Manor Child Custody Attorney

A parenting schedule that worked when your child was a toddler can stop working once school, activities, and two households enter the picture, and in Manor, where many families commute into Austin each day, the logistics alone can push parents into court. The Law Office of Oprea & Weber is a boutique divorce and family law firm that handles Manor child custody cases, including custody and visitation, SAPCR suits, paternity, relocation, modification, and enforcement, for families in Manor and throughout Travis County and the surrounding Central Texas counties.

Texas does not use the word “custody” in its statutes. The law speaks of conservatorship, which covers the rights and duties each parent holds, and possession and access, which is the schedule of when the child is actually with each parent. The distinction matters because parents often fight over the wrong thing. Two parents can be joint managing conservators and still have very different amounts of time with the child, depending on who holds the right to designate the child’s primary residence and what possession schedule the court adopts.

Manor sits in Travis County, so custody cases for Manor families are filed in the Travis County family courts in downtown Austin. That is worth knowing early, because contested hearings and trials in those courts are held in person unless the parties agree or the judge directs otherwise, and your preparation should assume you will be standing in front of a judge rather than appearing from your kitchen table.

How Texas Courts Decide Conservatorship and Possession for Manor Parents

Every decision about a child comes back to the child’s best interest. Texas favors frequent and continuing contact with both parents and starts from a presumption that parents should be named joint managing conservators. That presumption is not the same as an equal split of time. One parent commonly holds the exclusive right to designate where the child lives, while the other follows a possession schedule.

For new orders, the Expanded Standard Possession Order is now the default when the parents live within 50 miles of each other. It gives the possessory parent Thursday overnights and weekends that run through Monday morning, which is meaningfully more time than the older standard schedule. Because Manor is close to Austin, many Manor families will fall within that 50-mile range. If you already have an older order in place, you do not automatically receive the expanded schedule; a parent has to file a modification to adopt it.

Parents are free to agree on something different, including a true week-on, week-off arrangement, and courts approve agreed schedules that serve the child. A court can also depart from the standard schedule when the facts call for it, for example where there is a history of family violence, concerns about substance abuse, or a child with particular medical or developmental needs.

Why Choose The Law Office of Oprea & Weber for Custody Cases in Manor

The Law Office of Oprea & Weber is a boutique family law firm serving Manor and the rest of Travis County, as well as Williamson, Hays, and Bastrop Counties and Central Texas generally. Kevin Weber, Attorney, and Karen Oprea, Attorney, both graduated magna cum laude from the University of Michigan Law School. The firm handles divorce, custody, support, paternity, SAPCR suits, and modifications, and it keeps its caseload intentionally manageable so your attorney personally handles your case from the first consultation to the final order. You are not passed to layers of staff or junior associates, and you get direct attorney access and explanations in plain language.

Those credentials matter in a custody dispute. Kevin trained in complex commercial litigation and negotiation at Latham & Watkins in Manhattan, which shapes how he builds a negotiating position. He also mediates family law disputes and represents clients in mediation, so he sees both sides of how agreements get reached and which ones hold up. Karen 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, which brings real discipline to the written record that a custody order ultimately rests on.

Clients describe the firm as knowledgeable, thorough, and caring. One client who came to the firm through a referral for a child custody matter wrote that Kevin was professional and friendly, gave great legal guidance, and helped hold the family steady through a very emotional situation. The firm prefers cooperative resolution when reasonable conversation is possible, because it saves money and spares children the strain of a prolonged fight, but every case is prepared as though it could go to trial.

