To file a motion for enforcement in Texas, you submit a written motion under Chapter 157 of the Texas Family Code to the court that issued the original custody, visitation, or child support order, list each violation with specific dates and dollar amounts, pay the $80 filing fee, and have the other party personally served with the motion and hearing notice. The court then holds a hearing where you carry the burden of proving the violations, and the judge decides what remedy fits.
Which Court to File In
File in the court that issued the order you want enforced. That court keeps authority to enforce any provision of a temporary or final order under Section 157.001 of the Texas Family Code.1State of Texas. Texas Family Code Section 157.001 – Motion for Enforcement If the parties or the child have since moved to different states, jurisdiction runs through the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act for custody and visitation and the Uniform Interstate Family Support Act for support, and the analysis is more involved than a straightforward in-state filing.2State of Texas. Texas Family Code Section 152.201 – Initial Child Custody Jurisdiction
What the Motion Has to Say
A motion for enforcement is not a letter to the judge. Section 157.002 of the Family Code lays out specific content requirements, and leaving pieces out can get your hearing continued or your case dismissed. Every motion must identify the exact provision of the order that was violated, describe how the other party failed to comply, state the relief you want, and be signed by you or your attorney.3State of Texas. Texas Family Code Section 157.002 – Contents of Motion
For child support, the motion must set out the total amount owed under the order, the amount actually paid, and the total arrearages. If you are asking the court to hold the other party in contempt, list each date of alleged contempt along with the amount due and the amount paid, if any, on that date.3State of Texas. Texas Family Code Section 157.002 – Contents of Motion “He hasn’t paid in months” is not enough. You need a line-by-line accounting.
For custody or visitation violations, the motion must state the date, place, and, when applicable, the time of each occasion the other party failed to follow the order.3State of Texas. Texas Family Code Section 157.002 – Contents of Motion Something like “On March 14, 2026, the respondent refused to deliver the child to 123 Main Street at 6:00 p.m. as required by paragraph 4 of the order” is the right level of detail. “She regularly denies me visitation” is not.
Documents and Evidence to Attach
Attach a certified copy of the original order. You can get one from the clerk of the issuing court for a small fee, and it establishes exactly what the respondent was required to do.
Then gather proof of each violation. For child support, that means payment records, bank statements, and a payment history from the local child support registry or the Title IV-D agency; official registry records are more persuasive than your own spreadsheet.3State of Texas. Texas Family Code Section 157.002 – Contents of Motion For visitation and custody, keep a contemporaneous log of denied or missed exchanges with dates, times, and the surrounding communications. Text messages, emails, and voicemails showing the other party’s refusal or interference are hard to dispute.
Sworn statements from witnesses who saw specific violations can back up your own testimony. Affidavits must be based on personal knowledge and limited to facts the witness could testify to in court.
Filing Fee and Fee Waiver
The filing fee is $80, set by statute, and no additional filing fees can be collected for a motion for enforcement.4State of Texas. Texas Family Code Section 110.002 – Filing Fees and Deposits If you cannot afford it, file a Statement of Inability to Afford Payment of Court Costs. The form asks you to disclose income, assets, expenses, and debts under penalty of perjury. Receipt of Medicaid, SNAP, or SSI, or representation by a legal aid attorney, supports the waiver.5Texas Courts. Statement of Inability to Afford Payment of Court Costs or an Appeal Bond
Serving the Other Party
After filing, the respondent has to be personally served with a copy of the motion and notice of the hearing. For enforcement of a final order involving child support or custody, service must happen at least ten days before the hearing. When the enforcement motion is combined with another claim against someone who has not previously appeared in the case, the hearing cannot take place before 10:00 a.m. on the first Monday after the twentieth day following service.6State of Texas. Texas Family Code Section 157.062 – Notice of Hearing
Personal service is handled by a sheriff, constable, or private process server. Private process servers generally run $85 to $175 for routine service, more if the respondent is hard to find. Whoever serves the papers must file proof of service with the court before the hearing. Bad service is one of the most common reasons enforcement hearings get pushed back or thrown out.
What Happens at the Hearing
At the hearing, you present your case first. You walk the judge through the specific violations listed in your motion, showing that the order was clear, that the respondent knew about it, and that the respondent failed to comply. The respondent then gets to challenge your evidence and raise defenses.
