Beaumont Grandparent Rights Lawyer

Seek Custody or Access to Your Grandchildren

Grandparents rights in the state of Texas

Steps of the process

Gaining custody of your grandchildren in the state of Texas is not an easy task but a necessary one if you feel as though your grandchildren are in danger while in the custody of their parent(s). In the Texas Family Code, custody is referred to as conservatorship. These are both the rights and duties that a parent will exercise on their child’s behalf.

In the beginning of the process of receiving custody of your grandchild there is one obstacle that must be passed in order to qualify to file a custody lawsuit against the parents of the child. The grandparent must have care, control, and possession of this child for six months, and not ending over 90 days before the petition is filed. This means that the parent of this child has left them in your possession for a six-month period of time. This may be for reasons involving the parent going to prison or just simply not being able to care for their child for whatever reason during that time period. Only family members with this standing may bring forth a custody lawsuit on behalf of the child. You must be prepared to show courts that the child has been living with you for six months, a grandparent’s rights attorney can assist you in collecting and presenting the right evidence for the court. If you do not meet this requirement within the process, you may still be able to file a lawsuit if you are able to show the court that your lawsuit has merit due to a risk of harm to your child’s physical or mental wellbeing. However, under this argument you would not be able to file for conservatorship of the child. Instead you would file a suit asking to become a primary caretaker instead.

Once it has been declared by courts that you have the standing to bring forth a family lawsuit on behalf of your grandchild, your next obstacle will include going against parental presumption. This is included in Texas state law and states that a parent of the child will always be given preference when being named as the primary conservator of their child. Going against this means that you must prove to the court that naming a parent of this child as the primary conservator would be harmful for the child’s development. Bad actions of the past do not always prove the incompetence to raise a child so this can be a hard argument to make, but with the assistance of a skilled attorney you may have a great shot of being awarded conservatorship. Ensure you are asking your attorney questions about this step of the process upon consultation so you can be sure they will be able to properly help you with this case.

These cases do not always need to be brought into court in fact, most of the time they are settled outside of the courtroom. If you are someone who is concerned about how lengthy or expensive a trail can come to be, mediation may be great alternative for your situation as this will make the process substantially shorter and less expensive.

If you are a grandparent who is being denied visitation rights by the parent of the child and this is where it can become complicated as the courts of Texas are assuming the parent of the child is denying this visitation for good reason. This is why grandparents must provide evidence that harm is being caused by the parent denying your right to visit the child. Here are some ways to go about providing proper evidence in this case:

• Testimonial
• An interview with the child can be conducted by court-appointed professional assigned to the case. This person can recommend for the court and may testify.
• Medical and school records

As said before, your grandparent’s rights attorney can assist you in collecting this evidence and making sure it is being properly presented in court.

We understand this entire process can be stressful to go though, our law firm wants to make the process as easy as possible with the outcome that best benefits your family. Call for a free consultation to see how we may help in you case.