Legal Question in Family Law in Texas
My ex and I have 50/50 (week to week) custody of our 15yr old daughter and I pay my ex child support. Recently my daughter has been in trouble at my house for lying and being very disrespectful, so I have grounded her and taken her phone away and now my daughter doesn�t want to come over. Now my ex is asking me to come to an agreement with her and give her full custody of our daughter and she will waive my child support & she will continue to let our daughter come over when she wants. She said her attorney will draft the papers up and submit them to the court and it will be legal. When I told her that I wasn�t willing to do this, she said that I only have 2 options � (1). I can agree with her � or (2). She will take me back to court and let them know that this 50/50 visitation isn�t in our daughters best interest because she is a teen and wants to do teen things like hanging out with friends and sports and she can�t do that with the 50/50 visitation. And she thinks the judge will award less time for me with my daughter and I will still have to pay child support. But if I agree with her, then I wont have to pay child support. She also said that the judge will talk to our daughter and our daughter will tell them that she don�t want to come over my house anymore. If she takes me to court will she be likely to get what she is wanting? If I agree with her, can her attorney draft the paperwork and submit it to the courts and relieve me from my child support duty? Or will the Attorney General still come after me? Thanks.
1 Answer from Attorneys
What your ex is telling you is true.
Including the "either/or" business.
One thing to remember: It is entirely possible that you and your ex would approach the Judge with your agreement (which includes "no child support") and the Judge would reject it, finding that it is not in the child's best interest. The Judge could say, "Thank you for your input. I approve your agreement with one exception: I'm going to order Dad to pay Mom $820 per month child support."
I have seen this very thing happen in open Court - twice.
A Judge isn't bound by your agreement, especially if it involves a "child."
Because the child is 15, you may be fighting a losing battle. Do you really want to spend extra time with an almost-adult who doesn't want to be there with you? Who may refuse to get into the car with you? Who may "vanish" when you show up to pick her up?
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