Children and custody

Every action, agreement or court order in a child custody matter affects a child’s future, and that is a responsibility Lisa does not take for granted.

Custody

In Texas, it is public policy for a child to have frequent and continuing contact with both parents. The court has wide discretion in deciding what is in a child’s best interest. Because that is a subjective decision, it is important for your attorney to know what a judge needs to hear.

The court may give each parent almost equal parenting time, or give one parent much more time with the child than the other. That can mean deciding with whom a child will live and where. Courts also decide whether a child’s educational and medical needs are joint decisions between the parents or made independently by each parent.

Lisa prepares thoroughly for every case involving custody. She takes time to learn the background of each case and the needs of her client’s children, so she can be confident she is proceeding with the child’s best interest in mind.

Child support

In most cases, the court orders one parent to pay child support to the parent with whom the child lives most of the time, and to maintain health insurance for the child. The amount depends on the paying parent’s net resources; many factors go into working those out, but the receiving parent’s resources are not taken into account. (See How is child support calculated in Texas?)

After a divorce or an order concerning a child, circumstances often change so much that the original amount needs to be increased or decreased through an order of modification from the court.

Lisa’s goal is to give the court the information it needs to make child support orders that benefit your child, and that accurately calculate what a parent should be paying or receiving. She believes in fully informing each client of the possible, realistic outcomes.

Paternity

Paternity cases usually involve children born outside of marriage. Most arise when one parent asks the court to establish both parents’ rights, powers and duties, child support, and parenting time. Without such an order, one parent, usually the father, has no set times to spend with the child.

Where there is no family violence or substance abuse, having no parenting schedule is ultimately harmful to both parents and the child. It is the child who suffers: the child feels the parents’ tension and misses out on the best each parent has to offer. Whatever the reason behind a paternity case, Lisa works hard for the best outcome for her clients and their children.

Stepparent adoption

When a biological parent has abandoned a child, exposed a child to sexual abuse, substance abuse or violence, or not paid child support for a period of time, it may be appropriate for that parent’s rights to be terminated and for a stepparent to adopt the child. The court considers many factors in granting a termination and stepparent adoption, including how long the stepparent has lived with the child and the nature of their relationship.

These cases can be difficult for both sides. The goal is a solution that gives the child the best future possible, and the child’s best interest comes first.

Grandparents

For many children, grandparents have been acting as parents, whether because of a parent’s substance abuse, mental illness, neglect, child abuse or abandonment. Grandparents are stepping up more and more often to support and raise their grandchildren. In such cases, the court may give grandparents rights superior to a parent’s when that is in the child’s best interest.