Custody Issues That Bring Manor Families to Court

• Initial Conservatorship and Possession Orders: Divorcing parents and unmarried parents alike need a court order setting rights, duties, and a schedule. In a divorce the order is part of the decree; for unmarried parents it comes through a SAPCR suit.
• Paternity and Establishing Legal Fatherhood: An unmarried father has no enforceable custody or visitation rights until parentage is established. An acknowledgment of paternity can be rescinded within 60 days of signing, and after that it can generally be challenged only for fraud, duress, or material mistake of fact. Suits to adjudicate parentage also carry a four-year deadline from the child’s birth in many situations.
• Modification of Existing Orders: 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 job change, a remarriage, or a child’s evolving needs can all be the starting point.
• Changing the Primary Residence: A child who is at least 12 may tell the judge in chambers which parent they prefer to live with, and that is one recognized ground for modification. Another is a primary parent who has voluntarily given up primary care of the child for at least six months. Filing within a year of the last order triggers an affidavit requirement.
• Relocation Disputes: Orders commonly restrict where the primary parent may move the child. A move out of the Austin area can undo a possession schedule built around short drives and midweek overnights.
• Enforcement of Orders: When a parent withholds the child, misses exchanges, or ignores the schedule, the court can enforce its own order. Keeping a clean record of each violation is what makes enforcement work.
• Non-Parent Custody Claims: Stepparents, grandparents, and other non-parents face narrower standing than they once did. The law now looks to exclusive care, control, and possession of the child, so many informal caregiving arrangements no longer open the courthouse door.
• Custody and Family Violence: Protective orders and criminal findings of family violence can reshape both conservatorship and the possession schedule, and a protective order generally lasts up to two years, with longer terms available in defined circumstances.

What a Manor Parent Should Do Right Now

Start by getting the existing paperwork in one place. If there is a divorce decree or a prior custody order, read the actual possession schedule and the geographic restriction, because those two provisions drive most disputes. If there is no order at all, that is itself the problem to solve; without one, neither parent has enforceable rights, and a parent who simply holds onto the child has no more legal footing than the one who does not.

Next, keep a plain, factual record. Write down exchanges, missed visits, late pickups, and any messages about the child, and save texts and emails rather than relying on memory. Judges respond to specifics and dates, and they discount accusations with nothing behind them. Keep communication with the other parent civil and brief, because everything you send may eventually be read aloud in a courtroom.

Custody cases involving Manor children belong in the Travis County district courts, which hear family matters in the Travis County Civil and Family Courts Facility in Austin, and the county also has Associate Courts and Title IV-D Child Support Courts that handle parts of the docket. Travis County publishes a Standing Order for Family Law Cases, and you should know what it requires of you while your case is pending. If your child’s other parent lives in Williamson, Hays, or Bastrop County, the proper filing county may be different, so that question should be settled before anything is filed.

Avoid the common mistakes. Do not move the child out of the area or change the child’s school without checking what your order says. Do not use the child as a messenger. Do not withhold court-ordered time because the other parent has fallen behind on support; the two obligations are separate, and withholding possession can hurt you. And do not sign an agreed order you have not read closely, because possession schedules and residency restrictions are difficult to undo later.

Modifying a Custody Order When Life Has Changed

Many Manor families do not need a first order; they need a better one. Texas permits modification of conservatorship or possession only when circumstances have materially and substantially changed since the order was signed and the change would serve the child’s best interest. A parent who is simply unhappy with the schedule, without a real change behind it, usually will not succeed.

The rules tighten when the request is to change who holds the right to designate the child’s primary residence within one year of the original order. In that window, the filing must include an affidavit stating specific grounds: that the child’s present environment may endanger the child’s physical health or significantly impair emotional development, that the parent with the residence right is seeking or agreeing to the change, or that the parent voluntarily gave up primary care for at least six months. The affidavit is not a formality; if it does not support the request, the court can decline to proceed. Certain convictions or deferred adjudications for offenses against a child remove both that one-year restriction and the usual burden of showing changed circumstances.

Child support follows its own path. It can be modified when three years have passed since the last order and the monthly amount differs from the guideline figure by 20 percent or $100, or on a material and substantial change without any waiting period. Where the parents agreed to an amount off the guidelines, the court generally needs that material change before altering it. Incarceration of more than 180 days counts as such a change.

