Sep 04
Your kids are important to you so I’m sure that you want to know how you can get or keep custody. Many clients often worry about how a judge or jury would decide on which parent would be awarded custody. It is important to point out that by “custody,” most people mean which parent gets to determine the primary residence of the child. In other words, which parent will the child live with? As for which parent is awarded this right, the Family Code dictates that a judge or jury shall be guided by the child’s best interest. [Tex. Fam. Code § 153.002.] A judge or jury cannot discriminate based on gender or marital status. Instead, the court will examine several other factors to determine what is in the child’s best interest.
There are a wide variety of factors that can go into a “best interest” determination. The Texas Supreme Court has set forth the following factors as guidelines for courts:
These factors are not exhaustive, but they weigh heavily on a judge or jury. No matter what evidence you have for your child custody case, you must have an effective attorney who can present the evidence to the judge or jury for you to win custody of your child. It is important to find a lawyer who has experience dealing with child custody issues and is comfortable presenting evidence in a courtroom to convince a judge of who should have custody of a child.
Jurisdiction is a fancy word for “power”. Jurisdiction determines whether a court can even hear a case. A court must first have personal jurisdiction (i.e. power) over the parties. Even if you and/or the other parent want a specific court to hear your child custody case, they must have both personal and subject matter jurisdiction to do so. This means that they must have the power over the parties so that the Court’s order(s) will be binding and it must be in a court that can hear your type of case.
In this video, Board Certified attorney Brian D. Walters discusses how parents can determine the correct jurisdiction in which to file their case. He explains that the rules basically correspond to where the child has been living for the past six months. While this decision may be very straightforward for many families, certain situations may make determining jurisdiction a more complex process.
Sep 27
Retainer fees and cost estimates cause anxiety for many family law clients. Most of the time, this is the fault of lawyers. We do things differently. At Walters Gilbreath, PLLC our cost structure, bi...
read moreApr 13
To celebrate the one-year anniversary of our podcast, Jake & Brian sat down with Jim Piper, Of Counsel at Walters Gilbreath, to discuss how family law has changed since they started practic...
read moreSubmit the form below and a member of our intake team will contact you.
Brian and his staff were great. Brian’s direction and expertise provided me with the legal information relevant for my needs over several years now. He listens and is steadfast which gave me comfort in the courses of action. I highly recommend him.Brian and his staff were great. Brian’s direction and expertise provided me with the legal information...
Larry M.
view all reviews