Your divorce settlement or the order entered by a judge after litigation explains how you should divide your property, share parental responsibility and support your children or your ex. The Texas family courts typically expect you to abide by a custody order or support order unless major factors in your circumstances change after the divorce.
While you may do your best to share custody or the financial responsibilities that come from having children with your ex, the other parent may not be as cooperative and diligent. When can you expect the Texas courts to assist you with enforcement efforts related to shared custody or support orders?
When you can’t get time with your children
Sometimes, one parent starts interfering in the relationship that the other has with their shared children. They might cancel visitation, schedule doctors’ appointments during their exes time or even claim that the kids don’t want to spend time with the other parents. Other times, it may be a gradual shift in the children’s schedule that causes one parent to deny the other an appropriate amount of time with the kids.
If you can’t get your ex to stop decreasing your parenting time or to allow you make-up time when they canceled, then you may need to go to court and ask for help getting access to your children. The Texas Courts frown on one parent trying to prevent the other from parenting their children and may not only give you make up time but may also award you a bigger overall share of parenting time because of the other parent’s misconduct.
When someone actively seeks to avoid their obligations
Did your ex quit a job with a six-figure salary to take a job as a minimum-wage cashier? Have they left a full-time job and started working under the table, receiving cash payments instead of a regular paycheck?
When someone has intentionally tried to avoid child support obligations or has fallen into arrears, the Texas family courts can help with enforcement actions that include wage garnishments, license suspensions and bench warrants for someone’s non-compliance with a court order.
Provided that you have documentation showing there are issues with your access to the children or your ex’s payments of support, you may be able to ask the court for enforcement efforts as a parent sharing custody in Texas.