In Texas parents have a couple options to modify their possession and access agreements or just possession and access order. The number one way that you can do that is certainly by agreement. If you and your ex agree to modify a possession and access schedule to either give you more time, hopefully, more time, then you can always do that by agreement.

Another way and this kind of broad term that we look for in the family law community is a material and substantial change in circumstances. And what that looks like is something that has fundamentally changed for that either a parent or for the child that results in you being entitled to modify the possession and access schedule. A lot of times this can be a move, it can be a new child, there’s a lot of different things that meet that definition and I would highly advise anybody to go and meet with an attorney and talk through those changes when they’re determining whether or not its proper to modify their possession agreement.

The other time when you might be able to modify the agreement is when your child turns 12. When a child is 12, they get to a magic number where they’re permitted to talk to the court in chambers. And sometimes the court will take that child’s impression and take that into consideration in making a possession modification. But obviously, that’s going to depend on the maturity of the child and whether the parent feels that it’s necessary for the child to meet with the court.