Bastrop Child Custody Attorney

Parents in Bastrop County who are separating, or who are already under an order that no longer works, are making decisions that will shape their children’s weekly routines for years. The Law Office of Oprea & Weber handles child custody and visitation, child support, paternity, SAPCR suits, modifications, relocation, and enforcement for families in Bastrop and across Central Texas. When your case needs a Bastrop child custody attorney, the work starts with understanding how Texas actually decides these questions.

Texas does not use the word custody in its statutes. The law speaks of conservatorship, which covers decision-making rights and duties, and possession and access, which covers the schedule. Most disputes are not really about the label. They are about who designates the child’s primary residence, whether that parent can move the child out of the area, how holidays and summers divide, and whether the schedule fits the realities of two working households.

Cases for Bastrop County families are heard in the district courts sitting in the county seat of Bastrop, including the 423rd District Court, which hears only matters arising within Bastrop County. The 21st District Court also sits in Bastrop, and the 21st and 335th serve a wider region that includes Bastrop, Burleson, Lee, and Washington Counties. Which court receives your case depends on how it is filed and assigned, which is one reason early, careful drafting matters.

What Texas Courts Weigh When Deciding Conservatorship and Possession

The governing standard is the best interest of the child. Texas law favors frequent and continuing contact with both parents when that is safe, but it does not promise an equal split. Judges look at the child’s needs, each parent’s ability to meet them, stability of the home, any history of family violence, and how well the parents can communicate about the child.

Possession schedules in Texas are built around a standard framework. 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 default. Parents who already have an older order do not receive the expanded schedule automatically; they must file a modification to adopt it. For many Bastrop County families, where one parent may commute to Austin and the other works closer to home, the choice between the standard schedule, the expanded schedule, and a negotiated alternative is a practical question about school mornings, drive time, and work shifts.

Parents are free to agree on something different, including an equal-time arrangement, and courts will approve agreed schedules that serve the child. A signed agreement that is vague tends to produce enforcement fights later, so precision about exchange times, locations, holidays, and communication is worth the effort at the front end.

Why Choose Oprea & Weber for Custody Cases in Bastrop

The Law Office of Oprea & Weber is a boutique divorce and family law firm serving Bastrop County, Travis County, Williamson County, Hays County, and the surrounding Central Texas communities. Kevin Weber, Attorney, and Karen Oprea, Attorney, both graduated magna cum laude from the University of Michigan Law School. Your attorney personally handles your case from the first consultation to the final decree, and the firm keeps its caseload intentionally manageable so that clients get direct attorney access and explanations in plain language rather than being passed to layers of staff or junior associates.

That matters in custody work because these cases turn on details a parent knows better than anyone: the child’s schedule, the other parent’s habits, the history behind the dispute. Kevin Weber trained in complex commercial litigation and negotiation at Latham & Watkins in Manhattan, and he both mediates family law disputes and represents clients in mediation, which gives him a working view of how agreements that last actually get built. 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, a background that sharpens the legal research and writing behind a contested conservatorship case.

Clients describe the firm as knowledgeable, thorough, and caring. One client who came to the firm through a referral for a child custody matter said Kevin was professional and friendly, provided great legal guidance, and helped hold the family steady through a very emotional situation. The firm prepares every case as though it may be tried while pursuing cooperative resolution whenever it is realistic, because preparation is what gives a parent leverage in negotiation.

