Plano Child Custody Lawyer

Custody Help for Plano Parents

When a custody question is unsettled, every school pickup and holiday can feel uncertain. Pfister Family Law represents Plano mothers and fathers in custody cases from our Frisco office at 5300 Town and Country Blvd, Suite 110, a short drive up the Dallas North Tollway. We handle custody as part of a divorce, between parents who never married, and years after a decree when an old order stops fitting the family. Call 972-712-6700 and we will start with your children's routine, not a legal form.

What Custody Means in Texas

Texas law does not use the word custody. It uses conservatorship for the rights and duties to make decisions for a child, and possession and access for the schedule of when each parent has the child. Texas law presumes that naming both parents joint managing conservators is in the child's best interest, though that presumption can be overcome, for example by a history of family violence. Joint conservatorship does not automatically mean equal time. One parent often has the right to designate the child's primary residence, and the schedule is decided separately. Our Texas child custody guide explains these terms in more detail.

Schedules for Busy Plano Families

Many Plano parents work long days in the Legacy business area, commute on the Tollway, US 75 or the Bush Turnpike, or travel often for work. Their children may be in Plano ISD or a neighboring district, with sports, music and activities filling the week. The standard possession order is a starting point, not a requirement, and parents can agree to a schedule that fits their family. We help Plano parents plan school-year weekdays, holidays, spring break and the summer weeks that often cause the most disagreement. Our post on summer possession schedules covers that piece.

Which Court Hears a Plano Custody Case

Most of Plano is in Collin County, where family cases are heard in McKinney, but a small part of the city is in Denton County, where cases are heard in Denton. For a first custody case, the right county generally depends on where the child has lived. Once a court has issued custody orders, later changes usually go back to that same court, even if one parent has since moved. We confirm which court has your case before anything is filed.

Child Support and Higher Incomes

Child support in Texas is usually calculated from the paying parent's net resources using statutory guidelines, with adjustments for the number of children. The guidelines apply up to a cap on net resources, and a court can order more above that cap based on the child's proven needs. Plano parents with bonuses, commissions, stock awards or business income often need a careful look at what counts as income. See our child support page and our post on the child support income cap.

Relocation and Changing Orders

Job offers and family needs sometimes mean a move, and many Texas custody orders limit where the child's primary residence can be. If you want to relocate, or the other parent does, the order and the child's best interest control what happens next. More broadly, a custody order can be modified when circumstances have materially and substantially changed and the change is in the child's best interest. We handle modifications and, when the other parent will not follow the order, enforcement.

Who Handles Your Case

John J. Pfister Jr., the firm's founder, is board-certified in family law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization. Jacob Jeffries is also board-certified in family law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization. Associate attorney Dakota Mayr works alongside them. Many custody cases resolve through negotiation or mediation, and we go to court when that is what your children need.

Talk With a Plano Child Custody Lawyer

Call 972-712-6700 to schedule a confidential consultation at our Frisco office, by appointment at our Prosper office, or by video. Learn more on our child custody page, our Plano family lawyer page, or our Collin County page.