How to keep full custody of my child

5 Tips to Maintain Full Child Custody | Minella Law Group

If divorces weren’t already one of the most stressful things a person can ever go through in their life, the addition of custody battles over children brings a new painful and complex element to the mix.

How to maintain full custody of your child can break down to several steps, most of which involve keeping track of every record, piece of paper, and signed document the court gives you during the duration of your divorce proceedings. And secondly, with your focus and enthusiasm, it will be clear your child should belong in your custody.

While there is no sure fire way to maintain custody, there are 5 tips you can focus on to make the best case possible to maintain full custody of your children.

Nothing will have a child removed from a parent’s custody faster than the parent getting in trouble with the law. Even something as harmless as going above the speed limit with your child in the car, or forgetting to buckle a seatbelt, could be considered serious child endangerment. Showing that you can be a danger to your child at any point will have the court or Child Protective Services immediately removing the child from your care.

Showing up on time, dressed as though you were attending a business meeting and not just on your way to the grocery store. Arrive with documents in hand, in order, signed dated and ready show to each clerk. This proves you have respect for the court and their system and you are dedicated to keeping your family together. People who come to their hearings ready, informed, and serious about their case get much better treatment than families where the children’s well being seems to come second or third to whatever mom and dad had planned that afternoon.

In some states, the judge will take into consideration which parent the child would rather live with full time. This doesn’t mean the child will instantly end up with whichever parent they prefer (judges can usually tell when a parent is using bribery or fun over responsibility to curry favor) but if a child is comfortable in one home and not the other, it can be part of the decision making process.

Above all else, it is about the safety and well being of the child or children in question, and their opinion can matter.

A sure-fire way to impress the court is to be polite and kind to your former spouse. No matter how nasty things were behind closed doors, when you are in front of your child and the lawyers, judges, and other civil servants determining your child’s future be sure to act as sane adults. By being able to calmly and maturely discuss matters of the children’s education, health, and other needs reflects back well on you, making it more likely you are the best place for the child to live.

At the end of the day, the judge is determining which parent will have primary custody for the best interest of the child. Which parent has the safest place for the child to live? Which parent lives closer to the school that the child currently attends? Who has been primarily caring for the child in his or her early life? Naturally, if one parent abuses, molests, beats or in any other way harms the child, there is no question of custody not going to an abusive parent.

If you are going through a divorce and battling custody, we can help.  Custody battles are never fun but making sure the court has the necessary information to make the best decision is crucial.  The skilled attorneys at Minella Law Group have experience with child custody cases. For more information or to schedule an appointment call us at (619) 289-7948. We look forward to helping you!

Full Custody in Texas: How to File and Win Custody of Your Children

We don’t have to tell you that raising children isn’t easy. Furthermore, figuring out how to raise a child after separating from the child’s other parent can overwhelm the best of us.

Sometimes, you may feel that getting full custody in Texas is your best option. If you’re asking how to win full custody as a father or how to win full custody as a mother, we want to help you understand the process.

As a preliminary matter, there is no actual term of “full custody” under the Texas Family Code, even though most people use that term. Most often, when people say “full custody” they mean who the children live with during the school week, which is referred to as “primary” in Texas.

Sometimes though people use “full custody” as meaning the other parent relinquishing or terminating their parental rights. Other times people use “full custody” as meaning sole managing conservatorship and supervised custody for the other parent.  In this article, “full custody” will be treated as synonymous with “sole managing conservatorship”

Basic Parental Rights in Texas

The first thing to understand when determining how to get full custody of a child in Texas is the scope of the general rights that every Texas parent has. Under Texas law, every parent typically has the right to have “physical possession” of their child.

Additionally, every parent normally has the right to participate in making legal, health, educational, moral, religious, relationship, and residential decisions for their child. Each parent also has multiple duties to care for and support their child.

When parents separate, Texas law wants both parents to share their parental rights and responsibilities. If you don’t believe this sharing is possible in your situation, there are a handful of ways you can get sole custody in Texas.

How to Get Full Custody in Texas

You can fight for two kinds of custody in the Texas family law system: physical custody and legal custody. Texas law calls physical custody “possessory conservatorship,” and it labels legal custody as “managing conservatorship.” If you have sole physical custody, your child lives with you full time. If you have sole legal custody, you normally have exclusive rights to:

• Decide the location of your child’s residence,
• Consent to healthcare for your child,
• Hold or spend support payments for your child,
• Handle your child’s legal issues,
• Make decisions about your child’s education,
• Consent to your child’s marriage,
• Apply for and keep travel documents for your child,
• Consent to your child’s military service, and
• Utilize your child’s earnings and services.

You can fight for one or both of these kinds of custody. Once you determine what kind of child custody you’re seeking, you need to determine the best way to file for it.

