Violating a child custody order in Texas can lead to civil contempt carrying up to $500 in fines and six months in jail for each proven violation, and in some cases to a state jail felony for interference with child custody. The parent on the receiving end of the violations has a formal remedy: a motion for enforcement filed in the court that issued the original order.
What Counts as a Violation
A Texas custody order spells out when each parent has the child, where exchanges happen, and what rights each parent holds between visits. Any time a parent ignores a specific instruction in that order, they’re in violation. The most common patterns:
- Withholding the child during the other parent’s designated possession period, including “forgetting” an exchange, showing up late enough that the visit is effectively lost, or refusing to answer the door.
- Changing exchange locations or times unilaterally, or failing to show up at the designated spot.
- Blocking electronic communication when the order grants it. Under Texas Family Code Section 153.015, a court can award a parent reasonable periods of phone, video, and email contact with the child. Not every order includes this provision, so check yours.1State of Texas. Texas Family Code FAM 153.015
- Moving the child outside a geographic restriction. Many Texas orders limit the child’s primary residence to a specific county and its neighbors, and relocating beyond that boundary without court approval or the other parent’s written agreement violates the order.
One point trips parents up: you don’t get to stop following the order because you think the other parent violated it first. Texas courts expect you to comply with your own obligations and file for enforcement separately.
Civil Contempt: Fines, Jail, and Makeup Time
When a judge finds that a parent violated the order, the court has several tools. Judges typically start with the lighter ones and escalate for repeat offenders.
Fines and Jail
A contempt finding can carry a fine of up to $500 per violation and confinement in county jail for up to six months per violation. Those penalties stack across counts, though total confinement for criminal contempt arising from the same underlying matter cannot exceed 18 months cumulatively.2Justia Law. Texas Government Code Chapter 21 – General Provisions
Makeup Possession Time
The court can order additional possession time to compensate for what you lost. The makeup period must be the same type and duration as the denied possession, so a missed weekend buys back a weekend. All compensatory time must be scheduled within two years of the court’s finding, and you choose when it occurs within those parameters.3State of Texas. Texas Family Code FAM 157.168
Attorney’s Fees
If the court finds a failure to comply with possession or access terms, the court is required to order the violating parent to pay your reasonable attorney’s fees, court costs, and expenses on top of any other remedy. The “shall” language in the statute matters: the judge generally has no discretion to skip the award unless good cause is shown. If the violating parent has already been found in contempt at least three times for denying possession or access, the court cannot waive the fee requirement at all.4State of Texas. Texas Family Code Section 157.167 – Respondent to Pay Attorneys Fees and Costs
When Violations Become Criminal
Civil contempt isn’t the only risk. Texas Penal Code Section 25.03 makes it a state jail felony to take or keep a child when you know doing so violates a custody order.5State of Texas. Texas Penal Code Section 25.03 – Interference With Child Custody A state jail felony carries 180 days to two years in a state jail facility and fines up to $10,000, and it leaves a criminal conviction on the record.
The same statute covers a noncustodial parent who knowingly entices or persuades a child to leave the custodial parent’s care, and taking a child out of the United States to deprive the other parent of access is a separate offense under the section. Affirmative defenses exist for parents fleeing domestic violence or acting under a valid court order.5State of Texas. Texas Penal Code Section 25.03 – Interference With Child Custody There is a narrow defense if a parent takes a child outside the judicial district but returns the child within three days; that defense disappears on day four.
On top of criminal prosecution, Texas municipalities and counties can impose a separate civil penalty of up to $500 for the same conduct.6State of Texas. Texas Family Code Section 157.551 – Civil Penalty for Interference With Child Custody Order
International abduction brings in federal law. Under 18 U.S.C. Section 1204, removing or retaining a child under 16 outside the country with intent to obstruct parental rights is a federal crime punishable by up to three years in prison, with narrow affirmative defenses for parents acting under a valid order, fleeing domestic violence, or notifying the other parent within 24 hours of circumstances beyond their control.7Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 1204 International Parental Kidnapping
Filing a Motion for Enforcement
Your primary legal remedy is a motion for enforcement under Texas Family Code Chapter 157. Any provision in a temporary or final order can be enforced this way.8State of Texas. Texas Family Code FAM 157.001 – Motion for Enforcement
Where You File
The motion goes to the court of continuing, exclusive jurisdiction, which is the court that issued the original order. You file with the district clerk’s office in that county. Fees vary by county, so call the clerk to confirm. If you can’t afford them, file a Statement of Inability to Afford Payment of Court Costs. You qualify if you receive government benefits like Medicaid, TANF, or food stamps, or if paying the fees would prevent you from meeting basic household needs.9Texas Law Help. Court Fees and Fee Waivers
Once filed, the other parent must be formally served by a constable or private process server. The court then issues an Order to Appear setting the hearing.
