The Texas Standard Possession Order is the default visitation schedule set out in Texas Family Code Chapter 153, Subchapter F, and it governs when a noncustodial parent has the child if the court does not order something different.1State of Texas. Texas Family Code FAM 153.251 – Policy and General Application of Guidelines It covers regular weekends, a midweek visit, holidays, and extended summer time, and it adjusts based on how far apart the parents live. The rules are specific, and a few of them turn on notice deadlines that a parent can miss without realizing what it costs.
Who the Standard Schedule Applies To
Texas law presumes the Standard Possession Order (SPO) provides reasonable minimum possession and serves the child’s best interest.2State of Texas. Texas Family Code FAM 153.252 – Rebuttable Presumption The presumption is rebuttable, but the parent asking for something different carries the burden of showing why.
The SPO is written for children who are at least three years old.1State of Texas. Texas Family Code FAM 153.251 – Policy and General Application of Guidelines For a child under three, the court crafts a tailored order that weighs each parent’s caregiving history, the child’s attachment to each parent, the effect of separation, and the need for a consistent routine.3State of Texas. Texas Family Code FAM 153.254 – Child Less Than Three Years of Age The same order must also set a prospective schedule that takes effect on the child’s third birthday, and that prospective schedule is presumptively the full SPO.
The Schedule When Parents Live Within 100 Miles
Most Texas families fall into this bucket. The possessory conservator (the parent without primary custody) gets predictable weekend and midweek time during the school year, alternating spring breaks, and an extended summer block.4State of Texas. Texas Family Code FAM 153.312 – Parents Who Reside 100 Miles or Less Apart
Weekends and the Thursday Visit
Possession runs on the first, third, and fifth weekends of every month, from 6 p.m. Friday until 6 p.m. Sunday. Because months don’t line up cleanly with weekend counts, a fifth weekend can sometimes fall right before the next month’s first weekend, producing back-to-back weekends.
During the school year, the possessory conservator also has a Thursday evening visit from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. It’s a short window, but it breaks up the school week. A court can eliminate the Thursday visit if it finds the visit is not in the child’s best interest.
Spring Break
Spring break alternates. The possessory conservator has it in even-numbered years, from 6 p.m. on the day school lets out through 6 p.m. the day before school resumes. The managing conservator has the same block in odd-numbered years.
Summer Possession and the April Deadlines
Summer is where the calendar rewards attention and punishes forgetfulness. The possessory conservator gets 30 days of summer possession. Whether that parent gets to pick the dates depends on a single notice window.
If the possessory conservator gives written notice by April 1 specifying preferred dates, they receive the 30 days on their chosen schedule, which can be split into two blocks of at least seven consecutive days each. Miss April 1, and the default takes over: 30 consecutive days from July 1 through July 31. Either way the parent gets the full 30 days, but a missed notice strips away the choice of when.
The managing conservator has a right of their own. By giving written notice by April 15, the managing conservator can claim one weekend (Friday 6 p.m. through Sunday 6 p.m.) during the possessory conservator’s summer block, and the managing conservator handles the pickup and return.
The Schedule When Parents Live More Than 100 Miles Apart
Distance changes the shape of the schedule.5State of Texas. Texas Family Code FAM 153.313 – Parents Who Reside Over 100 Miles Apart The possessory conservator can keep the standard first, third, and fifth weekend rotation, or elect one weekend per month of their own choosing. The one-weekend option runs from 6 p.m. when school lets out for the weekend through 6 p.m. the day before school resumes, requires 14 days’ written or phone notice before each designated weekend, and must be elected in writing within 90 days of the parents beginning to live more than 100 miles apart.
The other differences are significant. The long-distance parent gets spring break every year, not just alternating years. Summer possession jumps from 30 days to 42 days, still keyed to the April 1 notice deadline; without notice, the default 42-day block runs from June 15 through July 27. The managing conservator can still claim one weekend during the summer block with April 15 notice, and if the summer block exceeds 30 days, the managing conservator may take two nonconsecutive weekends.
Holidays and Special Days
Holiday possession overrides the regular weekend and Thursday schedule, no matter how far apart the parents live.6State of Texas. Texas Family Code FAM 153.314 – Holiday Possession Unaffected by Distance Parents Reside Apart
Thanksgiving. The possessory conservator has Thanksgiving in odd-numbered years, from 6 p.m. the day school dismisses through 6 p.m. the following Sunday. The managing conservator has it in even-numbered years.
Christmas. Winter break splits at noon on December 28. The possessory conservator gets the first half (school dismissal through noon December 28) in even-numbered years and the second half (noon December 28 through the day before school resumes) in odd-numbered years. The managing conservator takes the opposite. The result is that each parent gets Christmas morning roughly every other year.
