How to Modify Child Custody in Texas
Reviewed by DocDraft Legal Team · Texas · Last updated October 7, 2026
The word custody appears nowhere in the Texas chapter that governs changing a custody order, which tells you most of what is different here. Modifying child custody in Texas means filing a suit asking the court that rendered your existing order to change conservatorship, possession, or access because circumstances have materially and substantially changed since then. Texas imposes no general waiting period. What parents mistake for one is Family Code 156.102, and it reaches only a suit to change who holds the exclusive right to designate the child's primary residence, filed within one year of the earlier of rendition or the signing of the mediated settlement agreement behind the order. Inside that window you may still file. What becomes mandatory is a sworn affidavit, and the court shall refuse to schedule a hearing at all unless the affidavit states adequate facts. A suit that only adjusts possession and access, or reallocates other conservatorship rights and duties, sits outside 156.102 and carries no affidavit requirement. Texas also sets no relocation mileage trigger. What constrains a move is the geographic restriction written into your own order under Family Code 153.134(b)(1), plus a separate duty under 105.006(b) to report an intended address change at the earlier of the 60th day before the move or the fifth day after you learned of it. The statutory filing fee is $80 under Family Code 110.002, and no other filing fee may be collected for the suit. Texas prescribes no statewide modification form. Attorney review of your petition is available through DocDraft.
Find out where you stand in Texas
What is prompting the change to your custody order?
DocDraft provides document preparation, not legal advice.
How do I modify a child custody order in Texas?
File a suit for modification in the court with continuing, exclusive jurisdiction, meaning the Texas court that rendered your order. Family Code 156.004 applies the rules for filing an original lawsuit, so the other party receives notice by service of citation rather than ordinary service. The statutory filing fee is $80 (Tex. Fam. Code 110.002).
Is there a waiting period to modify custody in Texas?
There is no general one. Family Code 156.102 covers only a suit changing who holds the exclusive right to designate the child's primary residence, brought within one year of the order or of the settlement agreement behind it. Filing stays permitted; an affidavit and a paper screen become mandatory.
How much notice must a Texas parent give before moving with a child?
Texas has no relocation notice statute and no mileage trigger. Family Code 105.006(b) requires a party to report an intended residence address change at the earlier of the 60th day before the move or the fifth day after learning of it. Distance limits come from your own order.
Which court changes a custody order in Texas?
The court of continuing, exclusive jurisdiction, which is the Texas court that rendered your final order, institutionally a district court or family district court. Family Code 155.003(a) lets that court modify its own rulings on conservatorship, possession, and access. Texas calls the case a suit affecting the parent-child relationship.
Texas custody modification at a glance
Changing child custody in Texas means filing a suit asking the court that rendered your existing order to change conservatorship, possession, or access because circumstances have materially and substantially changed since then. Three Texas features shape everything that follows. First, it is a suit and not a motion: Family Code 156.004 applies the rules for an original lawsuit, and the other party is served with citation. Second, the clock in Family Code 156.101 runs from the earlier of rendition or the signing of the mediated or collaborative settlement agreement your order rests on, which can be months before the judge signed. Third, Family Code 156.102 is narrow. It gates only a change to who designates the child's primary residence inside the first year, and it gates it with an affidavit rather than a filing ban.
A Texas possession schedule change nine months after rendition
Picture a Texas order rendered nine months ago that rests on a mediated settlement agreement you signed fourteen months ago. You want more weekday possession because your shift changed, and you are not asking to become the conservator who designates the child's primary residence. Family Code 156.102 does not reach your suit at all, so no affidavit attaches and there is no paper screen. You still have to show that circumstances materially and substantially changed, and Family Code 156.101 measures that from the agreement signature rather than from rendition, so your evidence has to postdate the earlier date. You draft the petition, file it with the district clerk for $80, and have the other parent served with citation. Attorney review of your petition is available through DocDraft.
Relevant Laws
Tex. Family Code 156.101 (grounds for modifying conservatorship or possession and access)
Permits modification where it is in the child's best interest and circumstances have materially and substantially changed since the earlier of rendition or the signing of the mediated or collaborative law settlement agreement the order rests on. Two alternative grounds follow: a preference from a child 12 or older, and six months of voluntary relinquishment of primary care.
