Southlake Child Custody Lawyer
Why Do You Need an Experienced Child Custody Lawyer?
Parents facing custody decisions often ask:
- Where will our children primarily live?
- Can I relocate with my child if needed?
- How will visitation schedules work with school/extracurriculars?
- What if safety concerns exist about the other parent?
- How are child support obligations determined?
- Can we modify an existing custody order?
These complex questions demand solutions tailored to your family’s unique dynamics. As leading child custody lawyers in Southlake, our team provides clarity while fiercely protecting parental rights.
At a Glance
At Mims Ballew Hollingsworth, we represent parents in Southlake and across Tarrant County in complex child custody matters backed by more than 100 years of combined experience.
We handle all aspects of custody cases, including parenting plans, conservatorship, possession schedules, and modifications, as well as high-conflict issues like relocation, safety concerns, and emergency orders. Our approach focuses on building clear, evidence-based strategies that align with Texas courts’ “best interests of the child” standard.
Recognized for our preparation and results-driven advocacy, we work to protect your parental rights while securing stable, practical outcomes for your family. Free consultations available. Call 817-900-8330.
How Texas Courts Determine Your Child’s Best Interests
Texas family courts prioritize your child’s well-being above all else when establishing child custody arrangements. Key factors considered include:
- Parenting Capabilities: Experience meeting emotional, educational, and developmental needs.
- Home Stability: Consistency in living environment, schooling, and community ties.
- Safety Considerations: History of domestic violence, substance abuse, or neglect.
- Child’s Preferences: Age-appropriate consideration of the child’s wishes (typically age 12+).
- Co-Parenting Potential: Willingness to support the child’s relationship with the other parent.
We help present compelling evidence demonstrating how your proposed custody arrangement serves these critical benchmarks in Southlake, Texas, and throughout Tarrant County.
Crafting Effective Parenting Plans
Texas custody orders (“parenting plans“) address three core components:
- Conservatorship
Determines decision-making rights for education, healthcare, and religious upbringing (joint or sole). - Primary Residence
Establishes the child’s home base and school district. A child custody lawyer in Southlake can help you customize possession schedules that work for your family, often using the Texas Standard Possession Order as a starting point. - Access & Possession
Details holiday rotations, summer breaks, and transportation logistics.
For special circumstances—such as high-conflict parents, special needs children, or long-distance co-parenting—we build customized provisions into your child custody arrangement.
When and How Modifications Are Granted
Some modifications are straightforward, such as updating support after three years if income has changed. Others are more complex, like changing the primary residence within the first year of an order. In those cases, the requesting parent must meet stricter requirements, including showing the child’s environment endangers their physical or emotional well-being.
Because the legal standards are high, working with an experienced child custody lawyer is critical. At Mims Ballew Hollingsworth, our team regularly helps parents pursue or defend custody modifications and ensures that both children’s needs and parental rights are fully protected.
Resolving Complex Child Custody Disputes
We handle challenging scenarios requiring specialized approaches:
- Relocation Requests: Navigating legal requirements for moves over 50 miles away.
- Grandparent Rights: Securing access when parents are unfit or deceased.
- International Custody: Enforcing orders across borders under the Hague Convention.
- Modifications: Changing orders due to job loss, remarriage, or safety concerns.
- Emergency Interventions: Filing temporary restraining orders for imminent danger.
- Support during divorce proceedings when custody issues arise
Reviews
We’re proud of the praise we receive from clients who appreciate our integrity, responsiveness, and thorough preparation.
Why Choose Our Southlake Child Custody Lawyers?
The best child custody attorney for you is one who listens and puts your child’s needs first. We can help guide you through the different legal options you have. Mims Ballew Hollingsworth has skilled litigators ready to fight for you and your child. We will work with you, your former partner, and the legal system to devise a plan covering all child’s needs. When you have child custody struggles, it is time to contact our firm. Complete our contact form to schedule a consultation.
Content reviewed by a Board Certified family law attorney Constance Mims.
Answers To Your Most Commonly Asked Questions
The right place where you cand find the answers to your questions regarding family law
When parents can agree on who their children will live with, how to share in rights and decision making, and a parenting time schedule, the Court will often approve this agreement. If parents cannot agree, then the Judge will make custody decisions based on what they believe is in the best interest of the children.
The following factors are frequently considered by Courts in determining a child’s best interest: parenting abilities, plans for the child, home stability, your child’s desires, your child’s emotional and physical needs, and whether there is a concern of emotional and physical danger to your child.
Custody orders in Texas are referred to as a parenting plan. The parenting plan addresses issues such as who your child will live with, what rights each parent has, where your child will go to school, and how the parents will share possessions. The parenting plan can be very detailed and address concerns or issues unique to your child. If a parent has problems with drugs or alcohol, this can be addressed in your parenting plan to assure the safety of your child. If your child has special needs, these can be addressed in your parenting plan to assure that your child is properly provided for. If you need to understand how to get custody of a child in Texas outside of a divorce, for example as an unmarried parent, the process begins by filing a Suit Affecting the Parent-Child Relationship (SAPCR) in the county where the child resides.
While Texas courts favor joint conservatorship, achieving full custody (sole managing conservatorship) is possible, especially in cases involving family violence or substance abuse. To be named the sole managing conservator, you must demonstrate to the court that it is in the child’s best interest. A child custody lawyer in Southlake can help you build a compelling case to protect your child.