Lockhart Child Custody Attorney

The Law Office of Oprea & Weber represents parents in Lockhart and throughout Caldwell County’s neighboring Central Texas communities, handling custody, visitation, child support, paternity, and modification cases for families in Travis, Williamson, Hays, and Bastrop Counties. Our Lockhart families come to us when a separation, a new relationship, a job change, or a long-standing order that no longer works puts a child’s schedule and home in question, and they leave with a plan built around how their household actually runs.

Anyone searching for a Lockhart child custody attorney should know that Texas does not use the word “custody” in its courtrooms. The law speaks of conservatorship, which covers decision-making authority, and possession and access, which covers the schedule. The court’s job is to decide who holds the right to designate the child’s primary residence, how the other parent’s time is structured, and what support follows. Those labels matter because the arguments in a custody case are won or lost on specific statutory questions, not on general claims that one parent is better than the other.

The ground has also shifted recently. Texas now treats the Expanded Standard Possession Order, with Thursday overnights and weekends that run through Monday morning, as the default for new orders when the parents live within 50 miles of each other. Parents with existing orders do not receive that schedule automatically; they have to file a modification to adopt it. For a Lockhart parent whose current schedule was drafted years ago, that is worth a conversation before assuming nothing can change.

Why Choose Oprea & Weber for Your Custody Case

The Law Office of Oprea & Weber is a boutique divorce and family law firm serving Austin, Central Texas, and Travis, Williamson, Hays, and Bastrop Counties. Kevin Weber and Karen Oprea 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 clients are not passed to layers of staff or junior associates. You get direct access to the lawyer who knows your file, and you get explanations in plain language instead of legal shorthand.

Kevin Weber trained in complex commercial litigation and negotiation at Latham & Watkins in Manhattan, and that background shows up in custody work in a practical way: knowing how to build a record, test the other side’s claims, and negotiate from a position of preparation. He also mediates family law disputes as well as representing clients in mediation, which gives him a working sense of what terms hold up once the parents leave the room. 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. Custody orders are built to survive years of scrutiny, and appellate-level drafting discipline helps keep a decree precise enough to be enforced.

The firm prepares every case for trial while pursuing cooperative resolution whenever it is realistic. Clients describe the attorneys as knowledgeable, thorough, and caring. One client who came to us for a custody matter said the guidance helped hold his family steady through a very emotional situation, and another described an attorney who made sure he felt supported and heard. That combination of steadiness and preparation is what we aim to bring to a parenting dispute.

Custody Issues We Handle for Lockhart Parents

• Initial Custody Orders in Divorce: When married parents separate, conservatorship and possession are decided in the divorce itself. The court looks at the child’s best interest, and the case often turns on the proposed schedule, where the child will attend school, and which parent holds the right to designate the primary residence.
• Paternity and SAPCR Suits: Unmarried parents resolve custody, visitation, and support through a Suit Affecting the Parent-Child Relationship. A father who has not been legally established as a parent has no enforceable rights until parentage is settled, and there are real time limits on challenging a presumed or acknowledged father’s status.
• Possession Schedule Disputes: Disagreements over the Expanded Standard Possession Order, holiday rotations, summer periods, and exchange logistics are common, especially when one parent works shifts or commutes toward Austin or San Antonio.
• Modification of Existing Orders: Changing a conservatorship or possession order requires a material and substantial change in circumstances and a showing that the change serves the child’s best interest. A parent moving, remarrying, or changing work hours can all prompt a new look at the order.
• Child Support Establishment and Modification: Guideline support is a percentage of the paying parent’s net monthly resources, and a modification can follow either a material change or a three-year review when the amount differs enough from the guideline.
• Relocation Disputes: When the parent with the right to designate residence wants to move, or the other parent wants to stop a move, the geographic limits written into the order and the child’s ties to school and extended family become central.
• Enforcement of Existing Orders: When a parent withholds possession, ignores exchange terms, or stops paying support, enforcement actions put the order’s terms before the court.
• Non-Parent and Stepparent Claims: Texas narrowed standing for non-parents such as stepparents to seek custody or possession, and the statute now speaks of exclusive care, control, and possession. Whether a claim can be brought at all is often the first question.