Common Questions About Child Custody in Manor

Is custody in Texas always split 50/50?

No. Texas favors both parents staying involved but does not require equal time. Parents can agree to an equal schedule and courts approve it when it serves the child, but the default framework is a possession order with one parent holding the right to designate the primary residence.

What is the difference between conservatorship and possession and access?

Conservatorship covers the legal rights and duties of each parent, such as decisions about education and medical care. Possession and access is the actual schedule of when the child is with each parent. They are decided together but are separate questions.

What is the Expanded Standard Possession Order?

It is the default schedule for new orders when the parents live within 50 miles of each other. It adds Thursday overnights and extends weekends through Monday morning. Existing orders do not change automatically; a parent must file a modification to adopt it.

How does a father establish custody rights if the parents were never married?

He must first establish legal parentage, through a signed acknowledgment of paternity or a court adjudication, and then ask the court for conservatorship and possession through a SAPCR suit. Without that, he has no enforceable rights, however involved he is.

Can my child decide which parent to live with?

A child who is at least 12 may tell the judge in chambers which parent they prefer to have the right to designate the primary residence, and that is one ground for modification. It is a factor the judge weighs, not a decision the child makes.

How is child support calculated alongside custody?

Support is a percentage of the paying parent’s net monthly resources, up to a statutory cap that is adjusted periodically: 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. Courts can depart from the guidelines when they would be unjust.

Can I change the custody order if my ex is not following it?

Enforcement and modification are different tools. If the other parent is violating the order, you can ask the court to enforce it. If circumstances have materially changed and the existing order no longer fits, you can ask to modify it. Sometimes a case calls for both.

Can a stepparent or grandparent seek custody in Texas?

Standing for non-parents is now narrower. The law looks to whether the non-parent has had exclusive care, control, and possession of the child, so a relative who shared caregiving with a parent may not qualify.

How does a protective order affect custody?

It can limit or shape contact and may influence both conservatorship and the possession schedule. A protective order typically lasts up to two years, and it can run longer in defined circumstances, such as serious bodily injury or repeated prior orders. For a protective order against a parent exceeding two years, the court must make its findings by clear and convincing evidence and consider the child’s best interest.

Do we both need lawyers in a custody case?

In most custody cases, each parent has their own attorney. In a cooperative divorce, Kevin Weber represents one spouse while working with both to resolve issues together, which can work for couples committed to a respectful process. When conflict is significant, each parent should have separate counsel.

Which court will hear my Manor custody case?

Because Manor is in Travis County, a custody case for a Manor child is generally heard by a Travis County district court, with some matters handled by the county’s Associate Courts. The right county depends on where the child lives and where earlier orders were filed.

Serving Manor Child Custody Clients Across Travis County and Central Texas

The firm represents parents in Manor and the neighboring Travis County communities of Austin, Pflugerville, Elgin, Del Valle, Webberville, Lakeway, Bee Cave, Jonestown, and Lago Vista, along with the many neighborhoods and subdivisions that make up the eastern edge of the county. Families from Manor often work in Austin, which means custody schedules need to account for commutes along the corridors that connect the two.

Our custody work extends to Williamson County, including Georgetown, Round Rock, Cedar Park, Leander, Taylor, Hutto, and Liberty Hill; to Hays County, including San Marcos, Kyle, Buda, Dripping Springs, and Wimberley; and to Bastrop County, including Bastrop, Elgin, Smithville, and Cedar Creek. Wherever your child lives and wherever your order was entered, the first task is identifying which court has authority over the case.

Talk With a Manor Child Custody Lawyer Before Your Next Step

Whether you need a first custody order, a modification, or help enforcing one that is being ignored, the right time to talk with a Manor child custody attorney is before you file, move, or sign anything. Call The Law Office of Oprea & Weber to schedule a consultation. You will speak directly with an attorney who will review your situation, explain your options in plain language, and help you decide whether the best route is agreement or the courtroom.