Tex. Family Code 156.102 (one-year affidavit requirement, primary residence only)
Applies only where a suit seeking to modify the designation of the person having the exclusive right to designate the child's primary residence is filed within one year of the earlier trigger date. It requires an attached affidavit with supporting facts, and subsection (c) directs the court to deny relief and refuse to schedule a hearing unless the facts are adequate.
Tex. Family Code 105.006(b) (duty to report an intended change of address)
Requires the court to order each party to inform each other party, the rendering court, and the state case registry of an intended change of residence address, at the earlier of the 60th day before the change or the fifth day after learning of it. Subsection (c) allows suppression on a finding of likely harassment, abuse, serious harm, injury, or family violence.
Tex. Family Code 153.009 and 153.134(b)(1) (child's wishes, and the geographic restriction)
Section 153.009(a) directs the court to interview a child 12 or older in chambers on the application of a party, the amicus attorney, or the attorney ad litem, and allows a discretionary interview below 12. Section 153.134(b)(1) makes the court either establish a geographic area for the child's primary residence or state that the conservator may choose without regard to location.
Tex. Family Code 110.002 and 155.003 (filing fee, and the court that hears it)
Section 110.002(a)(1) sets an $80 filing fee for a suit or motion for modification, and subsection (b) provides that no other filing fee may be collected for the action, with subsection (c) preserving a clerk deposit for expected costs. Section 155.003(a) lets the court with continuing, exclusive jurisdiction modify its own order.
Regional Variances
Texas custody modification levers at a glance
Waiting period before you may file
None in general. Chapters 105, 153 and 156 contain no waiting period and no bar on filing. The only timed mechanism is Family Code 156.102, scoped to a suit changing who designates the child's primary residence within one year, and it attaches an affidavit duty rather than blocking the filing.
Standard to change an order
Best interest of the child, plus a material and substantial change in the circumstances of the child, a conservator, or another party affected by the order, measured from the earlier of rendition or the signing of the mediated or collaborative settlement agreement (Family Code 156.101(a)(1)).
Alternative grounds that need no change in circumstances
A child 12 or older naming a preferred conservator in chambers, or six months of voluntary relinquishment of primary care (156.101(a)(2), (3)). Since September 1, 2025, Family Code 156.107 adds contempt for denial of possession where the conservator already has at least three prior contempt findings.
Relocation notice
No relocation statute and no mileage trigger. Family Code 105.006(b) is an address-reporting duty owed at the earlier of 60 days before the change or 5 days after learning of it, running to each party, the rendering court, and the state case registry. It is notification, not permission.
What actually limits a move
The geographic restriction in your individual order. Family Code 153.134(b)(1) requires the court either to establish a geographic area within which the child's primary residence must be maintained, or to specify that the conservator may determine it without regard to geographic location. Family Code 156.103 lets the court reallocate increased expenses a move causes.
Court and forms
The court of continuing, exclusive jurisdiction under Family Code 155.003, institutionally a district or family district court, handling what Texas calls a suit affecting the parent-child relationship. No statewide modification form exists; the approved statewide family sets cover divorce, Chapter 33 judicial bypass, and protective orders only.
Filing fee
$80 by statute under Family Code 110.002(a)(1), raised from a lower figure effective January 1, 2024, with subsection (b) barring any other filing fee for the action. A clerk deposit for expected costs, domestic relations office fees, and $8 per citation for service are separate and locally variable.
Procedural screens
Two, both affidavit based. Family Code 156.102(c) makes the court refuse to schedule a hearing inside the one-year window unless the attached affidavit states adequate facts. Family Code 156.006(b-1) imposes the same deny-and-decline review on a motion for certain temporary orders while the suit is pending.
Child's wishes
Age 12 under Family Code 153.009(a), and the duty is conditional. The interview is mandatory only on application by a party, the amicus attorney, or the attorney ad litem, and subsection (c) provides that interviewing a child does not diminish the court's discretion in determining best interests.
Suggested Compliance Checklist
Pull the settlement agreement and date both triggers
Before you draft anything days after startingFind the rendition date of your order and the signature date of any mediated or collaborative law settlement agreement behind it. Family Code 156.101 and 156.102 both run from the earlier of the two, so a signature months before the order moves your dates. Write both down.
