{"id":3243,"date":"2026-09-08T05:15:44","date_gmt":"2026-09-08T10:15:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.mcclure-lawgroup.com\/blog\/?p=3243"},"modified":"2026-08-31T11:46:35","modified_gmt":"2026-08-31T16:46:35","slug":"texas-supreme-court-clarifies-when-a-jury-verdict-controls-a-childs-primary-residence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mcclure-lawgroup.com\/blog\/texas-supreme-court-clarifies-when-a-jury-verdict-controls-a-childs-primary-residence\/","title":{"rendered":"Texas Supreme Court Clarifies When a Jury Verdict Controls a Child\u2019s Primary Residence"},"content":{"rendered":"

When parents are going through a custody dispute, it can be difficult to understand what role the judge and jury play in the custody award. A question that arose in a recent Texas Supreme Court case was: if a jury decides that the children should primarily live with one parent, can a judge still give the other parent more time with the children? The court addressed the issue and clarified that a judge cannot use a possession schedule to effectively override the jury\u2019s decision about which parent will have the children\u2019s primary residence. Gopalan v. Marsh<\/em><\/a>, No. 25-0161, slip op. at 12\u201313 (Tex. May 22, 2026).<\/p>\n

The Facts of the Case<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The case arose from the divorce of Prabhakar Gopalan and Andrea Marsh following their nine-year marriage. The parents agreed to joint managing conservatorship of their two children, but they disputed the allocation of parental rights, possession, and other issues concerning the children. After a five-day jury trial, the jury determined that Gopalan should have the exclusive right to designate the children\u2019s primary residence within Travis County.<\/p>\n

Continue Reading \u203a<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When parents are going through a custody dispute, it can be difficult to understand what role the judge and jury play in the custody award. A question that arose in a recent Texas Supreme Court case was: if a jury decides that the children should primarily live with one parent, can a judge still give […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[90,25],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3243","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-jurisdiction","category-parental-rights"],"yoast_head":"\nTexas Supreme Court Clarifies When a Jury Verdict Controls a Child\u2019s Primary Residence — Texas Divorce Attorney Blog — September 8, 2026<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"When parents are going through a custody dispute, it can be difficult to understand what role the judge and jury play in the custody award. A question — September 8, 2026\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mcclure-lawgroup.com\/blog\/texas-supreme-court-clarifies-when-a-jury-verdict-controls-a-childs-primary-residence\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"Texas Supreme Court Clarifies When a Jury Verdict Controls a Child\u2019s Primary Residence — Texas Divorce Attorney Blog — September 8, 2026\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"When parents are going through a custody dispute, it can be difficult to understand what role the judge and jury play in the custody award. 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