How to File for Full Custody in Texas

There are two ways you can win full custody in a family court:

• You can file for sole custody or
• You can file to terminate the other parent’s rights.

You start your case by filing a custody or termination petition in the court where your child is a resident or in the court that presides over your divorce (if applicable). You then serve the other parent, or anyone else with custody rights, with the citation.

Now that you know how to get your case started, you need to know how to fight for your position.

How to Fight for Full Custody in Texas

Petitioning for termination of the other parent’s rights requires you to meet a different burden of proof than simply petitioning for sole custody.

Fighting for sole custody

To win sole custody, you generally have to prove that it’s in the best interest of your child. When deciding what’s in your child’s best interest, the court might look at many factors, including:

• Your child’s specific needs,
• Any relevant history of abusive behavior from you or the other parent,
• Any relevant history of neglect by you or the other parent, and
• Any relevant history of violence from you or the other parent.

It’s important to gather and organize as many records and statements as you can regarding your child’s needs and how they haven’t been met by the other parent.

Fighting to terminate the other parent’s rights

Filing to terminate someone else’s parental rights is a drastic measure, but it’s unfortunately necessary in some cases. If you believe it’s necessary to terminate the rights of your child’s other parent, we empathize with how difficult it must have been to come to that conclusion.

The State of Texas does not terminate parental rights easily. To terminate their rights you must prove that the other parent:

• Abandoned your child,
• Endangered your child,
• Neglected your child,
• Caused serious injury or death to a child,
• Committed certain criminal offenses,
• Engaged in certain forms of substance abuse, or
• Had their parental rights to another child terminated because of endangerment.

You might need to compile relevant police reports, court documents, medical reports, protection orders, and testimony to prove by clear and convincing evidence that the other parent committed one of the listed acts. Clear and convincing evidence is a high standard to fulfill. Your best option for success is to hire a skilled child custody attorney who can meet this standard for you.

How Can a Father Get Full Custody in Texas?

If you’re a father trying to figure out how to get full custody of your child in Texas, don’t assume that you don’t have equal custody rights in family court. Gone are the days when courts automatically determined that a mother should have sole custody regardless of the facts of the case. When deciding custody matters, Texas family law doesn’t consider your sex, the sex of your child, or your marital status.

In general, the court considers your characteristics as a parent, your child’s needs, and the characteristics of the other parent when making its decision. That being said, sometimes the best way for a father to get custody in Texas is by being proactive about his paternity and parental involvement from the beginning.

There are a few custody laws that specifically affect fathers

Fathers who voluntarily and knowingly abandon mothers who are pregnant with their children can be subject to termination of their parental rights. And fathers who weren’t married to the mother, weren’t living with the child for the first two years, or didn’t acknowledge their paternity might not be recognized as parents.

If you’re not married to the pregnant mother of your child, do what you can to support the mother and your child. You might need to prove you were around once you knew about the child to get any custody rights, let alone sole custody.

The Best Way for a Mother to Get Custody in Texas

Remember, the rules and standards for how to get sole custody in Texas are the same for mothers and fathers. But mothers’ parental rights can be terminated if they used alcohol or illegal, nonprescription drugs while pregnant.

If you have a notion that the other parent of your child might try to use this argument to terminate your rights, you should speak to an attorney immediately. And you should collect as many documents as possible to prove that you didn’t engage in that activity. Also, remember to keep any documents that prove that a father claiming custody doesn’t legally qualify as a parent.

Don’t Wait to Speak to an Attorney When Your Child’s Wellbeing Is at Stake

At The Larson Law Office, we know how to win child custody in Texas. The fight for sole custody isn’t always easy or realistic, and it’s often emotional. But if you’re in the greater Houston area, we’re here to help you make the best possible decisions in your custody battle and help you put yourself in a position to obtain the best possible results with the facts of your case.

Our lawyers focus on our clients’ unique needs for protecting their families. We are highly experienced and ready to fight for you. Contact us online or call us at 713-221-9088.

How to take a child into custody in 2023: how to get guardianship

Lada Pozdeeva

talked to her mother-in-law about guardianship

Author profile

She became his guardian.

I learned from Svetlana how to take a child into custody, what is needed for this and what payments a guardian can receive from the state.

You will know

• How Svetlana made the decision
• What is custody
• The differences between guardianship and adoption
• School of adoptive parents
• Documents
• Housing Preparation
• Treaty with guardianship bodies
• Costs
• difficult. Psychological aspects of guardianship

How Svetlana made the decision

My mother-in-law has three daughters and one son. The children are already adults, and she rarely sees them. She meets with some of them only once a year.

In 2012, Svetlana realized that her youngest daughter would also soon graduate from school and go to study in Syktyvkar. And it is 730 kilometers from their village.

At that time, my mother-in-law was 50 years old, and she did not want to stay with her common-law husband without children. It seemed to her that the big village house would be empty and lonely without them. For her, this was a reason to take a six-year-old boy from an orphanage under guardianship. The civil husband supported her.

