Texas and The Children’s Bill of Rights
If you are going through a divorce, your primary concern is naturally your children’s continued well-being, and as such, you are in step with the State of Texas. Texas courts always put your children’s best interests first in determining issues related to child visitation and to child support. In fact, Texas is so committed to this concept that it has created a Children’s Bill of Rights. If you are facing a divorce, it is only natural to focus on what is best for your children, and the best way to ensure their well-being is to have an experienced Central Texas family law attorney on your side.
Children’s Best Interests
The State of Texas understands that parents who are going through a divorce cannot always separate the often-overwhelming chaos of divorce from what is best for their children moving forward. In other words, divorcing parents can lose sight of what is best for their children, and that is where the Children’s Bill of Rights comes into play. This Bill of Rights is intended to preserve relationships between parents and children and to prioritize the children’s needs.
The Highlights
Texas’s Children’s Bill of Rights is comprehensive, and it is intended to help preserve the children’s relationships with those adults who play a significant role in their lives, including with grandparents and other relatives whom they see on a regular basis and with regular babysitters and caregivers. The Bill includes several important highlights:
- Neither parent will deny their children a reasonable amount of phone time with any other important adult in their lives. This includes the right to reasonable privacy and to the absence of unnecessarily rigid rules and parameters.
- Both parents are required to keep arguments, negotiations, and other substantive legal or business discussions out of the children’s hearing.
- Both parents shall refrain from saying or writing derogatory comments about each other and from engaging in abusive, foul, or coarse language of any kind when the children can overhear.
- Neither parent shall pressure or attempt to pressure the children regarding their personal opinions about the divorce.
- The children must be permitted to display photos and other personal memorabilia for either parent (as the children see fit) in their own rooms or spaces.
- Both parents must openly acknowledge that their children have two loving homes, and each parent must cooperate – to the greatest extent practicable – to allow the other parent shared time with the children.
Texas takes children’s rights very seriously, and these rights include preserving their relationships with both parents to the greatest degree possible.
If You Have Concerns about Child Custody Arrangements, Consult with an Experienced Central Texas Family Law Attorney Today
Divorce is exceedingly stressful, and if you are concerned about child custody arrangements, it is that much more stressful. Attorney Brett H. Pritchard at The Law Office of Brett H. Pritchard in Central Texas is here to help assuage your fears and to aggressively advocate for custody arrangements that suit the needs of your children. Mr. Pritchard has the dedication and experience to help, so please contact or call us at (254) 220-4225 today.