Texas Expanded Standard Possession Order: Mileage and Elections

In Texas, the expanded standard possession order is the automatic parenting-time schedule when the noncustodial parent lives within 50 miles of the child’s primary residence. Since September 1, 2021, courts write the expanded beginning and ending times into the order by default, so the noncustodial parent picks the child up at school on Friday and returns the child at school on Monday, with a Thursday overnight during the school year, unless a parent opts out or the judge finds a reason it shouldn’t apply.¹

The 50-Mile Automatic Rule

The 87th Texas Legislature passed Senate Bill 1936 and added Section 153.3171 to the Family Code. Before that change, a parent who wanted the longer school-based times had to affirmatively elect them. Now the presumption runs the other direction: if the possessory conservator lives no more than 50 miles from the child’s primary residence, the court is directed by statute to write the order as though the parent had chosen every expanded time option available under Section 153.317.¹

No election form is required. No motion is required. The 50-mile threshold governs only whether the expanded times are automatic. A separate 100-mile threshold in Section 153.312 determines whether the noncustodial parent qualifies for the standard possession order’s weekend and Thursday framework at all.² The whole standard possession order remains a rebuttable presumption Texas courts treat as reasonable minimum time in the child’s best interest.³

Weekends Under the Expanded Schedule

The basic version of the standard possession order gives the noncustodial parent the first, third, and fifth weekends of each month from 6 p.m. Friday to 6 p.m. Sunday.² The expanded version stretches both ends. The weekend begins when the child’s school lets out on Friday and ends when school resumes the following Monday.⁴

That adds roughly 20 hours to every possession weekend. The pickup happens at school Friday afternoon, and the drop-off is at school Monday morning. Two face-to-face exchanges between parents disappear, because the school becomes the transition point.

Student holidays and teacher in-service days extend the weekend further. When a Monday after a possession weekend is a student holiday or in-service day, the weekend runs through that Monday and ends at 8 a.m. Tuesday. When the Friday before a possession weekend is a student holiday or in-service day, the weekend begins at school dismissal on Thursday instead.⁴

Thursday Overnights During the School Year

Under the basic schedule, Thursday is a two-hour evening visit from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. during the school year, with no overnight.² The expanded version replaces that with a full overnight. The noncustodial parent picks the child up when school dismisses Thursday and returns the child to school Friday morning.⁴

This runs every Thursday during the regular school term, not only on weeks that lead into a possession weekend. The noncustodial parent is responsible for having the child at school on time Friday with homework done and supplies packed. For a parent who works an early shift or lives on the far edge of the school’s attendance zone, this is the piece of the expanded schedule most worth thinking through before accepting it.

How Holidays Shift Under the Expanded Times

Holidays override the weekend rotation entirely. If a holiday block would otherwise fall on a parent’s regular weekend, the holiday assignment controls. Holidays are split between parents on an alternating even-year and odd-year cycle set out in Section 153.314.⁵ Under that section:

The noncustodial parent has the first half of Christmas break in even years, from 6 p.m. on the day school dismisses through noon on December 28, and the second half in odd years, from noon December 28 through 6 p.m. the day before school resumes. The custodial parent takes the opposite halves.
The noncustodial parent has Thanksgiving in odd years, from 6 p.m. on the day school dismisses through 6 p.m. the following Sunday.
Each parent has the child on their own Mother’s Day or Father’s Day weekend, from 6 p.m. Friday through 6 p.m. on the holiday.
The parent who does not otherwise have the child on the child’s birthday gets a visit from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. that day.

The expanded times reshape several of these transitions. Thanksgiving, Christmas, and spring break periods start when school dismisses for the break rather than at 6 p.m. Father’s Day weekends extend to 8 a.m. Monday, and Mother’s Day weekends run from school dismissal Friday to school resumption after the weekend.⁴

Summer is separate. The noncustodial parent’s 30 days of extended summer possession replace the regular school-year rotation, so the expanded weekend and Thursday provisions do not apply during that block. If the noncustodial parent wants to choose when those 30 days fall, written notice must go to the custodial parent by April 1; the custodial parent’s one summer weekend of possession requires written notice by April 15.⁶ Missing either deadline hands the default summer dates in the order.

Between 51 and 100 Miles: You Must Elect

Parents who live more than 50 but no more than 100 miles apart still qualify for the standard possession order, but the expanded times are not automatic. The noncustodial parent has to affirmatively elect them under Section 153.317, either in a written document filed with the court or through an oral statement on the record in open court, before or at the time the possession order is rendered.⁴

The election can be all of the expanded options or only some. A parent whose work schedule makes Friday-morning school drop-offs impractical might elect the expanded weekend end time but keep the standard Thursday evening. The court must honor the election unless a judge finds a particular option is not in the child’s best interest.

When a Court Can Order Basic Times Instead

The expanded schedule is a presumption, not a guarantee. Section 153.3171 lets a court order the basic times in several situations:¹

A history of family violence, abuse, or neglect that leads the court to restrict access under Section 153.004.
Distance that, while technically within 50 miles, makes school-based exchanges unworkable because of traffic, road conditions, or the layout of the area.
Lack of prior frequent and continuous involvement by the noncustodial parent before the lawsuit was filed.
Any other reason the court finds relevant, including a child’s special medical needs, a very young age, or a parent’s work schedule that rules out school drop-offs.

If either party requests it, the court must issue written findings of fact and conclusions of law explaining why it granted or denied the expanded times. Those findings matter if the ruling is later appealed.

Declining Expanded Times You Don’t Want

A noncustodial parent within 50 miles who does not want some or all of the expanded times can decline them, either in a written statement filed with the court or through an oral statement on the record.¹ The decline can be partial. You might keep the expanded weekends and drop the Thursday overnight, or the reverse.

Think this through before the order is signed. Once it’s in place, changing it later requires meeting the modification standard under Section 156.101, which asks for both a material and substantial change in circumstances and a showing that the change is in the child’s best interest.⁷ That is a higher bar than adjusting times during the original case.

Parents Can Agree to Something Different

Every standard possession order in Texas must include a provision letting the parents deviate from the set schedule by mutual agreement.⁸ When both parents agree in advance to swap a weekend, adjust a pickup time, or share a holiday differently, they can do that without going back to court. The order’s specified terms are the fallback for any period where the parents cannot agree.

Children Under Three Are Handled Separately

The standard and expanded possession orders are built around school-age children and their academic calendars. For children under three, Texas courts typically use modified or phased schedules that begin with shorter visits and gradually build up, taking into account the child’s prior routine, who has been providing primary care, the child’s attachment to each parent, and the effect of separation from either parent. Once the noncustodial parent completes the initial phases, the schedule transitions to the standard or expanded possession order.

1
State of Texas. Texas Family Code Section 153.3171 – Beginning and Ending Possession Times for Parents Who Reside 50 Miles or Less Apart
2
State of Texas. Texas Family Code FAM 153.312 – Parents Who Reside 100 Miles or Less Apart
3
State of Texas. Texas Family Code FAM 153.252 – Rebuttable Presumption
4
State of Texas. Texas Family Code FAM 153.317 – Alternative Beginning and Ending Possession Times
5
State of Texas. Texas Family Code FAM 153.314 – Holiday Possession Unaffected by Distance
6
Office of the Attorney General of Texas. 50 Miles Apart or Less
7
State of Texas. Texas Family Code Section 156.101 – Grounds for Modification of Order Establishing Conservatorship or Possession and Access
8
State of Texas. Texas Family Code Section 153.311 – Mutual Agreement or Specified Terms for Possession