Custody Disputes We Handle for Bastrop County Parents

• Custody in a Divorce: When spouses with children divorce, conservatorship and possession are decided in the same case as property and support. Temporary orders issued early in the case often set the pattern the court later follows, so the first weeks matter.
• SAPCR Suits for Unmarried Parents: A Suit Affecting the Parent-Child Relationship lets parents who were never married, or who are separated outside of a divorce, establish conservatorship, a possession schedule, and support in one proceeding.
• Paternity and Establishing Parentage: A father without legal standing cannot ask for custody. Deadlines can apply: where a child has a presumed father, a parentage challenge generally must begin by the child’s fourth birthday, subject to exceptions, and an acknowledgment of paternity can be rescinded within 60 days of signing.
• 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. A teenager’s preference, a parent’s relocation, or a long period in which the child actually lived with the other parent can each be part of that showing.
• Relocation Disputes: When the parent with the right to designate the child’s residence wants to move, or the other parent wants to stop a move, geographic restrictions in the existing order and the distance involved shape the fight. Moves beyond 50 miles can also affect which possession schedule applies.
• Enforcement of Possession Orders: When a parent withholds the child or ignores the schedule, the order can be enforced through the court. Documented, specific violations make enforcement far more effective than general complaints.
• Family Violence and Protective Orders: A protective order generally lasts up to two years, with longer terms available in limited circumstances, and it can sharply restrict contact and affect possession. Courts take these allegations seriously and require proof.
• Non-Parent Claims: Stepparents and other non-parents face narrower standing than before; Texas law now centers on whether the person has exclusive care, control, and possession of the child, so these claims need careful evaluation before filing.

What to Do Now if Your Custody Situation Is Unsettled

Start by gathering what a court would actually look at: any existing order or decree, text and email exchanges with the other parent about the child, the child’s school and medical records, and a running calendar of who has the child on which days. A written record of real events is more persuasive than a recollection, and it keeps you from arguing from memory about dates.

If you are in a divorce, remember that Texas requires at least six months of Texas residency and 90 days in the county where you file, and the court cannot grant a divorce until 60 days after the petition is filed. Agreement between spouses does not shorten that wait, with narrow exceptions involving family violence. Custody questions, however, do not have to wait for the decree. Either parent can ask for temporary orders, and those orders govern where the children live and who pays what while the case is pending.

Cases for Bastrop families are filed with the district clerk and heard in the district courts that sit in the city of Bastrop. Parents who also have a Travis County, Williamson County, or Hays County connection, such as an existing order from one of those counties, should confirm which court holds continuing authority before filing anything new, because filing in the wrong place wastes time and money.

Avoid the mistakes that hurt parents most: keeping the child from the other parent outside of a legitimate safety concern, venting about the other parent on social media or in front of the child, and ignoring a court order because it seems unfair. A parent who follows the order while seeking a change builds credibility. A parent who self-helps loses it. And do not sign an agreed order until you understand what it locks in, because modifying a signed order later requires proof of changed circumstances.

One timing rule worth knowing: if you want to change which parent has the exclusive right to designate the child’s primary residence within one year of the existing order, Texas requires a supporting affidavit alleging specific grounds, such as danger to the child’s physical health or emotional development. After that first year, the path is different. Getting the sequence right at the outset avoids having the request thrown out on a technicality.

Child Support and Custody Move Together

Custody and support are decided together because the possession schedule and the paying parent’s income drive the support obligation. Texas guideline support is a percentage of the paying parent’s net monthly resources: 20 percent for one child, 25 percent for two, 30 percent for three, 35 percent for four, and 40 percent for five, with no less than the five-child percentage for six or more. The percentages apply only up to a statutory cap on net resources that is adjusted periodically, and courts can depart from the guidelines when applying them would be unjust or inappropriate, such as when a child has extraordinary medical needs.

Support orders can be modified without proving changed circumstances if three years have passed and the monthly amount differs from the guideline amount by 20 percent or $100. Within that three-year window, a material and substantial change in circumstances is required instead. Incarceration of more than 180 days counts as that kind of change.

Bastrop Child Custody Questions Parents Ask

Is custody in Texas always split 50/50?

No. Texas favors frequent and continuing contact with both parents, but it does not require equal time. Many orders follow the standard or expanded standard possession schedule, where one parent designates the primary residence. Parents can agree to an equal schedule, and the court will approve it if it serves the child.

What is the difference between conservatorship and possession and access?