By law, guardianship is an arrangement for a family of children under 14 years of age. Guardians appointed by the guardianship and guardianship authorities are considered the legal representatives of the wards and act on their behalf and in their interests.

paragraph 1 of Art. 2 of the Federal Law "On guardianship and guardianship"

Guardianship is not adoption. They differ in their essence, in documents, in the form of state control and in the amount of payments.

Adoption is the adoption of a child into a family as a son or daughter. It entails irreversible legal consequences. For example, an adopted child is equated in property rights with a native: after the death of an adoptive parent, adopted children are considered heirs of the first stage. A child under guardianship does not have such rights.

Art. 137, 138 SK RF

Art. 1147 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation

Svetlana did not consider adoption, because she understood that relations with a child from an orphanage might not work out.

Differences between guardianship and adoption

Paperwork. Fewer certificates are required to take a child into custody than to adopt one. For the mother-in-law, this also played an important role. She works as a social work specialist and initially understood that it was easier to get custody of a child than to collect documents for adoption.

Memo for candidates for adoptive parents

State control form. Social security checks come to the guardian more often than to the adoptive parent. For some people, this can cause psychological discomfort.

Amount of lump-sum payments. If a person adopts a child, he is entitled to a one-time payment from the region: 200,000 R for a healthy child and 250,000 R for a child with physical disabilities. These amounts of payments are valid in the Komi Republic. The adoptive parent also receives a one-time allowance - 22 909 R.

Law of the Republic of Komi on state support when transferring a child to a family

Benefits and payments to citizens with children

art. 12.2 of the Federal Law "On state benefits to citizens with children"

The guardian is not given such large amounts. He receives only an allowance - 22,909 R. Regions have the right to establish their own additional one-time payments, their amounts may vary.

Foster Parent School

The prospective guardian must be trained at a foster parent school and receive a course completion certificate.

While studying, future adoptive parents and guardians get acquainted with the regulations in the field of guardianship, as well as with the amounts of payments and benefits. Guardianship specialists psychologically prepare people for someone else's child in the family and discuss with them stressful situations that may arise.

Order of the Ministry of Education and Science on approval of the training program for guardians and foster parents

During the courses, future guardians are given tests, memos and information leaflets with tips on raising children and helpline numbers - the guardian can call there in emergency situations.

The guardianship authorities can meet the candidate halfway and allow him to study after he takes the child into custody. And some caregivers take these courses two or three times to learn how to get along with the child.

Documents

The future guardian must submit a package of documents to the guardianship department at the place of residence:

1. Application for the desire to become a guardian.
2. Certificate of no criminal record.
3. Certificate of employment indicating the average salary or certificate of employment of the spouse of the person who has decided to become a guardian. You can also submit another document that confirms the income of the candidate or his spouse.
4. A copy of the marriage certificate, if the guardian is one.
5. Consent of adult family members to accept a child into the family.
6. A copy of the guardian training certificate.
7. Autobiography.
8. Conclusion on the results of a medical examination.

clause 4 of the Rules for the selection of guardians

Application form of consent of adult family members living together to accept a child into the familyPDF, 212 KB

The candidate for guardianship will have to check whether he has any medical conditions that may prevent him from taking the child into care. For example, these include mental disorders and alcohol addiction. People with disabilities of the first group cannot take a child under guardianship.

List of diseases that may prevent you from becoming a guardian

All documents must be up to date. A certificate from the place of work is valid for a year, a health certificate - for 6 months.

Svetlana believes that her pedagogical education helped her to pass the selection process and become a guardian. She told about him in her autobiography. In the same place, she wrote that the common-law husband had been a cross-country skiing coach for many years and worked with children.

The guardianship authorities also asked Svetlana for a reference from work, although this document is not specified in the law. It was not difficult for Svetlana to obtain all these certificates, extracts and certificates. Instead of copies, you can bring original documents to the guardianship authorities. Specialists will make copies themselves.

Documents can be submitted via the Internet: on the website of public services or on the official website of the guardianship and guardianship authorities in your region. You can also do it at the nearest MFC.

clause 5 of the Rules for the selection of guardians

Guardianship authorities will verify the information within two business days from the date of submission of the application and documents.

Art. 146 SK RF

Preparation of housing

Having submitted documents to the guardianship authorities, the future guardian must prepare housing for inspection by specialists. Within three working days after the authorities confirm the information provided by the candidate, they will check the living conditions and draw up a special survey report.

clause 8 of the Rules for the selection of guardians

The guardian's house should be clean, a corner and a sleeping place should be equipped for the child, and toys should be bought. During the visit, specialists from the guardianship authorities will ask about the relationship between family members.

In some cases, guardianship officials may not inspect the candidate's house - for example, if a person has a positive reference from work.

