Legal Question in Family Law in Texas

You are asking the wrong question. You are going to hate my answer. So take a deep breath - it is not what you want to hear. I'll give you all the bad that could happen. It is a sobering & somewhat scary answer. I'm not going to paint you the "rosy" picture.

Of course I've not met with you in person & I don't know the entire story. Perhaps if I met with you in person my answer would be totally different. However, I think that you and your new wife need to be made aware of the ramifications of not being open & willing to work together with your ex. I strongly encourage parents to work together for the best interests of their child(ren). Hopefully you will see why after reading my comments below...

The step-mother is NOT the bio. parent of this child.

She has the right to be a "volunteer" like any citizen in the community. She has no "rights" to this child. She has no more rights than I do as a stranger to this child. She needs to accept this fact. The mere fact that she married you does not make her anything to this child.

However, she does not have the right to be involved in any "parental" activities.

Only the bio. parents have the right to be involved in "parental" activities.

I hope this clarifies the step-mother's role in your child's life.

Instead of your current attitude, why not "shift" it?

I can tell that your current relationship with your ex is not working.

Often counseling or mediation can help ex's learn to begin to work together for the best interests of their child(ren).

These 2 women need to meet and talk.

They need to learn to work together.

They are going to be interacting for the rest of this child's life.

You and your ex need to learn to co-parent together.

You need to accept the fact that you will be co-parent & co-grandparenting the rest of this child's life.

And, yes the bio. mom has the "right" to meet this woman that will be interacting with her child. And yes she has the right to know about the step-mom's personal life. The needs to know if this woman is a registered sex offender or if she is going to endanger her child's life so that she can modify the current custody order.

By the very reason that you are "hiding" this woman's background, the judge is going to be suspicious, especially if the child is very small. A school background check is not enough to satisfy a judge--if a judge gets suspicious. In a modification action, you could be looking at spending thousands of dollars & months to satisfy a judge - an amicus attorney to represent the child, a social study, psychological study, federal criminal background check, etc. And YOU get to pay for it.

The step-mom voluntarily entered into this arrangement. She married you knowing that your ex wife and children came along in this package.

I suggest that you meet for an hour with an experienced family law attorney. In Harris County, and based on your zip code, you are probably in Harris County, you might learn that you are potentially in for a rude awakening in the Harris County court system if you don't begin to work with your wife and quit fighting with your ex. I've seen family court judges either limit a father's visits, order supervised visits (SAFE visits) or even terminate parental visits when parents do not work together. In fact, one judge got so fed up a few years ago she actually put the minor child into CPS custody after the parents made horrible accusations about each other. I think an hour of an attorney's time might begin to soften your heart & open your mind.

Lastly, if you file joint tax returns, in a modification, your ex will get to see all of your new wife's financial information. It's all discoverable. And, if you refuse to produce the the judge can rule that you cannot put on any evidence in a modification because as punishment for not complying with the judge's rulings.

In summary, please reconsider your position. I urge you to put the past aside and work with your ex to raise a healthy and mentally stable child. It is your child's best interest. Your child's welfare comes before you, your new wife, your ex-wife and everything else. Plus, it is much less expensive than going to court and paying huge legal & psychological fees. And, eventually your child might hate you.