Legal Question in Family Law in Texas
Modification of visitation
I've asked this question before, but did not get a clear answer as what should my next step be. The child's mother and I agreed upon visitation days and times in Dec. '07, but my lawyer forgot to add any holidays. In late Jan. '08, I found out that she has moved to another county without informing me or the courts 60 days prior or 5 days after. It has been over 30 days since her new move. The substancial distance in the child's new address causes a problem for me to get there within the agreed upon time. Can I get the current order that was done and signed by a judge in Dec. modified thru our lawyers w/o going back to court, or do I need to file a motion to revisit the visitation order in court?
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: Modification of visitation
Yes you will need to modify your custody order.
The court may refuse to hear a modification, because the grounds for a modification must include a material and substantial change in the child's circumstances. I'm not sure "my lawyer forgot to add holidays" and "the ex has moved" are going to meet the test, when the order is 2 months old. One party moving out of county is totally foreseeable and the language addressing both these issues are standard items in a custody order. Verify if your order addresses these issues. Both items should have been done correctly the first time around.
Sometimes clients call around seeking the cheapest lawyer they can find and this is the kind of thing that happens. If you paid your lawyer good money for this kind of service, you need to have a discussion with your attorney.
If your attorney drafted a custody order that completely failed to mention holiday visitation, you should have him/her fix that at no charge. That's a significant oversight and should never occur.
As for the ex moving out of the county: the custody order may or may not have a geographic restriction. It is entirely a matter of how the order was drafted.
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