When the act of examining housing conditions is ready, the guardianship authorities must make a decision on the candidate for guardians within 10 working days.

If the decision is positive, specialists will issue a conclusion on the person's ability to be a guardian - it is valid for two years.

paras. 9 and 11 of the Rules for the selection of guardians

Choice of the child

After receiving the opinion, the future guardian must select the child he wants to take into the family. First you need to decide on the age and gender, and then get to know the child in order to understand whether the guardian and the child can live together.

You can find a child in an orphanage or on special websites, such as "Orphans" or "Adoption in Russia".

About the database of children left without parental care

The Adoption in Russia website is a project of the Ministry of Education and one of the main resources for finding a child. There you can choose a ward or ward of a certain age. The site has a search for different regions.

More information about children who can be taken into the family is published by foundations and news sites. Each region has its own information sources where data on children left without parental care are posted.

Svetlana met the child in the office of the guardianship authority. She took a liking to the boy right away. With the consent of the guardianship specialists, she took him for the weekend. Since then, the child began to live with Svetlana, she decided not to give him away.

Svetlana immediately noticed that the boy is often overexcited. She believed that this was due to his difficult fate. The child also had psychological trauma and poor eyesight. This did not frighten the mother-in-law: she already had experience in raising difficult children.

Having taken the boy from the orphanage, Svetlana understood that she would have to take him to the republican hospital and bear the costs of treatment. But this is the choice of the mother-in-law - healthy children also live in shelters.

Agreement with guardianship authorities

Such an agreement is concluded if necessary, if it is in the interests of the ward. Child custody is by default free of charge. The guardian receives only child benefits, which he is obliged to spend strictly on the child. The amount of the allowance is established by regional legislation. But a guardian or candidate for guardianship may conclude an agreement with the guardianship authorities on the performance of all duties for a fee and receive additional cash payments. To do this, you need to write a special application.

Art. 16 FZ "On guardianship and guardianship"

Sample agreement on a foster familyPDF, 98 KB

If you sign such an agreement, the guardian will be paid a fee for raising the child. There is no need to report to the state for this money. Svetlana is also a contractual guardian.

clause 9 of the Rules for the selection of guardians

After collecting all the documents, submitting applications and choosing a child, specialists from the guardianship authorities draw up an act on the appointment of a person as a guardian.

Costs of care

The activities of the guardian and the quality of life of the child are constantly monitored by the guardianship and guardianship authorities. Svetlana lives in the Ust-Tsilemsky district of the Komi Republic and, as a guardian, is attached to the local center for social protection. Once every six months, she receives checks from the guardianship authorities. Specialists look at the appearance of the ward, whether he has clothes and shoes for the season. They also ask the guardian about how the child communicates with peers, with family members.

Art. 24 of the Federal Law "On guardianship and guardianship"

Specialists also control the conditions in which the child grows up. In order to maintain the conditions of his life at the proper level, constant costs are needed to update repairs, purchase books, toys.

The child must live with a guardian

By law, the guardian and the child must live together. Separation is allowed only when the child is 16 years old. This is possible only with the consent of social workers.

st. 36 Civil Code of the Russian Federation

Guardians must notify the guardianship authorities of any change of residence.

Personal space. In an apartment or house for a child, there must be a separate bed and a play area. In the act of checking the living conditions of a minor ward, which is compiled at each check, there is even a corresponding line.

If the child does not have a furnished personal space, the guardian will be obliged to equip it.

Cleanliness and order. The house should be clean: the floor and dishes are washed, the dust is wiped off.

At the time of the check, the kitchen must have cooked food, and the refrigerator must have food supplies for at least two days. Some welfare officers even look into pots to find out what the child is being fed.

Repair. Every year Svetlana makes cosmetic repairs in the child's room. For example, she paints the floor and windows, glues wallpaper. It takes 2500-3500 R per year.

It is necessary to make annual repairs because the guardianship authorities carefully ensure that the child lives in a clean and renovated room. And if in ordinary families the repair in the room can be done when the parents themselves want it, in the guardian family, the guardianship authorities will ensure that it is always fresh.

The amounts Svetlana spends on supporting her son vary from month to month.

At first, the boy had clothes left over from his life in his family. This helped the mother-in-law save money in the first months of guardianship. At the same time, specialists from the guardianship authorities advised Svetlana not to buy expensive toys for her son, because he quickly broke them. Instead, they offered to purchase inexpensive construction sets so that the child develops fine motor skills of the hands.

Svetlana regularly gives her ward something that goes beyond the budget. For example, over the past year, she bought him a smartphone, new clothes for school, as well as a jacket and trendy sneakers.

How much does guardianship cost

Already purchased

Clothing and footwear

7000 R

desk

4000 4000 R toys and books

3000 3000 R

bed

200002 SELE

1500 R