Georgetown Child Custody Attorney

Custody cases arising from Georgetown families are filed in the Williamson County district courts, the same courts that decide conservatorship, possession schedules, and child support for parents across the county. The Law Office of Oprea & Weber is a boutique divorce and family law firm that handles child custody and visitation, SAPCR suits, paternity, support, and modifications for families in Georgetown, Williamson County, and the surrounding Central Texas communities, and a Georgetown child custody attorney at the firm works directly with each parent from the first consultation through the final order.

What a Texas court actually decides in a custody case is narrower and more technical than most parents expect. It does not award “custody” as a single prize. It assigns conservatorship rights and duties, decides which parent may designate the child’s primary residence and within what geographic area, sets a possession and access schedule, and orders child support. Each of those pieces carries consequences that last until the child is an adult, and fixing a poorly drafted order later requires proving a material and substantial change in circumstances.

The rules governing the default schedule have also shifted. For new orders where the parents live within 50 miles of each other, the Expanded Standard Possession Order, which adds Thursday overnights and extends weekends through Monday morning, is now the baseline. Parents who already have an order do not get it automatically; they must file to modify. Whether that expanded schedule fits your child, your work hours, and the drive between Georgetown and the other parent’s home is a question worth answering deliberately rather than by default.

Why Choose Oprea & Weber for Georgetown Custody Cases

The Law Office of Oprea & Weber is a boutique family law firm serving clients in Georgetown and throughout Williamson, Travis, Hays, and Bastrop Counties. The firm’s two attorneys, Kevin Weber and Karen Oprea, both graduated magna cum laude from the University of Michigan Law School. The firm keeps its caseload intentionally manageable so that the attorney you meet at the first consultation is the attorney who handles your case through the final decree. You are not passed to layers of staff or junior associates, and you get direct attorney access and explanations in plain language.

Kevin Weber trained in complex commercial litigation and negotiation at Latham & Watkins in Manhattan, and he also mediates family law disputes as well as representing clients in mediation. That dual view matters in custody work, because most parenting disputes are resolved at the mediation table, and a lawyer who has sat on both sides of it knows which proposals tend to hold up. Karen Oprea has briefed and argued cases before the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, the Texas Courts of Appeals, and the New York appellate courts. Appellate experience sharpens trial preparation, because a custody order has to be built on a record and on findings that survive review.

The firm’s approach is to pursue cooperative, collaborative, and mediated resolutions whenever reasonable conversation is possible, since that saves time, money, and strain on the children. Every case is nonetheless prepared as though it may be tried. Clients describe the firm as knowledgeable, thorough, and caring, and one parent who came to the firm through a referral for a custody matter wrote that the attorney “provided great legal guidance and helped hold us steady through a very emotional situation.”

Custody Issues We Handle for Georgetown Parents

• Original Custody Orders in a Divorce: When married parents separate, conservatorship, the possession schedule, and support are decided together with the property division. Which parent holds the right to designate the primary residence, and any geographic restriction attached to it, often drives the rest of the negotiation.
• SAPCR Suits for Unmarried Parents: A Suit Affecting the Parent-Child Relationship lets parents who were never married obtain enforceable custody, visitation, and support orders. Without one, a parent who is not yet legally recognized may have no court-ordered rights at all.
• Paternity and Parentage: A father must be legally established before he can seek possession. A signed acknowledgment of paternity can be rescinded within 60 days, and afterward it can be challenged only for fraud, duress, or material mistake of fact. Where a child has a presumed father, a parentage suit generally must be filed by the child’s fourth birthday, subject to narrow exceptions.
• Modifying an Existing Order: Changing conservatorship or possession requires a material and substantial change in circumstances and a showing that the change serves the child’s best interest. Grounds for changing the primary residence include a child age 12 or older telling the judge in chambers which parent the child prefers, or a primary-residence parent voluntarily giving up care and possession for at least six months.
• Relocation Disputes: A parent who wants to move a child away from Georgetown, or a parent who wants to stop that move, will usually be fighting over the geographic restriction in the existing order and whether the move serves the child.
• Enforcement: When a parent withholds possession, misses exchanges, or ignores the order, the court can enforce it. The fix is documentation and a precise motion, not an angry text thread.
• Child Support Alongside Custody: Guideline support is a percentage of the paying parent’s net monthly resources, 20% for one child and rising to at least 40% for five or more, applied up to a cap that is adjusted periodically. Courts can depart from the guideline amount when it would be unjust or inappropriate.
• Non-Parent and Stepparent Claims: Texas has narrowed standing for non-parents such as stepparents to seek custody or possession, and the statute now turns on exclusive care, control, and possession of the child. Many people who have raised a child for years still lack the standing they assume they have.

What to Do When a Custody Dispute Reaches Williamson County

Start by establishing what orders, if any, already exist. If a court has ruled before, in a divorce or an earlier paternity case, that order controls, and you may need to ask the court that issued it for changes rather than starting a new case. If no order exists, the first filing is typically an original petition or a SAPCR petition in the district court for the county where the child lives. Williamson County district courts, including the 26th, 277th, 368th, 395th, 425th, and 480th, sit at the Williamson County Justice Center in Georgetown, and the District Clerk handles family law filings. Family cases for parents in neighboring counties go to those counties’ own courts, so where the child lives determines where you file.

Gather the records a judge will actually care about: your work schedule, the child’s school and medical routines, past communications about exchanges and expenses, and anything documenting how each parent has been involved. Keep the communication with the other parent civil and in writing; judges read those messages. Avoid unilateral moves such as keeping a child past a scheduled exchange or relocating without the other parent’s knowledge, because they tend to damage the parent who makes them more than the parent they target.

