To fill out and file a SAPCR form in Texas, you complete an Original Petition in Suit Affecting the Parent-Child Relationship with the parties’ identifying information, a statement of Texas jurisdiction, and your requested terms for conservatorship, possession, and child support, then file it with the district clerk in the county where the child lives and arrange for the other parent to be served. The form itself drives the outcome of your case, because it tells the judge exactly what custody arrangement, visitation schedule, and support amount you are asking for.
Choose the Right Petition First
Before you fill in anything, confirm you are using the correct form. If no court has ever issued a custody, visitation, or support order for the child, you file an Original Petition in Suit Affecting the Parent-Child Relationship.1Texas Foster Youth Justice Project. Suit Affecting the Parent-Child Relationship (SAPCR) If a final order already exists and you need to change it, you file a Petition to Modify instead. Filing the wrong type can get your case dismissed, so ask the district clerk’s office to check whether prior orders exist for the child.
When both parents agree on every term, you can file an uncontested SAPCR. The respondent signs a Waiver of Service before a notary, which skips formal delivery by a constable, and both parents can then present an agreed order to the judge.2TexasLawHelp.org. Waiver of Service Only (Specific Waiver) SAPCR
A Note on Who Can File
Either parent can file at any time. A man claiming to be the biological father can file under Chapter 160 of the Family Code, and a person who has had actual care, control, and possession of the child for at least six months has standing as well.3State of Texas. Texas Code FAM 102.003 – Standing for Certain Relatives and Other Persons Grandparents and other relatives generally cannot file an original suit for conservatorship on their own; they can only intervene in an existing case, and only by showing that leaving both parents in charge would seriously harm the child.4State of Texas. Texas Code Family Code 102.004 – Standing for Certain Relatives and Other Persons
If the parents were never married, paternity has to be legally established before the father can receive enforceable custody or visitation rights, or before support can be ordered against him. The simplest route is a voluntary Acknowledgment of Paternity signed by both parents through an AOP-certified entity, which carries the same weight as a court order.5Office of the Attorney General. Acknowledgment of Paternity (AOP) If paternity is disputed, the court can order genetic testing as part of the SAPCR.
Fill In the Party and Child Information
You can download the official petition from TexasLawHelp or pick up a paper copy at your district clerk’s office.6TexasLawHelp.org. Petition in Suit Affecting the Parent-Child Relationship The form asks for the full legal name, current residential address, and date of birth of yourself, the other parent, and each child. The standard self-help version also asks for the last three digits of your Social Security number and driver’s license number, not the full numbers.
Get the details right the first time. A misspelled name or wrong address can make the resulting order difficult to enforce later. If you don’t have the other parent’s current address, note that you will need to plan for alternative service.
Show That Texas Has Jurisdiction
The petition must establish that a Texas court has authority to decide the case. Under the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act, Texas has jurisdiction if the state is the child’s home state, meaning the child lived here for at least six consecutive months immediately before you filed.7State of Texas. Texas Code FAM 152.201 – Initial Child Custody Jurisdiction For an infant under six months, the child must have lived in Texas since birth.8Texas Law Help. Interstate Child Custody – The Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act
Many courts also require a separate UCCJEA affidavit listing everywhere the child has lived over the past five years, with the names and addresses of the people the child lived with during each period. Ask the clerk whether your court requires it.
Complete the Conservatorship Section
Conservatorship is the Texas term for legal custody, and this section is the heart of the form. You choose between two arrangements.
Joint Managing Conservatorship (JMC) means both parents share decision-making authority over education, healthcare, and other major issues. It is the most common arrangement and the one Texas courts generally prefer. Even under JMC, one parent is designated with the exclusive right to determine the child’s primary residence.
Sole Managing Conservatorship (SMC) gives one parent primary authority; the other becomes a possessory conservator with visitation rights. Courts usually reserve SMC for situations involving family violence, neglect, or other circumstances where shared decision-making would harm the child.
Under either arrangement, the form asks you to designate which parent will determine the child’s primary residence, and to propose a geographic restriction limiting where that parent can move with the child. The restriction is not automatically your current county. It can be a single county, a group of contiguous counties, a school district area, or something else. You propose it; the judge decides what serves the child’s best interest.
Choose a Possession and Access Schedule
After conservatorship, the form addresses visitation, which Texas calls possession and access. The default is the Standard Possession Order (SPO), which Texas law presumes is in the best interest of children age three and older.9State of Texas. Texas Family Code 153.252 – Rebuttable Presumption
When the parents live within 100 miles of each other, the SPO gives the noncustodial parent the first, third, and fifth weekends of each month, Thursday evenings during the school year, alternating holidays, and 30 days during summer.10Texas Law Help. Child Visitation and Possession Orders For parents more than 100 miles apart, a modified version applies with fewer weekends but the same holiday and summer time.