The burden of proof depends on the remedy you want. Criminal contempt, which punishes past violations, requires proof beyond a reasonable doubt. Civil contempt, which is used to coerce future compliance, requires clear and convincing evidence. Both are higher than the preponderance standard used in most civil cases, so evidence has to be tight and organized. Presenting your exhibits in the same order as the violations listed in the motion makes the hearing go smoothly.
What the Court Can Order
Texas judges have a wide toolbox and often combine remedies in one order.
- Contempt, including jail confinement and fines for each violation. This is the most serious tool and the one that produces the fastest results.
- A cumulative money judgment for unpaid child support, including the balance on any prior judgment and accrued interest.
- Interest on delinquent child support at six percent simple interest per year from the date each payment became overdue, continuing after arrearages are reduced to a money judgment.7National Conference of State Legislatures. Interest on Child Support Arrears
- Makeup possession time to compensate for court-ordered visitation the respondent denied.
- Suspension of a broad range of licenses held by a parent who owes support, including driver’s, professional, occupational, hunting, and fishing licenses.8State of Texas. Texas Family Code Section 232.001 – Definitions
Separate federal consequences can also kick in for unpaid support: the U.S. State Department denies passports to parents who owe $2,500 or more, and the Treasury Offset Program intercepts federal tax refunds to pay down arrears.9U.S. Department of State. Pay Child Support Before Applying for a Passport10Bureau of the Fiscal Service. Treasury Offset Program – Child Support Program
Judges tailor the remedy to the violation. A first missed exchange may draw makeup time and a warning. Months of unpaid support with no credible explanation is far more likely to draw jail time, a money judgment, and an attorney’s fees award.
Attorney’s Fees
Texas law is unusually favorable to the person seeking enforcement. If the court finds the respondent failed to pay child support, it must order the respondent to pay your reasonable attorney’s fees, court costs, and expenses on top of the arrearages. Those fees can be enforced the same way child support is, including by contempt, and the court can order them paid directly to your attorney.11State of Texas. Texas Family Code Section 157.167 – Respondent to Pay Attorneys Fees, Court Costs, and Expenses
The same mandatory fee-shifting applies to violations of custody or visitation orders. When the court also finds enforcement was necessary to protect the child’s physical or emotional well-being, those fees can be enforced through contempt as well.11State of Texas. Texas Family Code Section 157.167 – Respondent to Pay Attorneys Fees, Court Costs, and Expenses
A judge can waive fees for good cause, but the statute sharply limits that discretion. If the respondent is in contempt and owes $20,000 or more in child support, waiver is available only if the respondent is involuntarily unemployed or disabled and truly lacks resources to pay. If the respondent has been found in contempt three or more times for denying court-ordered possession or access, the court cannot waive attorney’s fees at all.11State of Texas. Texas Family Code Section 157.167 – Respondent to Pay Attorneys Fees, Court Costs, and Expenses
How Long You Have to File
Enforcement deadlines are strict. For child support, the court keeps contempt jurisdiction for two years after the child turns eighteen or the support obligation ends. You can still file for a money judgment on unpaid support within ten years of that same point. The practical difference: after the contempt window closes, you can still collect the money, but you lose jail as leverage.
For visitation and custody violations, enforcement must generally be pursued within two years of the date you knew or should have known about the violation. Even inside the limitations period, waiting years to raise a problem hurts your credibility.
Defenses You Should Expect
The respondent has the right to answer, and some defenses land harder than others.
The most common in support cases is inability to pay. Section 157.008 makes this an affirmative defense, so the respondent carries the burden of proving it, with bank statements, termination letters, medical records, and evidence of a genuine job search.12State of Texas. Texas Family Code Section 157.008 – Affirmative Defense to Motion for Enforcement of Child Support Testimony alone rarely carries the day.
In visitation cases, the respondent may argue the violation was not willful because the child was genuinely ill, a weather emergency intervened, or something similar prevented compliance. The court looks at whether the respondent made reasonable efforts or offered an alternative.
A respondent can also argue the order was ambiguous. You cannot be held in contempt for violating an order a reasonable person would not understand, and when this defense succeeds, the court usually clarifies the order going forward rather than imposing penalties. Finally, the respondent may claim the petitioner interfered with compliance, such as by refusing to make the child available or rejecting valid payments. That defense rarely excuses non-compliance entirely, but it can shape the remedy.