When you obtained a divorce, your divorce decree included terms that addressed your circumstances at the time. However, circumstances change, and many people find themselves with terms that no longer address their family’s needs. If this sounds like your situation, you shouldn’t wait to discuss your concerns with an experienced Round Rock post-divorce attorney.
Post-Divorce Modifications
In Texas, post-divorce modifications – or post-decree modifications – are available in situations in which the supporting circumstances have changed significantly since the divorce was finalized. While minor fluctuations in our lives are to be expected and generally don’t rise to the level of requiring modifications, more substantial changes can make modifications necessary.
In order to obtain a post-divorce modification, you’ll need to file a motion to modify. In this motion, you’ll need to describe the changes in your relevant circumstances, which must be well supported by evidence. The bar can be high when it comes to modifications, so working closely with a dedicated Round Rock post-divorce attorney is always well advised.
Post-Divorce Agreements
It’s important to note that if you and your ex agree that you need a post-divorce modification and can negotiate mutually acceptable terms between yourselves, it’s a sign of successful co-parenting, but you shouldn’t stop there.
The orders included in your divorce decree or in any past modifications are legally binding, and they remain so until they are officially modified by the court. If you and your ex have reached an agreement on the matter at hand, the path forward won’t be difficult – you can expect the court to make the modification in accordance with your post-divorce agreement.
If you and your ex are not on the same page, you have several options to help you resolve the issue:
You can continue to negotiate between yourselves – with the skilled guidance of your respective post-divorce lawyers.
You can explore your options at mediation – where a professional mediator in the role of a neutral third party will guide negotiations between you and your attorney and your ex and his or her attorney.
You can take the matter up with the court.
Child Custody Arrangements
As your children grow up, their needs change considerably. While a baby needs constant care and attention, your teenagers may be driving themselves to part-time jobs of their own. In the many stages along the way, your job as a parent evolves.
Your own life will likely evolve as well. You may change jobs or careers, you or your ex may move, one or both of you may remarry, and so on. If your situation has changed to the degree that you no longer believe your child custody arrangements are supporting your children’s best interests, it’s likely time to seek a modification.
Legal Custody
Texas divides child custody into two primary categories that include both legal custody and physical custody. Legal custody assigns decision-making authority for primary parenting concerns, such as the following matters:
Your children’s education
Your children’s medical care
Your children’s extracurriculars
Your children’s religious education
Many parents tackle these decisions with joint legal custody. Joint legal custody means that both of you will continue making these important decisions together. However, one of you may have the authority to break a tie if your genuine efforts to negotiate a mutually agreeable decision fail.
You can also divide these decisions between you according to category or assign one parent sole legal custody. Sole legal custody means that one of you will handle this decision-making on your own.
If you and your ex share joint legal custody, the court will require a very significant reason for modifying the order, such as proving that your ex is unfit, which is a high legal bar. Courts may also consider a modification if your ex is making the decision-making process nearly impossible to the extent that it’s getting in the way of your children’s best interests.
Physical Custody
Physical custody refers to parenting time. There are almost endless scheduling possibilities for parenting time, but they all fall into one of the following two categories:
Both parents have an equal or nearly equal number of overnights with the children.
One parent has the majority of overnights with the children, becoming the primary custodial parent, while the other has a visitation order.
Parenting time orders are based on the best interests of the children, and Texas courts turn to factors like the following in the process:
The preference of those children considered mature enough to be involved
The preference of each parent
The amount of involvement each parent has had with raising the children to date
The strength of the relationship each parent has forged with each child
Each child’s emotional, physical, psychological, and educational needs, including any special needs
Each parent’s ability to effectively address the children’s needs
How well the children are doing with the status quo, which means the current living situation in relation to home, school, and community
The degree to which each parent is committed to co-parenting effectively with the other parent
Each parent’s commitment to encouraging and supporting a close, healthy relationship between the children and their other parent
The distance the parents live from one another
Any other factors the court considers important to the case at hand
Reasons for Post-Decree Child Custody Modifications
Texas courts tend to grant post-decree child custody modifications under a range of specific circumstances.
One Parent Is Moving
If the non-custodial parent needs to move for work or another consequential reason but the distance the move creates will interfere with parenting time, the court will likely consider a modification. In such situations, allowing more visitation over breaks, holidays, and the summer can help compensate for lost weekly visits.
When the custodial parent is planning a move, the matter of taking the kids will very likely need to be addressed by the court. If the move directly affects the parenting time schedule that’s in place, the court will carefully consider the matter in relation to the unique circumstances and the children’s best interests.
The Children’s Needs Have Changed
As mentioned, a baby or toddler’s needs are vastly different than the needs of a high-schooler, and the court recognizes this fact.
