What are the general rules regarding my possession and custody during this pandemic?
The Texas Supreme Court has let us know what they expect of parents when it comes to custody orders during shelter-in-place.
In Texas, what are the general rules to follow regarding my possession or custody order during this pandemic?
First off, lets cover the general rules aka “orders” that apply to all pending family law cases in Texas right now. Those are governed by the Texas Supreme Court, the highest court in our land for civil (non-criminal) cases.
The Texas Supreme Court has issued eight (and they’re still going as this thing evolves) orders regarding how the courts are to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic. Not all apply to family law cases, so they may appear out of order here. If I’ve left anything off, please go to http://www.txcourts.gov/supreme/news/texas-supreme-court-coronavirus-update/ remember, this isn’t legal advice, just a blog to help you figure this out (like the rest of us).
Right away the Texas Supreme Court issued their 1st order, which allowed judges to conduct hearings via webcam, teleconference, etc., and added that the statute of limitations “may” be extended by 30 days. (This resulted in a major whiplash, as every attorney in Texas wondered whether they could get out of their discovery deadlines, since it was a “may” and not a mandate. Quickly realizing their error – since lawyers are used to being told what to do - the Supremes issued an 8th Order , which tolled the deadline for filing or service in civil cases from March 13, until June 1, 2020. Frankly, a huge win for procrastinators).
Moving on to family law, and what probably applies to your case…
On March 17th, the Texas Supreme Court issued the 2nd Order, right in time for school closings. It basically said that despite the shut-down of schools, people were still required to follow their custody schedules and act as if school was taking place. In other words, return the dang kid to the other parent.
Then, on March 24th, just in time for the end of Spring Break possession, after several cities issued stay-at-home or shelter-in-place orders, they issued the 7th order. (The 3rd – 6th orders, don’t apply to family law, but again, if you want to read them, click on the link above). In the words of the Austin Bar Association flash email,
“Texas Supreme Court clarifies that the Stay-Home orders do not impact child custody order. For clients wondering whether their possession and access schedules still apply, the Texas Supreme Court has clarified this issue. According to Texas Supreme Court Justice Lehrmann: ‘There was confusion about whether the stay-at-home order trumped or whether the court order trumped. We issued another clarification that the custody order is the one that governs the situation.’ See Seventh Emergency Order Regarding the Covid-19 State of Disaster.”
If you listened closely, you could hear every family lawyer in Texas breathe a unanimous sigh of relief. We had been fielding calls on that exact question since shelter-in-place-orders became a thing.
So, those are the two general orders that cover all family law cases in Texas – so far.
To read them all, click here
http://www.txcourts.gov/supreme/news/texas-supreme-court-coronavirus-update/
-M
