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Divorce Visitation Orders in Texas


Parents who are doing co-parenting affect the children either in a good way or a bad way. It is important for the parents to work together in a cooperative and flexible way.

Making a favorable schedule is great to tend to the needs of both the children and the co-parents. When co-parents have a hard time coming up with an agreement as to their schedule that will be best for the children, the rules of the visitation court order and the schedule provided should be followed.

The judge who issues the court order will have already determined what the child’s best interest is in his opinion when the court order indicates clearly the visitation rights of the co-parents.

The noncustodial parent faces a few problems when it comes to visitation and one of these problems is the denial of his or her parenting time by the custodial parent. In this event, the former can file for the enforcement lawsuit of the visitation order.

There are a things you must do first in order to file an enforcement lawsuit.

The judge can order the visitation order as part of the following:

  1. divorce case;
  2. paternity case;
  3. suit affecting the parent-child relationship case (SAPCR case); or
  4. family violence protective order case.

The steps in filing for a visitation order is similar to the steps in filing for a child custody order.  It starts with getting a counsel for the case, if necessary.

Like in custody cases, getting a lawyer will be helpful in the preparation of your case as he or she will guide you throughout the whole process on what steps to take.

Next is preparing the appropriate and necessary Forms and Documents.

There is a proper procedure that needs to be followed in Texas when it comes to filing for a visitation order. As a general rule, a petition with clerk of the court using the Suit Affecting the Parent-Child Relationship (SAPCR) form must be filed. The exception is if this stemmed from a case of divorce because SAPCR automatically applies in divorce cases.

An official filing notice shall be given to the other parent after paying the proper fees. He or she will be given chance to answer the petition, counter petition, or denial with the courts.

Lastly, documents for evidence must be gathered. The more evidence you collect, the more compelling your case will be.

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Mr. Hutton is a Divorce and Custody Lawyer based out of Round Rock, TX. His background is with child psychology at Arizona State University where he received a B.S. in 2006, and he continued this by working with the Children’s Right’s Clinic at the University of Texas School of Law where he received his J.D. in 2009. Throughout his practice, he has been a strong proponent of utilizing modern technology to improve his practice and the representation of his clients. He currently is the technology chair of CAFA of Travis County and is committed to improving and modernizing the practice of law in Texas. If you have any questions you can contact him at timothy.hutton@austintexaslegal.com

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