If the situation involves family violence, tell your attorney early. Protective orders can run up to two years, or longer in specific circumstances, and an order issued against a party to a divorce can last until the second anniversary of the final decree. A protective order can also affect the divorce waiting period and the possession terms a court is willing to approve. Be mindful, too, that a mediated settlement agreement can be binding once properly signed, so do not sign a parenting plan just to end the conflict without understanding what it locks in.

Most contested custody cases move through temporary orders, then mediation, and only then toward a final hearing. Temporary orders matter more than parents expect, since they set the status quo a judge may be reluctant to disturb later. A well-prepared temporary orders hearing is often the most strategic moment in the case.

How Texas Courts Decide Conservatorship and Possession

The governing standard is the best interest of the child. Texas law favors frequent and continuing contact with both parents, and it presumes that appointing both as joint managing conservators is in the child’s interest, but that presumption does not guarantee equal time. Joint conservatorship describes shared decision-making rights, while the possession schedule determines where the child physically spends time. Many parents conflate the two, and one of the most useful early conversations is about which decisions, such as education, nonemergency medical care, and psychiatric treatment, will be made jointly and which will be assigned to one parent.

When parents cannot agree, the court looks at who has been providing stability, each parent’s ability to meet the child’s emotional and physical needs, the child’s own circumstances, and any history of family violence or neglect. A child age 12 or older may be interviewed by the judge in chambers, though the preference is one factor and not a decision. Parents who can show a workable, child-centered plan, including how exchanges will happen between Georgetown and the other parent’s home, are usually in a stronger position than parents who only describe the other parent’s faults.

Modification works as a deliberate gate. If you ask the court to change the primary residence within a year of the order, you must attach an affidavit alleging endangerment to the child’s physical health or emotional development, or alleging that the primary-residence parent consents or has voluntarily relinquished care for six months. Certain convictions or deferred adjudications for offenses against a child remove both that one-year restriction and the material-change requirement.

Georgetown Child Custody Questions Parents Ask

Is custody in Texas always split 50/50?

No. Texas uses the terms conservatorship and possession and access, and the law favors meaningful time with both parents without guaranteeing an equal split. Parents can agree to an equal schedule, and a court will approve it when it serves the child’s best interest.

What is the Standard Possession Order, and has it changed?

It is the default schedule of weekends, certain holidays, and extended summer time for the parent who does not hold the primary residence. For new orders where the parents live within 50 miles of each other, the expanded version with Thursday overnights and weekends through Monday morning is now the default. Existing orders stay as written unless a parent files to modify.

Where is a custody case filed if I live in Georgetown?

It is filed in the district court of the county where the child lives. For Georgetown residents that means the Williamson County district courts, with the filing handled through the District Clerk. Parents living in a different county may need to file in that county instead.

Do I have to be married to get a custody order?

No. Unmarried parents use a SAPCR suit to obtain custody, possession, and support orders. If parentage has not been established, that must be addressed first through an acknowledgment of paternity or a court adjudication.

How is child support calculated alongside custody?

Support is a percentage of the paying parent’s net monthly resources: 20% for one child, 25% for two, 30% for three, 35% for four, and 40% for five. For six or more children it is not less than the five-child percentage. The percentages apply only up to a cap on net resources that is adjusted periodically, and a court may deviate when the guideline amount would be unjust.

Can I change a custody order if my circumstances changed?

Possibly. You must show a material and substantial change in circumstances and that the modification is in the child’s best interest. A change in work schedule or a new home may or may not qualify, and the court examines the facts closely.

Can my child choose which parent to live with?

Not by simple choice. A child who is at least 12 may tell the judge in chambers which parent the child prefers to have designate the primary residence, and that statement is a recognized ground for modification. The judge weighs it, but it is not binding.

Can I move away from Georgetown with my child?

It depends on the order. Many orders include a geographic restriction on where the primary residence may be. Moving outside it without a court order or the other parent’s agreement can lead to enforcement action, and the other parent may seek to modify primary residence in response.

As a stepparent, can I seek custody or visitation?

Texas narrowed non-parent standing, and the statute now refers to exclusive care, control, and possession of the child. Before the change, six months of actual care, control, and possession was the benchmark. Stepparents should have their specific facts reviewed before assuming they can file.

How long does a custody case take in Williamson County?

An agreed order can be entered relatively quickly, but timing depends on the court’s schedule and on how much is disputed. When custody is part of a divorce, the court cannot grant the divorce before the 60th day after filing. Contested cases with significant disagreements about children commonly take many months.

Do I need a lawyer for an uncontested custody agreement?

It is worth having one. A poorly drafted order can lock in terms that are difficult to change, and vague language about exchanges, travel, or decision-making tends to produce disputes later. An attorney can make sure the agreement is clear and enforceable before it reaches the judge.

Serving Custody Clients Across Georgetown and Williamson County

The firm represents parents throughout Georgetown, from the historic Downtown Square and the neighborhoods around it to the communities near Sun City Texas, and families across Williamson County, including Round Rock, Cedar Park, Leander, Taylor, Hutto, Liberty Hill, Florence, Jarrell, Granger, Weir, Walburg, and Thrall. The firm also serves clients in neighboring Travis County, including Austin and Pflugerville, as well as Hays County and Bastrop County, whose courts handle their own residents’ family cases. Wherever the child lives within Central Texas, the firm prepares parents for the courts that will actually decide their case.

Talk With a Georgetown Child Custody Attorney

A custody order shapes your child’s schedule, your own, and your finances for years, and it is far easier to build it carefully than to repair it later. If you are starting a case, responding to one, or trying to change an order that no longer works, a Georgetown child custody lawyer at Oprea & Weber can walk you through the realistic options and recommend a strategy built around your child’s needs. Call to schedule a consultation and speak directly with an attorney who will handle your case from start to finish.