"Family life is full of major and minor crises -- the ups and downs of health, success and failure in career, marriage, and divorce -- and all kinds of characters. It is tied to places and events and histories. With all of these felt details, life etches itself into memory and personality. It's difficult to imagine anything more nourishing to the soul."

~Thomas Moore

MY (EX)SPOUSE IS KEEPING THE CHILDREN FROM ME WHAT DO I DO?

Contact a lawyer immediately!  Immediate action should be taken to address this very serious situation. Begin keeping records of every time your (ex)spouse denies you access to the children, especially if there is a Court Order stating that you are to have the children during certain times. 

MY (EX)SPOUSE SAYS THAT BECAUSE I DIDN'T PAY CHILD SUPPORT THIS MONTH I CAN'T SEE THE CHILDREN, IS THAT TRUE?

No.  It is important to remember that the obligation to pay child support and the obligation to allow visitation are separate and distinct from one another.  Failure to pay child support does not create a right to stop visitation.

SINCE MY (EX)SPOUSE IS REFUSING TO LET ME VISIT WITH THE CHILDREN, CAN'T I STOP PAYING CHILD SUPPORT?

No. Again the obligation to pay child support and the obligation to allow visitation are separate and distinct from one another.  Failure to allow someone visitation does not permit the other party to stop paying child support.

WHAT RIGHTS DO GRANDPARENT'S HAVE TO SEE THEIR GRANDKIDS?

In June, 2000, the U.S. Supreme Court in Troxel v. Granville, in one of its rare decisions in the Family Law area, reshaped the definition of family by determining who has the power to control possession of minor children. The decision has been hailed as a victory for parents rights and a defeat for grandparents rights. 

In Troxel, the surviving parent of a child objected, not to the parental grandparents having possession of the grandkids, but to the amount of time of possession. The case, procedurally, affirmed the Washington Supreme Court's overturning of its non-parent possession statute, which was called "breathtakingly broad", by the U.S. Supreme Court. In essence, the U.S. Supreme Court indicated that it disapproves of an extremely broad statute that allows any person-including any person from off the street-from being able to have standing to come into Court and force a parent to show a judge that it is not in the child's best interest for this third party to have possession rights. The U.S. Supreme Court noted that all fifty states have grandparent possession statutes and was unwilling to extend this Troxel ruling beyond the, again, "breathtakingly broad" Washington statute.

The Texas Family Code provisions for third party access are narrow, and therefore should not suffer the same sweeping judgment as the Washington statute. Challenges to existing Orders will most likely continue to be on a material change of condition standard with the Court, once it is satisfied that there is standing for the suit to proceed. The Question for the Court to answer: "Is it in the best interest of the child for 'X' to have possession time of the child?" (Where 'X' being the third party, generally a grandparent, but could be another person with whom the child is actually resided for an extended period of time). 

Anthony Veader is an attorney, mediator and counselor servicing Denton, Dallas and Collin counties which cities include: Allen, Celina, Fairview, Farmersville, Frisco, Lavon, Lucas, McKinney, Melissa, Murphy, Plano, Princeton, Prosper, Richardson, Aubrey, Carrollton, Corinth, Denton, Flower Mound, Highland Village, Justin, Krum, Lake Dallas, Lewisville, Little Elm, Pilot Point, Ponder, Sanger, The Colony, Addison, Cedar Hill, Coppell, Dallas, DeSoto, Duncanville, Farmers Branch, Garland, Grand Prairie, Irving, Mesquite, Rowlett,  Seagoville, Wylie.  The Law Office of Anthony Veader, P.C. handles matters including, but not limited to divorce, modifications, child support, child custody, visitation, access, domestic abuse, military divorces, annulments, restraining orders, protective orders, paternity, Divorce Decree Enforcement and Divorce Decree Violations, Relocation and Travel Issues, Name Changes, Common Law Marriages, CPS Cases, AG Cases and IV-D Court Cases.

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