The Specificity Rule
Most enforcement motions succeed or fail here. Texas law requires the motion to identify the exact provision being violated, describe how the other parent failed to comply, and, for possession and access violations, list the specific date, place, and time of each instance.10State of Texas. Texas Family Code FAM 157.002 Vague allegations like “she keeps canceling weekends” won’t survive. You need something closer to: “On March 15, 2026, at 6:00 p.m., at the Walgreens parking lot at 123 Main Street in Harris County, the respondent failed to deliver the child as required by Section 3.2 of the order.”
You can allege repeated past violations in the same motion and assert that future violations of a similar nature are likely. Fill-in-the-blank forms with instructions are available free through TexasLawHelp.org.11Texas Law Help. I Want to File a Motion to Enforce Visitation
Evidence You’ll Need
Because the specificity rule is so demanding, your evidence must be organized by date before you ever reach the courtroom. Start a written log the moment violations begin. For each incident, note the date, the time you arrived at the exchange location, how long you waited, and what happened. Save text messages, emails, and voicemails that show refusal or failure to comply.
Screenshots work for informal gathering, but originals carry more weight. Co-parenting apps generate time-stamped records that can’t be edited after the fact, which eliminates arguments about doctored screenshots.
Bring a certified copy of the custody order to the hearing. The judge compares the order’s exact language against the alleged violations. If the order says exchanges happen at 6:00 p.m. and you have a text at 6:15 saying “I’m not coming,” that pairing is what the court needs. A witness who was present at a failed exchange helps, though documentary evidence weighs more because it doesn’t rely on memory.
Defenses the Other Parent May Raise
Enforcement motions aren’t automatic. The most common defense is voluntary relinquishment. Under Texas Family Code Section 157.007, if the parent filing the motion voluntarily gave up actual possession and control of the child for the specific time now claimed as denied, that’s an affirmative defense to contempt.12State of Texas. Texas Family Code FAM 157.007 A “you can keep them this weekend” text followed by an enforcement motion for that same weekend is exactly what the defense is designed for.
Inability to comply is also recognized. A parent who was hospitalized, incarcerated, or faced a genuine emergency has a stronger position than one who simply didn’t show up. The responding parent carries the burden of proof, and courts look at this skeptically. “I had to work” generally doesn’t satisfy it when the possession schedule was known in advance.
Procedural defenses matter too. A motion that fails the specificity requirement, with missing dates, times, or locations, can be dismissed. Sloppy paperwork on the filing side sinks otherwise strong cases.
When You Need the Child Back Right Now
If the other parent is physically withholding your child, an enforcement motion may move too slowly. Texas Family Code Section 157.371 lets you file a petition for writ of habeas corpus, an emergency action asking the court to order the child’s return.13Texas Law Help. I Want a Court to Order My Child Returned to Me (Habeas Corpus Guide)
You can file it in the court that issued the order or in a court with habeas jurisdiction in the county where the child is currently located. The judge reviews the petition without the other party present first. If it has merit, the court issues the writ and sets a hearing. At that hearing the only question is who has the superior right to possession. If the court rules in your favor and the other parent still won’t hand over the child, they face contempt penalties including fines and jail.13Texas Law Help. I Want a Court to Order My Child Returned to Me (Habeas Corpus Guide)
Habeas corpus is the right tool when a child hasn’t been returned after a visit, when a parent has fled with the child, or when a non-parent is refusing to give the child back. It gets the child home but doesn’t impose penalties for past violations or award makeup time, so most parents who file habeas also follow up with an enforcement motion to address the pattern.
If the Child Is in Another State
A Texas custody order doesn’t automatically operate in another state. Under the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act, which Texas and every other state has adopted, you register the Texas order in the other state and then use that state’s remedies to enforce it.14Texas Law Help. I Want to Register My Custody Orders From Another State in Texas Registration requires a request letter, two copies of the order (one certified), a sworn statement that the order hasn’t been modified, and both parties’ names and addresses. The same process runs in reverse for an out-of-state order you want enforced in Texas, filed with the district clerk in the Texas county where the child has lived for the preceding six months.