Decide whether Family Code 156.102 reaches your request
Before you draft anything days after startingThe affidavit duty applies only to a suit changing who holds the exclusive right to designate the child's primary residence within that first year. A possession and access change, or a reallocation of other conservatorship rights and duties, is outside it. Attorney review of your petition is available through DocDraft.
Locate the geographic restriction paragraph in your order
Before any planned move days after startingTexas has no statutory mileage trigger, so your limit is whatever Family Code 153.134(b)(1) put in your order: either a named geographic area the child's primary residence must stay inside, or language letting the conservator choose without regard to location. Quote it exactly in your notes.
Draft the petition to modify the parent-child relationship
Once your dates and scope are settled days after startingNo statewide Texas form exists for this, so the pleading is drafted. Identify the order and the specific paragraphs you want changed, plead best interest plus the material and substantial change, and state the facts with dates that postdate the earlier trigger you recorded.
Execute and attach the affidavit if it is required
With the petition, not after days after startingWhere Family Code 156.102 applies, the affidavit must contain supporting facts alleging at least one of the three subsection (b) grounds. It is executed and attached at filing, because the court reviews it on paper and will refuse to schedule a hearing on inadequate facts.
File with the district clerk and pay the statutory fee
As soon as the petition is complete days after startingFile into the court of continuing, exclusive jurisdiction. The fee is $80 under Family Code 110.002(a)(1), and subsection (b) bars any other filing fee, though the clerk may take a deposit for expected costs under subsection (c). Budget separately for citation service.
Have the other party served with citation
Immediately after filing days after startingFamily Code 156.003 entitles a party whose rights and duties may be affected to notice by service of citation, and 156.004 applies the original-lawsuit rules. Emailing the other parent is not service. Keep following the existing order until the court signs a new one.
Report any intended address change on the statutory schedule
60 days before the move, or 5 days after learning of it days after startingFamily Code 105.006(b) requires notice of an intended change of residence address to each other party, the court that rendered the order, and the state case registry, at the earlier of the 60th day before the change or the fifth day after you knew of it.
| Task | Description | Document | Days after starting |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pull the settlement agreement and date both triggers | Find the rendition date of your order and the signature date of any mediated or collaborative law settlement agreement behind it. Family Code 156.101 and 156.102 both run from the earlier of the two, so a signature months before the order moves your dates. Write both down. | - | Before you draft anything |
| Decide whether Family Code 156.102 reaches your request | The affidavit duty applies only to a suit changing who holds the exclusive right to designate the child's primary residence within that first year. A possession and access change, or a reallocation of other conservatorship rights and duties, is outside it. Attorney review of your petition is available through DocDraft. | - | Before you draft anything |
| Locate the geographic restriction paragraph in your order | Texas has no statutory mileage trigger, so your limit is whatever Family Code 153.134(b)(1) put in your order: either a named geographic area the child's primary residence must stay inside, or language letting the conservator choose without regard to location. Quote it exactly in your notes. | - | Before any planned move |
| Draft the petition to modify the parent-child relationship | No statewide Texas form exists for this, so the pleading is drafted. Identify the order and the specific paragraphs you want changed, plead best interest plus the material and substantial change, and state the facts with dates that postdate the earlier trigger you recorded. | - | Once your dates and scope are settled |
| Execute and attach the affidavit if it is required | Where Family Code 156.102 applies, the affidavit must contain supporting facts alleging at least one of the three subsection (b) grounds. It is executed and attached at filing, because the court reviews it on paper and will refuse to schedule a hearing on inadequate facts. | - | With the petition, not after |
| File with the district clerk and pay the statutory fee | File into the court of continuing, exclusive jurisdiction. The fee is $80 under Family Code 110.002(a)(1), and subsection (b) bars any other filing fee, though the clerk may take a deposit for expected costs under subsection (c). Budget separately for citation service. | - | As soon as the petition is complete |
| Have the other party served with citation | Family Code 156.003 entitles a party whose rights and duties may be affected to notice by service of citation, and 156.004 applies the original-lawsuit rules. Emailing the other parent is not service. Keep following the existing order until the court signs a new one. | - | Immediately after filing |
| Report any intended address change on the statutory schedule | Family Code 105.006(b) requires notice of an intended change of residence address to each other party, the court that rendered the order, and the state case registry, at the earlier of the 60th day before the change or the fifth day after you knew of it. | - | 60 days before the move, or 5 days after learning of it |
Frequently Asked Questions
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