At Eaton Family Law Group, some of the most common questions we receive concern child custody. It’s no wonder—this is overwhelming for many parents. Many seek a Houston divorce lawyer. If that’s the situation you find yourself in, read on to learn the three most important steps for getting custody.

 
Decide What Type of Custody You’re Seeking The state of Texas gives parents two basic sets of rights over their children: 

physical custody (or “possessory conservatorship”)
Legal custody (“managing conservatorship”)
Legal custody allows a parent to make legal decisions for a child, including deciding the place of residence; consenting to healthcare; handling legal issues; making education decisions, applying for travel documents, consenting to their military service or marriage, and more.
Your first decision is what kind of custody you seek: physical, legal, or both.

 
File for Full Custody
Next, you’ll need to decide if you will get custody by filing for sole custody or by filing to terminate the other parent’s rights. Generally speaking, obtaining sole custody (which requires proving it’s in the child’s best interest) is easier than removing the other parent’s rights. Terminating rights require proof that the parent has abandoned, neglected, harmed the child, or engaged in certain criminal behaviors.

How to Provide Proof
The burden of proof makes terminating another parent’s custody rights much more complicated than simply filing for sole custody. But in either case, you will need documentation to provide proof to the court. This may include statements about your child’s needs, documentation of how those needs have not been met, relevant police reports, court or medical records, and more.

In many cases, parents find that this burden of proof is more than they can do and decide that hiring a Houston divorce lawyer is in their best interest. If this is the case, Eaton Family Law Group would be privileged to help you navigate this process as quickly and conveniently as possible. Call to learn more about how we can help you today!