MORE THAN THE STANDARD POSSESSION ORDER

When a court determines how much time each parent will have with a child in a custody case, the court relies on the visitation outlined in the Texas Family Code. In Texas there are two types of commonly ordered possession schedules. The first is the Standard Possession Order, the second is the Expanded Standard Possession Order.

The standard possession order allows parents the following visitation:

• Every first, third, and fifth weekend, from 6 pm on Friday to 6 pm on Sunday;
• Thursday nights during the school year from 6 pm – 8 pm;
• Thirty days in the summer; and
• Every other holiday vacation.

The expanded standard possession order gives parents several more overnights per month with their children. The expanded order allows parents to keep their children every Thursday from the time school is dismissed until school starts the following Friday (during the school year). And then the first, third, and fifth Fridays starting at the time school is dismissed and ending at the time school resumes the following Monday. When school is not is session because of summer; weekend visits begin at 6 pm on Friday to the following Sunday at 6 pm. This order also gives parents thirty days of visitation in the summer as well as the same holiday possession schedule as the standard order.

The expand possession order give parents additional visitation with their children by allowing earlier pick up periods as well as more overnight visitation. Another benefit is that parents that do not get along do the majority of exchanges at the school and therefore during the school year have very little face to face interaction when exchanging their children.

In Bexar County, a parent that requests an expanded possession order for a child that has already started school will normally obtain it. If you do not currently have the expanded possession order and wish to spend more time with your child an attorney at the Christiansen Law Firm can file a modification for you and start the process of requesting and obtaining this possession order. Contact us today for a free consultation.