Mother’s Day and Father’s Day. A mother who is a conservator has possession from 6 p.m. Friday through 6 p.m. on Mother’s Day, even when that weekend belongs to the other parent. The same applies to a father on Father’s Day weekend. The parent who isn’t otherwise scheduled handles the pickup and return.
The child’s birthday. Whichever parent doesn’t have the child that day gets a two-hour visit from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., picking up and returning the child to the other parent’s residence.
The Expanded Standard Possession Order
Section 153.317 lets either parent elect alternative start and end times that use the school day as the handoff point instead of 6 p.m. exchanges.7State of Texas. Texas Family Code FAM 153.317 – Alternative Beginning and Ending Possession Times The parent has to affirmatively request it, and the court grants it unless it finds the election is not in the child’s best interest.
Under the expanded order, weekend possession begins when school dismisses on Friday and ends when school resumes Monday morning. The Thursday visit becomes an overnight, running from school dismissal on Thursday until school starts on Friday. Holiday start times shift to school dismissal as well. Two things happen at once: the possessory conservator gets meaningfully more time, and the number of face-to-face parking-lot exchanges drops sharply. For parents who live close enough for the school-based exchange to work, there is rarely a reason not to elect it.
Pickup, Return, and Exchanges
The default rule is that the managing conservator surrenders the child to the possessory conservator at the managing conservator’s residence at the beginning of each possession period.8State of Texas. Texas Family Code FAM 153.316 – General Terms and Conditions Under the expanded order, when possession begins at school dismissal, the exchange happens at the school.
At the end of each period, the possessory conservator either returns the child to the managing conservator’s home or surrenders the child at the possessory conservator’s own residence, depending on what the court orders. One exception is worth knowing: if both parents lived in the same county when the original order was entered, the possessory conservator stayed there, and the managing conservator later moved to a different county, the managing conservator has to do the pickup at the possessory conservator’s home. The rule prevents a custodial parent from moving and shifting all the travel onto the other parent.
Either parent may designate a competent adult to handle pickup or return. The child’s personal belongings travel with the child. If a parent will be unavailable during scheduled possession, they have to give notice to whoever currently has the child.
Electronic Communication
A court can order periods of electronic communication, including phone calls, video calls, email, and text messages, when a parent asks for it.9State of Texas. Texas Family Code FAM 153.015 – Electronic Communication With Child by Conservator It does not happen automatically.
When ordered, both parents have to share the child’s email address and contact information, notify the other parent within 24 hours of any changes, and accommodate the communication at reasonable times with privacy and respect. A court cannot use the availability of video calls as a reason to reduce child support, and electronic communication does not substitute for physical possession. In cases involving family violence findings or supervised visitation, the court can award electronic communication only if both parents agree and the specific terms are printed in boldface in the order.
Enforcing the Order
When the other parent refuses to hand over the child, shows up late repeatedly, or unilaterally cancels scheduled possession, the remedy is a motion for enforcement filed in the court that issued the order.10State of Texas. Texas Family Code FAM 157.002 – Contents of Motion The motion has to identify the specific provision that was violated and list the date, place, and time of each instance of noncompliance.
The court can enforce through contempt, which carries potential fines and jail for willful violations. If the court finds a failure to comply with a possession order, Texas law requires it to order the violating parent to pay the other parent’s reasonable attorney fees and all court costs. The fee-shifting is mandatory. The court can also order makeup possession time, and the makeup periods must match the type and duration of what was lost.
There is a deadline. A contempt-based motion for enforcement must be filed no later than six months after the child turns 18 or the possession rights terminate under the order, whichever applies. Sitting on violations for years can extinguish the ability to enforce them.
Modifying the Order
Circumstances change. Texas law allows modification of a possession order when the change would serve the child’s best interest and at least one of the following applies:11State of Texas. Texas Family Code FAM 156.101 – Grounds for Modification of Order Establishing Conservatorship or Possession and Access
- The circumstances of the child, a conservator, or another affected party have materially and substantially changed since the order was entered or since a mediated settlement agreement was signed.
- The child is at least 12 years old and has told the judge in chambers which parent the child prefers to designate as having the exclusive right to determine the child’s primary residence.
- The primary conservator has voluntarily given up primary care and possession for at least six months, unless the conservator was on military deployment.
“Material and substantial” is not defined by statute, so judges have discretion. A parent moving 200 miles away qualifies. A remarriage, standing alone, usually does not. The threshold is intentionally high so that parents cannot return to court over minor disagreements.