Parents and/or family law judges may put a lot of effort into establishing an appropriate custody order. People need to think carefully about current family circumstances and the potential future needs of the children to create arrangements that truly work for the family.
Once the courts approve a custody order, parents have a legal obligation to comply with the established division of decision-making authority and parenting time. As the family moves on from the separation or divorce, life circumstances inevitably change.
One parent might obtain a new job. The children may move on from middle school to high school. New relationships, new housing arrangements and even tension in family dynamics can make adhering to the current custody arrangements a struggle. In some cases, parents may need to ask the courts to modify a Texas custody order.
Why are modifications potentially necessary?
When minor issues interrupt a custody schedule, parents can potentially make on-demand adjustments. They can reschedule visitation or move custody exchange to the next day. However, the more often parents have to make those adjustments, the greater their chances of ending up embroiled in a dispute with one another. In some cases, one parent may feel concerned about the children’s safety at the other parent’s home because they have begun displaying unstable or unsafe behavior.
In scenarios where frequent custody adjustments have strained co-parenting relationships and in situations where current arrangements might prove unsafe, families may want to modify the custody order to better fit their current circumstances. Modifications can be voluntary. Parents can cooperate for an uncontested modification when they agree on the exact way in which they need to divide parental rights and responsibilities.
Other times, they may need to pursue a contested custody order where a judge makes the determination about how to adjust the current custody arrangements. Formal custody modifications help make temporary arrangements permanent and enforceable. They also protect parents from violations of their rights and from malicious enforcement attempts on the part of a co-parent.
Seeking a custody modification is a reasonable reaction to the stress caused by an outdated parenting plan. Parents who go back to family court can fine-tune their custody arrangements to (ideally) better meet the needs of their families.