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Family Law
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Possessory Conservatorship
If a managing conservator is appointed, the court may appoint one or more possessory conservators. The court shall specify the possessory conservator’s rights and duties. Unless a party shows good cause why specific orders would not be in the party’s best interest, the court shall specify and expressly state the times and conditions for possession of or access to the child.
The court shall appoint as a possessory conservator a parent who is not appointed as a sole or joint managing conservator unless it finds that the appointment is not in the child’s best interest and that parental possession or access would endanger the physical or emotional welfare of the child. A parent not appointed as a managing or a possessory conservator may be ordered to perform other parental duties, including paying child support.
The court shall consider the commission of family violence in determining whether to deny, restrict, or limit the possession of a child by a parent who is appointed as a possessory conservator. The court may not allow a parent to have access to a child for whom it is shown by a preponderance of the evidence that there is a history or pattern of committing family violence during the two years preceding the date of the filing of the suit or during the pendency of the suit unless the court finds that awarding the parent access to the child would not endanger the child’s physical health or emotional welfare and would be in the child’s best interest. Further, to permit such access, the court must render a possession order that is designed to protect the safety and well-being of the child and any other person who has been a victim of family violence committed by the parent. The order may include a requirement that the periods of access be continuously supervised by an entity or person chosen by the court; that the exchange of possession of the child occur in a protective setting; that the parent abstain from consuming alcohol or a controlled substance within twelve hours before or during the period of access to the child; or that the parent attend and compete a battering intervention and prevention program.
The terms of an order that denies possession of a child to a parent or imposes restrictions or limitations on a parent’s right to possession of or access to a child may not exceed those that are required to protect the best interest of the child.
The rights and duties of a possessory conservator include the right of access to medical, dental, psychological, and educational records of the child.
For More Information Please follow the links below:
Joint Managing
Conservatorship, Managing Conservatorship |