What to Do When a Lockhart Custody Dispute Begins

The first step is to find out what order, if any, already governs your child. A surprising number of parents are operating under an agreement they never took to court, which means neither parent has an enforceable schedule. If there is an existing order, gather it and read what it says about the primary residence, possession times, geographic restrictions, and support. If there is no order, a custody suit filed in the right county is how an enforceable one gets created. Lockhart is the Caldwell County seat, and our firm’s family court work runs through Travis, Williamson, Hays, and Bastrop Counties, so the first practical question is which county’s court has authority over your child’s case. That depends on where the child has lived and where a suit is properly filed.

If you are in a divorce, remember that the case cannot be granted before the 60th day after the petition is filed, even when both parents agree on everything. That waiting period runs from the filing date, not the service date, and agreement does not shorten it. The only exceptions involve family violence. Use the time well: temporary orders are where the early shape of custody gets set, and the arrangements made in those first weeks often become the baseline a judge is reluctant to disturb. Request temporary orders early when the child’s residence, school, or the family home is in dispute.

Begin documenting your involvement in your child’s life in an ordinary, factual way. Keep records of school communications, medical appointments, activities, and who handles daily routines, and save messages between you and the other parent. The most useful records are calm and routine, not dramatic. Avoid the mistakes that damage parents in front of a judge: disparaging the other parent in texts, interfering with the child’s time with them, or posting about the dispute online. Judges read all of it.

If safety is a concern, treat it separately from the custody schedule. A protective order can last up to two years, and a court may extend that period in specific circumstances, such as serious bodily injury or prior orders. When a protective order involves a parent, the court must make required findings by clear and convincing evidence and consider the child’s best interest before ordering terms beyond two years. A protective order can be renewed if a new application is filed no more than 30 days before it expires. Tell your attorney early about any protective order, active or expired, because it affects both the temporary orders and the long-term schedule.

How Texas Custody Cases Actually Unfold

Most custody cases settle, and the path usually runs through a period of temporary orders, an exchange of information, and one or more mediation sessions. After filing, the other parent is served or signs a waiver, and either side may ask for temporary orders addressing the primary residence, possession, and support while the case is pending. In Travis County, where the family docket is heard in the civil and family courts facility in Austin, contested hearings and trials are held in person unless the parties agree otherwise or the judge notifies them differently. Williamson, Hays, and Bastrop Counties each have their own district courts and clerks, and local practices vary, which is part of why a lawyer familiar with the region’s courtrooms matters.

When parents cannot agree, the court weighs the child’s best interest. The judge may consider each parent’s history of caregiving, the stability each home offers, the child’s needs, any history of family violence, and each parent’s willingness to support the child’s relationship with the other. A child who is 12 or older may tell the judge in chambers which parent the child prefers to have the right to designate the primary residence, and that preference is a recognized ground for modification, though it is not the only factor and does not decide the case on its own.

Modification has its own rules and its own traps. A parent seeking to change the right to designate the primary residence within one year of the existing order, or of a mediated or collaborative settlement agreement it was based on, must attach a supporting affidavit alleging specific grounds, such as danger to the child’s physical health or significant impairment of emotional development. After that first year, the main burden is a material and substantial change in circumstances plus the child’s best interest. The best-interest requirement is never optional. Support follows a separate track: it can be modified on a material and substantial change, or after three years if the amount differs from the guideline by 20 percent or $100. Because the law distinguishes between agreed and court-ordered terms, how your current order was reached affects what you must prove to change it.

Frequently Asked Questions About Custody in Lockhart

Does Texas favor mothers in custody cases?

No. Texas law does not give either parent a head start because of gender. The court looks at the child’s best interest and the state’s stated policy favoring frequent and continuing contact with both parents. Outcomes turn on caregiving history, stability, and each parent’s conduct, not on whether the parent is a mother or a father.

Is custody in Texas always split 50/50?

No. Texas calls custody conservatorship and visitation possession and access. The default for many families is a Standard Possession Order, and for new orders where the parents live within 50 miles of each other the Expanded Standard Possession Order, with Thursday overnights and weekends that run through Monday morning, is now the starting point. Parents can agree to an equal schedule, and a court will approve it if it serves the child’s best interest.

