Texas Custody and Domestic Violence: How Family Violence Affects Your Case

Family violence changes everything about a Texas custody case. The default presumptions — joint conservatorship, standard possession schedules, shared decision-making — are all stripped away when credible evidence of abuse, neglect, or violence is presented. If you're in this situation, understanding the specific legal protections is critical to protecting yourself and your children.

How Domestic Violence Overrides the Default Presumptions

Under Texas Family Code Section 153.004, when credible evidence shows a history or pattern of physical abuse, sexual abuse, or family violence:

• The Joint Managing Conservatorship presumption is eliminated. The court cannot appoint both parents as JMCs if one parent has a credible history of family violence.
• There's a rebuttable presumption against appointing the violent parent as the conservator with primary residence rights. The burden shifts to the violent parent to prove that the arrangement would be in the child's best interest.
• Unsupervised possession is presumed not to be in the child's best interest. The violent parent must overcome this presumption to receive unsupervised time.
• The court may deny access entirely if family violence occurred within the preceding two years, unless specific safety conditions are met.

The evidentiary standard is a preponderance of the evidence — meaning it's more likely than not that family violence occurred. This is a lower bar than criminal court's "beyond a reasonable doubt."

Protective Orders and Their Impact

A protective order (sometimes called a restraining order) is a court order prohibiting a person from committing family violence, threatening, harassing, or going near the protected person and their children. In custody proceedings, an active protective order:

• Serves as strong evidence of family violence for the Holley v. Adams best-interest analysis
• Typically results in supervised visitation for the restricted parent
• May restrict the violent parent's access to the child's school, daycare, and medical providers
• Can include provisions about firearms possession (federal law prohibits firearm possession by someone subject to a qualifying protective order)

A protective order is a separate legal proceeding from the custody case, but the two interact directly. If you have a protective order, bring a certified copy to every custody hearing.

Supervised Visitation Requirements

When the court finds that unsupervised access is not in the child's best interest due to family violence, it orders supervised visitation with specific conditions:

• Supervision must be continuous — the supervising adult must be present at all times during the visit
• The supervisor must be court-approved — either a neutral professional supervisor, a supervised visitation center, or a specific individual approved by the court
• Exchanges must occur in protective settings — police stations, supervised visitation centers, or public locations
• Sobriety must be maintained — no alcohol or drugs before or during the visit
• The violent parent may be required to complete a certified Battering Intervention and Prevention Program (BIPP) before any access is restored

Drug Testing in Custody Cases

Courts order drug testing when there's evidence of substance abuse affecting the child's safety. Drug testing can be:

• Court-ordered at any point during the case, often as part of temporary orders
• Random or scheduled — random testing is more common because it's harder to manipulate
• Hair follicle, urine, or blood — hair follicle tests detect use over a longer period (up to 90 days)
• Tied to possession conditions — the court may require a clean test before each visit, or order testing at the request of either parent

A positive drug test significantly strengthens the case for supervised visitation, reduced possession time, or — in severe cases — denial of access.

What to Document

If you're experiencing family violence and preparing for a custody case:

• Police reports — every incident should be reported, even if no arrest is made
• Medical records — emergency room visits, photographs of injuries, doctor's notes
• Text messages and emails — threatening or controlling communications
• Witness statements — neighbors, family members, teachers, or counselors who observed concerning behavior
• Protective order records — the petition, hearing transcript, and final order
• CPS records — any investigations or findings involving the other parent

Mediation Restrictions

Texas law recognizes that mediation is inappropriate when there's an active history of domestic violence. Under these circumstances, the court must waive the mediation requirement entirely. Requiring a DV victim to negotiate face-to-face with their abuser undermines the safety protections the law is designed to provide.

If you've been ordered to mediation despite a protective order or documented DV history, bring this to the judge's attention immediately.

The Texas Child Custody & Parenting Plan Guide addresses family violence protections throughout the custody process, including how DV affects conservatorship designations, the evidence you'll need to present, and how supervised visitation and safety provisions work in practice.

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