You are not locked into the SPO. The form lets you propose expanded standard possession or a fully custom schedule. If both parents agree on a custom schedule and submit it as a written parenting plan, the court generally approves it. Where they disagree, the judge orders whatever serves the child’s best interest.
Fill In Child Support and Medical Support
The petition asks you to specify a monthly child support amount. Texas uses a percentage-of-income formula based on the paying parent’s net resources:
- One child: 20% of net resources
- Two children: 25%
- Three children: 30%
- Four children: 35%
- Five children: 40%
- Six or more: not less than 40%
These guidelines apply when the paying parent’s monthly net resources fall below the statutory cap, which the Office of the Attorney General adjusts periodically.11State of Texas. Texas Family Code Chapter 154 – Child Support A judge can deviate from the percentages, but the guidelines create a strong presumption.
The form also requires you to address medical and dental support. You indicate which parent will carry health and dental insurance for the child and how uninsured medical expenses will be split. If neither parent has access to insurance at a reasonable cost, the court can order cash medical support instead.
File the Petition With the District Clerk
File the completed petition with the district clerk in the county where the child lives. Attorneys must file electronically, but self-represented filers are generally exempt. Some local courts require e-filing from everyone, so check with your district clerk before making the trip.12Texas Law Help. I Want to Electronically File (E-File) My Documents
Filing fees vary by county. Expect to pay roughly $350 to $400 or more. After you pay, the clerk assigns a cause number and routes the case to a specific court.
If You Cannot Afford the Filing Fee
File a Statement of Inability to Afford Payment of Court Costs under Texas Rule of Civil Procedure 145. The court should waive your fees if you receive means-tested benefits like SNAP, TANF, Medicaid, or SSI; if a legal aid attorney represents you; or if you simply do not have enough income to cover both basic household needs and court costs. A granted waiver covers the filing fee, service of process fees, copy fees, and other court charges.13Texas Law Help. Court Fees and Fee Waivers
Serve the Other Parent
Filing is not enough. You must formally notify the other parent by having them served with the petition. The standard method is personal delivery by a constable, sheriff, or private process server. Certified mail with return receipt requested is another option allowed under the Texas Rules of Civil Procedure.
If the other parent agrees to the suit, they can sign a Waiver of Service before a notary and skip formal delivery. That only works in truly uncontested cases.
When You Cannot Find the Other Parent
If you have made genuine efforts to locate the other parent and still cannot find them, you can ask the court for permission to serve by publication. The court will not grant it unless you have conducted a diligent search, meaning you have exhausted every reasonable lead, and you must also hire an attorney ad litem to conduct an independent search.14Texas Law Help. Service by Publication (When You Can’t Find the Other Parent)
If publication is approved, the citation runs in a local newspaper once a week for four consecutive weeks. The first publication must appear at least 28 days before the answer deadline, and the other parent has until the first Monday after 42 days from the date of issuance to respond. A parent served by publication has two years to ask for a new trial, so orders obtained this way are less stable than those obtained through personal service.
The Answer Deadline and Default
Once the other parent is personally served, they have until 10:00 a.m. on the Monday after 20 days from the date of service to file a written answer with the court. If that deadline passes without a response, you can ask for a default judgment hearing, where the judge may grant the orders you requested without the other parent’s participation.
Default is not automatic. The judge still must find that the requested orders serve the child’s best interest, and a parent who was properly served but missed the deadline can sometimes get the default set aside, especially by acting quickly.
Ask for Temporary Orders if You Need Them Now
SAPCR cases can take months to reach a final hearing. During that gap, either parent can ask the court for temporary orders under Texas Family Code Section 105.001 to govern custody, support, and behavior until a final order is entered.15State of Texas. Texas Family Code 105.001 – Temporary Orders Before Final Order Common requests include:
- Temporary conservatorship deciding who the child lives with while the case is pending
- Temporary child support before the final order
- A geographic restriction preventing either parent from moving the child
- Restraining a party from disturbing the peace of the child or the other parent
- Attorney’s fees and costs
Temporary orders for conservatorship and support require notice and a hearing, and the court applies the same child support guidelines and SPO presumption that govern final orders. If the situation is urgent, the court can issue a temporary restraining order without advance notice to the other side, but those expire quickly and must be followed by a full hearing.