How is child support calculated in 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, 40 percent for five, and not less than the five-child percentage for six or more. A lower schedule applies when the paying parent’s net resources are very low. The percentages apply only up to a monthly cap that is adjusted periodically, and a court may depart from the guideline when applying it would be unjust or inappropriate.

Can I modify my custody order if my ex and I live in different counties now?

Often yes, but where you file matters. A suit to modify generally belongs in the court that issued the existing order unless that court no longer has continuing authority, and the answer depends on where the child and parents live. A move by either parent can itself be a change in circumstances, but a move alone does not guarantee a modification.

My ex is not following the possession schedule. What can I do?

Keep a dated log of each missed or interfered-with exchange, preserve messages, and avoid retaliating by withholding your own parenting time or support. The remedy is an enforcement action asking the court to enforce the existing order. Self-help usually backfires, because each parent’s duties under the order are independent of the other’s.

Can a stepparent or grandparent seek custody or visitation in Texas?

Only in narrow circumstances. Texas recently tightened standing for non-parents such as stepparents, and the statute now refers to exclusive care, control, and possession of the child. Before the change, the requirement was actual care, control, and possession for at least six months. Whether a non-parent can bring a claim at all is the first hurdle, so get advice before filing.

I never married the child’s mother. Do I have any rights?

Not until legal parentage is established. A father can establish it by signing an acknowledgment of paternity or through a court order in a paternity and SAPCR suit. An acknowledgment can be rescinded within 60 days of signing, and afterward it can generally be challenged only for fraud, duress, or material mistake of fact. When a child already has a presumed father, a proceeding to adjudicate parentage generally must start within four years of the child’s birth, subject to limited exceptions.

Can my child choose which parent to live with?

Not on their own. A child who is 12 or older can tell the judge in chambers which person the child prefers to hold the right to designate the primary residence, and that statement can support a modification. The judge still decides based on the child’s best interest, so preference helps but does not control.

How long does a custody case take in the Central Texas courts?

It depends on how quickly the parents resolve their disagreements and on the court’s calendar. An agreed case can finish shortly after the court is allowed to act, and in a divorce no decree can be signed before the 60th day after filing. Contested cases involving disputed residence, relocation, or safety concerns commonly take many months.

Is it worth hiring a lawyer if we mostly agree?

Often, yes, because the value is in the drafting. A vague agreement about holidays, exchange locations, or travel is the kind that produces enforcement fights later. We draft clear, enforceable terms ready for the court’s approval, and in a cooperative divorce Kevin Weber works with both spouses while representing one, which can keep costs down when the parents are committed to a transparent process.

What if I signed an agreed order years ago and now regret it?

An agreed order is still an order. If the agreement departed from the guidelines on support, a court may modify only when circumstances have materially and substantially changed since the order was made. For conservatorship and possession, you must show a material and substantial change and that the modification is in the child’s best interest, so regret alone does not change the order.

Serving Lockhart Custody Clients Across Central Texas

Our work for Lockhart parents is part of a regional practice that covers Central Texas. We represent families in Lockhart and the surrounding Caldwell County communities, and our courtroom work reaches the district courts in Travis, Williamson, Hays, and Bastrop Counties. That means parents in Austin, Pflugerville, Manor, Elgin, and Del Valle who are heading to the Travis County family courts, as well as families in Round Rock, Cedar Park, Georgetown, Leander, Liberty Hill, Hutto, and Taylor whose cases belong in Williamson County.

We also serve Hays County families in San Marcos, Kyle, Buda, Wimberley, and Dripping Springs, and Bastrop County families in Bastrop, Smithville, Elgin, and the communities along the Highway 71 corridor. Lockhart sits within reach of several of these courts, and many of our clients live in one county, work in another, and share a child with a parent in a third, which is why we handle custody, paternity, support, modification, relocation, and enforcement across the region rather than in a single courthouse.

Talk to a Lockhart Child Custody Attorney Today

If you are weighing a custody filing, responding to one, or trying to fix an order that no longer fits your child’s life, a conversation with a Lockhart child custody lawyer at our firm will give you a clear read on where you stand and what comes next. Your attorney will explain the standards a court will apply, outline realistic options, and build a strategy around your child’s needs and your goals. Call The Law Office of Oprea & Weber to schedule a consultation.