As your children’s needs change, spending more consecutive days with each parent – rather than breaking up each week with visits – may better address their schedules. Carefully considering where your children need to be and when, in relation to your and your ex’s schedules, may help you hammer out parenting time that better accommodates everyone.
The Parents’ Circumstances Change
There are specific circumstances that can directly affect children’s best interests in relation to parenting time schedules, and when they are significant enough, the court will consider modifications. Examples include:
A parent’s new work schedule that is in sharp contrast to the current parenting time schedule
A parent who exhibits newly acquired signs of addiction
A parent who overcomes an addiction
One Parent Is Ignoring the Terms
Your child custody terms are legally binding, and if your ex isn’t abiding by them, it can make things very difficult for you and your children. Common examples include failing to return the children on time, failing to pick up the children on time, or ignoring the schedule altogether.
Shuttling back and forth between parents is challenging enough for children, and balancing your own schedule with the specifics of parenting time is no easy feat. If you can’t count on your ex to follow the custody orders, it puts a strain on everyone, and the court is likely to understand the challenges involved. A child custody modification may be in order.
It’s worth noting that ignoring court orders can lead to contempt of court charges. If your ex is flouting the system, discuss the matter with your practiced Round Rock post-divorce lawyer.
One Parent’s Home Is a Dangerous Living Environment
When visitation with one parent is deemed dangerous, it’s likely to support a child custody modification. Common causes include the following dangerous situations:
Child neglect
Drug or alcohol abuse
Mental health issues
Child Support
Child support can be modified for a variety of reasons. These payments are based on a range of factors, but the primary matters are the amount of time each parent spends with the children and each parent’s earnings. The parent with higher earnings generally pays child support to the other.
Because the State of Texas recognizes that children’s needs are not static, that parents’ incomes change, and that circumstances evolve, it offers a three-year child support review process. Every three years, you or your ex may submit a request to review the child support obligation and make modifications.
Even if it hasn’t been three years since your child support orders were entered or modified, you can seek a modification in response to a material and substantial change in circumstances. The following matters tend to qualify as material and substantial changes:
Either parent’s income increases or decreases significantly
The obligor – or the parent who makes the child support payments – loses his or her job
The children’s needs change significantly, such as in response to a serious mental or physical illness
The obligor has another child
The children’s health insurance coverage changes
The children begin spending the majority of their overnights with the obligor
It’s important to understand that a parent who is underemployed or unemployed – or who gets paid in cash under the table – as a means of cheating child support is not viewed well in the eyes of the court.
Alimony
Alimony in Texas is officially called spousal maintenance or spousal support, and it is only ordered in divorces that leave one spouse unable to provide for his or her own reasonable needs. There are a range of reasons that a Texas court may grant an alimony modification, but the only certainty is remarriage.
If the spouse who receives alimony remarries, the obligor’s financial obligation ends automatically, with no need for the order to be modified. The recipient is responsible for notifying his or her ex regarding the remarriage, and failure to do so means having to pay back any alimony payments made after the remarriage.
The following factors can also support an alimony modification:
The recipient begins cohabitating with a romantic partner.
The payor’s income increases or decreases significantly.
The recipient’s income increases significantly.
FAQ about Post-Divorce Modifications
Some of your own concerns related to post-divorce modifications may be addressed by the answers to the following frequently asked questions. If you have questions specific to your case, contact a Round Rock divorce lawyer.
Can My Ex and I Stick to Our Own Modifications?
While it’s great that you and your ex were able to negotiate modifications between yourselves, failing to make the matter official with the court doesn’t serve your or your children’s best interests. Court orders remain in effect until they are officially modified, and if your ex goes back on the modifications you’ve agreed to, you could be found in contempt of court.
How Do I Know If My Situation Warrants a Modification?
If you believe a post-divorce modification may be in order, it’s time to consult with a trusted Round Rock post-divorce attorney. While minor changes in circumstances are unlikely to suffice, a substantial change in your situation could merit a modification. Your seasoned attorney will ensure that your modification request is well documented and worthy of the court’s consideration.
How Do I Modify My Divorce Decree?
To modify a term in your divorce decree, you’ll need to file your petition for modification with the same court that issued it. Your formidable post-divorce lawyer will ensure that you have the evidence you need to demonstrate the substantial change in circumstances you’ve experienced in support of your modification.
Call an Experienced Round Rock Post-Divorce Attorney Today
Brett Pritchard at The Law Office of Brett H. Pritchard is a knowledgeable Round Rock post-divorce attorney with an imposing track record that shows his commitment to resolving his valued clients’ cases favorably. To learn more about what we can do to help you, please don’t wait to contact us online or call us at (254) 781-4222 and schedule your FREE consultation.