel-in-courtroom-171096040-583b48533df78c6f6af9f0e3-300x225 A fit parent generally has the right to determine who has access to the child. In some cases, however, people other than the parents may seek visitation or even custody of the child. When someone other than a parent seeks rights in a Texas case, they must meet certain conditions. In a recent case, a mother challenged a court’s orders granting possession and access to the child’s paternal grandmother.

According to the appeals court’s opinion, the trial court appointed the parents joint managing conservators and gave the father the exclusive right to determine the child’s primary residence. The teenage parents and child lived with the paternal grandmother for about two years. Several months after the father went to prison, the mother and child moved out.

Mother Files Suit; Grandmother Intervenes

The mother petitioned for modification, seeking sole managing conservatorship. The grandmother filed a petition in intervention, asking to be named joint managing conservator with the right to determine the child’s primary residence or possession and access in the alternative.

Texas Grandmother Must Overcome Fit-Parent Presumption to Become Possessory Conservator

Published on: September 22, 2021 | by Kelly McClure

iStock-1147846829 Grandparents sometime take on a parental role in the lives of their grandchildren. In some circumstances, such grandparents may have standing (i.e., the right to sue) for possession and access to the children. Parents have a fundamental right to make decisions regarding their children, however. Generally, a court in a Texas custody case cannot interfere with a fit parent’s right to make decisions for their child by awarding access or possession to a non-parent over the fit parent’s objection, unless the nonparent overcomes the presumption that the fit parent is acting in the child’s best interest. In a recent case, a father challenged a court order naming the grandmother possessory conservator.

Prior Order Provides for Parental Rights and Custody

According to the appeals court’s opinions, the parents were joint managing conservators, with the mother having the exclusive right to determine the primary residence. The mother later became ill and the grandmother, who lived with her, cared for the children. When the mother died in January 2021, the grandmother refused to return the children to the father. He obtained a Writ of Habeas Corpus.

The grandmother intervened and asked to be appointed sole managing conservator with possession or access to the children. The father argued she grandmother did not meet the requirements for grandparent access under Tex. Fam. Code § 153.432 or managing conservatorship pursuant to Tex. Fam. Code § 102.004.

Texas Grandmother Has Standing to File Custody Suit

Published on: March 25, 2021 | by Francesca Blackard

iStock-902725964-scaled In Texas custody cases, it can be very difficult for a non-parent to obtain custody or visitation of a child over the objection of a parent. In some circumstances, however, a non-parent (such as a grandparent) has the right to file suit seeking custody or visitation. One such circumstance is when the person has recently had care, custody, and control of the child for at least six months.

In a recent case, a grandmother sought custody of her son’s child after her son’s death. According to the appeals court’s opinion, the child was born in 2014. From 2014 to 2020, the child and parents lived in various places, including the paternal grandmother’s home in Wilson County. From 2017 to 2019, the child went to daycare in Wilson County. From August 2019 to January 22, 2020, the parents and child lived with the paternal grandmother.

Texas Parental Presumption and Joint Managing Conservatorship

Published on: February 28, 2021 | by McClure Law Group

There is a strong presumption in Texas family law that it is in the child’s best interest for a parent to be awarded custody over a non-parent. In a recent case, a father appealed a judgment naming him joint managing conservator with the child’s maternal grandmother. A central issue in the case was the father’s argument that he should have been appointed the child’s sole managing conservator based upon the parental presumption.

Texas Court Has Jurisdiction Over North Carolina Child-Custody Order

Published on: January 15, 2021 | by McClure Law Group

iStock-182358076 Sometimes one or both parents move after a custody order is issued. When parents move, they often want to modify custody and visitation. However, if both parents have moved out of state, issues of jurisdiction may arise. In a recent case, a father sought a Texas custody modification of a North Carolina custody order.

Texas Court Awarded Guardianship to Aunt Instead of Grandmother

Published on: December 16, 2020 | by McClure Law Group

T iStock-637904234 exas custody disputes usually involve the children’s parents. When both parents unexpectedly pass away, however, their families may fight over who gets guardianship of the children. Generally, if the parents did not designate a guardian, a grandparent would be awarded guardianship. If multiple grandparents seek guardianship, then the court will appoint one of them, considering the circumstances and child’s best interest. If no grandparent seeks guardianship, then the court will appoint the next of kin, considering the circumstances and the child’s best interests if there are multiple people with the same degree of kinship. Tex. Est. Code Ann. § 1104.052. A minor who is at least 12 years old may be able to select a guardian, if the court finds the selection is in the child’s best interest and approves. Tex. Est. Code Ann. § 1104.054.

Texas Appeals Court Upholds Court Order Granting Grandparents Custody

Published on: May 7, 2020 | by McClure Law Group

Under Texas family law, there is a presumption that one or both parents should be named managing conservator of a child in an original suit for custody. If, however, the child’s health or emotional well-being would be significantly impaired, the court may appoint a non-parent if doing so is in the child’s best interest. This presumption can make it difficult for non-parents to gain custody. A mother recently challenged an order giving her child’s paternal grandparents custody.

She appealed the order that appointed her and the child’s paternal grandparents as joint managing conservators, with the grandparents having the exclusive right to designate the child’s primary residence. The trial court had issued that order following a petition to modify a 2013 order that granted the grandparents possession and access to the child.

The trial court titled its order “Order in Suit to Modify Parent-Child relationship.” The court found the child had primarily lived with the grandparents, and they had “had actual care, control, and possession of the child with the voluntary consent of [the mother].” The court also found the mother had been arrested for Battery and Cruelty to a Child in an incident involving her teenage daughter. The court found the mother had a history of drug use and instability. The trial court concluded the mother had relinquished care, control and possession of the child to the grandparents, that appointing her as sole managing conservator or giving her the right to determine the child’s primary residence would significantly impair the child’s physical health or emotional development, and that the modification was in the child’s best interest.

Texas Court Grants Grandparents Visitation and Access to Grandchildren

Published on: November 20, 2019 | by Francesca Blackard

Under Texas family law, a court may grant grandparents reasonable possession and access to a grandchild if three conditions are met. First, at least one of the child’s parents, whether adoptive or biological, must have parental rights to the child. Second, the grandparent must overcome the presumption the child’s parent is acting in the child’s best interest by showing that denying the grandparent possession or access would result in significant impairment to the child’s health or well-being. Finally, the grandparent must be the parent of the child’s parent, and that parent must have been incarcerated during the past three months, have been found incompetent, be deceased, or not have possession or access to the child. TEX. FAM. CODE ANN. § 153.433.

In a recent case, a father challenged an order allowing the maternal grandparents possession and access to his children. The parents and children stayed with the grandparents while they looked for a house when they moved to Texas from California. The grandparents supported the family so the parents could save up to buy the home. After the parents bought a home nearby, the children regularly visited their grandparents, sometimes overnight. The grandparents would take the children to school and attend school functions. The grandmother testified she felt she had assumed the role of parent.

The grandmother testified both parents were alcoholics. The mother’s friend testified the parents had a tense and unhealthy relationship. There was testimony that the mother sent the children to stay with the grandparents when the situation at home grew tense. The father’s friend testified the father left the children with the grandparents when he went to bars and nudist colonies. He also testified the father told him he often argued with the mother, but did not state the arguments ever turned physical.