How to Request Mediation for Child Custody in Texas

To request mediation for child custody in Texas, you either file a written agreement to mediate signed by both parents, or you file a short motion asking the judge to order the other parent into mediation with you. Most contested cases go the motion route, and most Texas family courts expect parents to try mediation before a contested final hearing gets scheduled.¹

Two Ways to Get Your Case to Mediation

The simpler path is a written agreement between both parents to mediate, submitted to the court. If the other parent won’t agree, you file a motion asking the judge to refer the case. The court can also send the case to mediation on its own without anyone asking.¹

The Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code separately authorizes courts to refer any pending dispute to alternative dispute resolution and to require the parties to participate.² Between the Family Code and Chapter 154, judges have wide authority to move a contested custody case into mediation, and they use it routinely.

What to Put in the Motion

The document is usually titled “Motion to Refer Case to Mediation” or “Motion for Mediation.” Texas doesn’t require a rigid template, but the motion has to contain enough identifying information for the clerk and judge to tie it to your file. That means four things:

Court and case information. The full name of the court (for example, “325th District Court, Tarrant County, Texas”), your cause number, and the case style with both parties’ names.
Party and attorney details. Names and contact information for both parents, plus any attorneys.
A clear request. A plain statement asking the judge to order both parties into mediation to resolve the custody dispute.
A proposed order. Many courts expect you to attach a proposed “Order Referring Case to Mediation” for the judge to sign. Include a completion deadline, a method for choosing the mediator, and how costs will be divided.

If you’re representing yourself, TexasLawHelp.org and many county law libraries have free motion templates you can adapt. Getting the format roughly right matters far less than getting the court name, cause number, and request correct.

Filing and Serving the Motion

Attorneys in Texas civil and family cases must file electronically through eFileTexas.gov. Self-represented parents are strongly encouraged to file electronically but can also file in person at the district clerk’s office in most counties.³ To use the electronic system, create an account, select your court and case, and upload the motion as a PDF. Expect a filing fee of roughly $80, depending on the county.

After filing, give the other parent, or their attorney if they have one, a copy of the motion. Email, hand delivery, or certified mail all work in a pending case where both sides are already participating. Keep proof of delivery; the court may ask for it.

What Happens After You File

The other parent can respond in writing, agreeing, objecting, or proposing different terms. In most cases, the judge signs the referral order without a separate hearing, particularly when the other side doesn’t object. A party who objects to court-ordered mediation has 10 days after receiving notice of the referral to file a written objection. If the court finds the objection has a reasonable basis, it can withdraw the referral.⁴

The signed order typically sets a completion deadline tied to your next court date, divides costs, and either names a mediator or explains how one will be chosen. When the parents agree on a mediator, the court generally approves that choice. When they don’t, the court can appoint one.

Objecting When There Is Family Violence

This is the most important exception in the process. If you have experienced family violence from the other parent, or the other parent has been violent toward your child, you can file a written objection to mediation at any point before the mediation order is signed.¹ Once you file the objection, the court cannot refer the case to mediation unless the other side requests a hearing and proves by a preponderance of the evidence that the family violence claim is not supported.

Even if the court overrules the objection and orders mediation, the judge must put safety measures in place. Those measures must ensure the parents are never in the same room and have no face-to-face contact during the mediation.¹ The law is written to keep you from having to sit across a table from someone who has hurt you or your child.

Choosing a Mediator and Paying for It

If the parents agree on a mediator, the court generally accepts that choice. Otherwise the court picks one. Costs vary widely. County-run dispute resolution centers offer services on a sliding scale, often between $50 and $250 for a full session, and some provide free mediation through volunteer mediators for parents who can’t afford to pay. Private mediators charge considerably more, with hourly rates commonly between $200 and $500. The mediation order usually splits costs equally, though the court can adjust the split based on each parent’s ability to pay.

Texas sets real training standards for family mediators, so the person you hire or the court appoints will typically have completed extensive dispute resolution training plus additional coursework in family dynamics, child development, family law, and family violence.⁵

What a Successful Mediation Produces

When mediation works, the result is a Mediated Settlement Agreement, or MSA. In Texas, an MSA becomes binding and essentially irrevocable when it meets three requirements:

A statement, in bold type, capital letters, or underlined text, declaring that the agreement is not subject to revocation.
The signatures of both parents.
The signature of each parent’s attorney, if that attorney was present when the agreement was signed.

Once those requirements are met, either parent is entitled to a court judgment based on the agreement, and the court generally must enter it. Read every word before you sign. “Not subject to revocation” means exactly that. The only narrow exceptions where a court can decline to enter judgment on a valid MSA involve family violence that impaired a parent’s decision-making, an arrangement giving unsupervised access to a registered sex offender, or a resulting agreement that is not in the child’s best interest under those specific circumstances.¹

If mediation ends without an agreement, the case simply proceeds. Mediation in Texas is non-binding unless both parents sign an MSA, and the mediator reports only that the session occurred and whether an agreement was reached, not what either parent said. The court can order a second round later if it helps.

1
State of Texas. Texas Family Code Section 153.0071 – Alternate Dispute Resolution Procedures
2
State of Texas. Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code Chapter 154 – Alternative Dispute Resolution Procedures – Section: 154.021
3
eFileTexas.gov. Official E-Filing System for Texas
4
State of Texas. Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code Section 154.022 – Notification and Objection
5
State of Texas. Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code Chapter 154 – Alternative Dispute Resolution Procedures – Section: 154.052