Conservatorship covers legal rights and duties, such as medical, educational, and residence decisions. Possession and access is the actual schedule of when each parent has the child. A parent can share conservatorship and still have a very different amount of parenting time.

Can my child choose which parent to live with?

Not outright. A child who is at least 12 can tell the judge in chambers which parent the child prefers to have designate the primary residence, and that preference is one ground for modifying the order. It is a factor, not a decision, and the judge still has to find the change is in the child’s best interest.

How do I change an existing custody order?

You file a suit to modify and must show a material and substantial change in circumstances since the last order, plus that the change serves the child’s best interest. If you want to change the primary residence designation within a year of the order, a supporting affidavit with specific allegations is also required.

Do I need to modify my order to get the expanded standard possession schedule?

Yes, if your order was entered before the expanded schedule became the default. The new default applies to new orders where the parents live within 50 miles of each other. Existing orders stay as written until one parent files to modify.

What if the other parent will not follow the possession schedule?

Keep a dated record of each missed exchange or denied visit, then ask the court to enforce the order. Specific, documented violations are far stronger than general complaints. Do not respond by withholding the child in return, because that can create enforcement problems for you.

Can an unmarried father get custody or visitation?

Only after legal parentage is established, through a signed acknowledgment of paternity or a court adjudication. Once that happens, a SAPCR suit can set conservatorship, possession, and support. Deadlines apply to challenging or adjudicating parentage, so delay can cost rights.

Can a stepparent or grandparent seek custody in Texas?

Standing for non-parents has been narrowed. The law now looks to whether the person has exclusive care, control, and possession of the child, rather than the earlier six-month care standard. These cases depend heavily on facts and should be evaluated before filing.

How does a protective order affect a custody case?

A protective order can restrict contact and shape temporary possession. It generally lasts up to two years, though longer terms are possible for serious injury or repeated orders, and one entered during a divorce can run until two years after the decree. For an order longer than two years against a parent, the court must make required findings by clear and convincing evidence and weigh the child’s best interest.

Is it worth hiring a lawyer if the other parent and I mostly agree?

Often yes. An agreement that sounds clear in conversation can leave gaps about holidays, travel, exchanges, and school decisions. A lawyer can turn it into an order a court will approve and a clerk can enforce, which prevents disputes that cost more later.

How long does a custody case take in Bastrop County courts?

It depends on whether the parents agree and on the court’s calendar. Agreed cases can finish soon after any required waiting period, while contested cases involving evaluations, discovery, or a trial take considerably longer. Temporary orders usually address urgent questions in the meantime.

Can mediation work if we are in a high-conflict situation?

Often, yes. A neutral mediator can help parents resolve schedule and decision-making disputes without a trial, and mediated agreements tend to hold up better because both parents helped build them. Where there is family violence or a serious imbalance of power, mediation may need safeguards or may not be appropriate.

Serving Custody Clients Across Bastrop County and Central Texas

Our work for families begins in Bastrop and extends through Bastrop County, including Smithville, Elgin, Cedar Creek, McDade, Paige, Red Rock, Rosanky, and Camp Swift, along with the rural stretches between them. Parents in the communities along Highway 71 and Highway 95 often juggle commutes toward Austin, so we build schedules around real drive times.

We also serve families in neighboring Travis County, where many Bastrop parents have existing orders or work, and in Williamson County, Hays County, and the wider Central Texas region. Whether your case is a first-time SAPCR filing, a divorce with children, or a modification of an order entered years ago, we meet you where your case is.

Talk With a Bastrop Child Custody Lawyer at Oprea & Weber

If you are weighing a custody filing, responding to one, or trying to change an order that no longer fits your child’s life, a conversation early in the process can keep you from costly missteps. Call The Law Office of Oprea & Weber to schedule a consultation with a Bastrop child custody lawyer who will personally handle your case, explain your options plainly, and build a plan around what matters most for your children.