Texas builds its child visitation schedule around a default framework called the Standard Possession Order (SPO). For children age three and older, the Family Code presumes the SPO gives the non-primary parent a reasonable minimum of time and serves the child’s best interest.1State of Texas. Texas Family Code 153.252 The exact schedule depends on how far apart the parents live and how old the child is. Parents can agree to their own arrangement, and a court will approve it if it serves the child’s best interest.
The Standard Possession Order When Parents Live Within 100 Miles
If both parents live within 100 miles of the child’s primary residence, the non-primary parent (the possessory conservator) has the child on the first, third, and fifth weekends of every month. Each weekend runs from 6 p.m. Friday through 6 p.m. Sunday. During the school year, that parent also has the child on Thursday evenings from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., unless the court finds the midweek visit is not in the child’s best interest.2State of Texas. Texas Family Code 153.312
Summer possession for the non-primary parent is 30 days.3Texas Law Help. Child Visitation and Possession Orders That time can be shaped by written notice under the statute, but at its core it is a month with the possessory conservator during summer break.
The Schedule When Parents Live More Than 100 Miles Apart
Distance changes several pieces of the schedule. The non-primary parent picks between two weekend options: keep the first, third, and fifth weekend rotation, or take one weekend per month of their own choosing. To use the one-weekend option, the parent has to give the other parent written notice within 90 days of the parents beginning to live more than 100 miles apart, and then at least 14 days’ notice before each chosen weekend.4State of Texas. Texas Family Code 153.313 The Thursday-evening midweek visit is gone under this version of the schedule.
The lost regular contact is offset elsewhere. Every spring break belongs to the non-primary parent, and summer possession jumps from 30 days to 42. Those 42 days can be taken as one block or split into two blocks of at least seven consecutive days each. If the possessory conservator does not notify the other parent of the chosen dates by April 1, the summer period defaults to June 15 through July 27.4State of Texas. Texas Family Code 153.313
Holidays and Birthdays
Holiday possession works the same way in both versions of the SPO. Christmas break splits in half. The first half runs from the day school lets out until noon on December 28, and the second half runs from noon on December 28 until the evening before school resumes. The possessory conservator takes the first half in even-numbered years and the second half in odd-numbered years.5State of Texas. Texas Family Code 153.314
Thanksgiving alternates too. The non-primary parent has the child from school dismissal through the following Sunday in odd-numbered years, and the primary parent has that time in even-numbered years.
Two special days sit outside the alternating rotation. Each parent gets their own parental holiday: a mother has the child from Friday evening through Sunday evening on Mother’s Day weekend, and a father has the same window around Father’s Day. And if the child’s birthday falls during the other parent’s regular possession time, the parent who doesn’t otherwise have the child that day gets a two-hour visit from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.5State of Texas. Texas Family Code 153.314
Children Under Three
The SPO presumption does not apply to children under three. For infants and toddlers, a Texas judge builds a custom schedule using factors that reflect early childhood development: who has been the primary caregiver, how separation from either parent affects the child, each parent’s availability to personally care for the child, the child’s medical and developmental needs, the child’s need for routine, and how close the parents’ homes are to each other. Courts are also directed to consider a gradual transition schedule that ramps up the non-primary parent’s time as the child grows.6State of Texas. Texas Family Code 153.254
The order for a child under three has to include a forward-looking provision that takes effect on the third birthday, presumptively converting the schedule to the SPO at that point.6State of Texas. Texas Family Code 153.254
When the Court Departs From the Default Schedule
Every visitation decision ultimately answers to the best-interest standard set out by the Texas Supreme Court in Holley v. Adams, which lets judges weigh the child’s wishes, emotional and physical needs, any danger to the child, each parent’s abilities and plans, home stability, and parental conduct.7Justia. Holley v. Adams A judge can restrict, supervise, or deny possession when the evidence warrants it.
Family Violence and Abuse
When credible evidence shows a pattern of child neglect, child abuse, or family violence by a parent or someone in that parent’s household, Texas law presumes unsupervised visitation is not in the child’s best interest.8State of Texas. Texas Family Code 153.004 A court can deny access altogether if the parent has a history of family violence within the two years before the case was filed.
If a judge allows access despite the evidence, the order has to include protective conditions. Those can include continuous supervision by a court-approved person or facility, exchanges in a protected setting, a requirement that the parent not use alcohol or controlled substances within 12 hours of the visit, or completion of a battering intervention program.8State of Texas. Texas Family Code 153.004
What the Child Wants
A judge can interview a child in chambers to hear the child’s wishes about possession and access. If the child is 12 or older, the court has to make a record of that interview when any party or the child’s attorney requests one.9State of Texas. Texas Family Code 153.009 – Interview of Child in Chambers The child’s preference matters but does not decide the case; the judge still applies the full best-interest analysis.
Electronic Communication
A Texas order can include electronic communication as an additional form of access: phone calls, email, video conferencing, instant messaging, and webcam sessions. The parent facilitating the virtual visit cannot monitor or record what the child and the other parent say to each other.10Texas Law Help. Electronic Communication with Your Child Electronic access is meant to supplement in-person possession, not replace it.
Changing the Schedule Later
A final visitation order can be modified, but not on general dissatisfaction. The parent asking for a change has to show it would serve the child’s best interest and that at least one of three things is true: the circumstances of the child, a conservator, or another affected person have materially and substantially changed since the current order was signed; the child is 12 or older and has told the judge in chambers who they would prefer as the primary conservator; or the custodial parent has voluntarily given up primary care of the child for at least six months.11State of Texas. Texas Family Code 156.101
The Family Code does not define “material and substantial change,” so courts decide case by case. Texas courts have accepted things like a parent relocating, a significant change in a work schedule, remarriage, a new substance abuse problem, or the child’s evolving needs as they grow. Minor or temporary disruptions generally do not qualify.
When the Other Parent Won’t Follow the Order
If a parent ignores the possession schedule, the other parent can file a Motion for Enforcement. Specificity is the whole game here. The motion has to list each alleged violation by date, time, and location. Generalized complaints about a pattern will not carry a case; the court needs to see that the order clearly required something, the other parent clearly failed to do it, and the filing parent can point to exactly when.
If the court finds violations, several remedies are available:
- Make-up possession time to compensate the parent who lost time with the child.
- Attorney’s fees, ordered against the non-compliant parent.
- Contempt of court for willful violations, which can carry fines, community supervision, or jail time of up to six months per violation.
Courts treat repeated violations seriously, and the contempt power gives judges real authority to compel compliance with the schedule that was ordered.