--- name: tx-family-court description: > Use to choose venue and handle filing mechanics for a Texas domestic-relations case — divorce, SAPCR (suit affecting the parent-child relationship), custody (conservatorship) and possession, child support, paternity, modification and enforcement, and family-violence protective orders. CRITICAL: Texas has NO separate family-court trial court — these cases are heard in the DISTRICT COURTS (some populous counties designate family district courts), on the Texas Rules of Civil Procedure. Triggers: "file for divorce in Texas", "Texas SAPCR", "Texas custody case", "Texas family district court", "Texas divorce waiting period", "60-day divorce Texas", "Texas protective order", "family violence Texas", "Texas child support case", "Texas conservatorship", "associate judge Texas family", "Petitioner Respondent divorce Texas". Venue and procedural skill; defers substantive law to `tx-family-law`. version: 0.1.0 --- # Texas Family Court — Family Matters in the District Courts > **NOT LEGAL ADVICE.** Divorce, custody, support, and parentage > outcomes have lasting consequences for children, property, and > finances. Strongly consider consulting a licensed Texas family-law > attorney even on an agreed or "simple" matter. This skill is a > drafting/venue aid; verify the filing county's current local rules > and the controlling statutes and rules before filing. Texas has **no separate, free-standing family trial court**. Domestic-relations matters are heard in the **District Courts** — Texas's general-jurisdiction trial court. Some populous counties **designate family district courts** (District Courts that hear primarily family dockets), and many counties use **associate judges** under **Tex. Fam. Code Ch. 201** to hear family matters subject to de novo review by the referring district judge. This skill covers **where to file and filing mechanics**. For substantive law — divorce grounds, the "just and right" community-property division, conservatorship and possession, the child-support guidelines, spousal maintenance, UCCJEA/UIFSA, and the protective-order overlay — see `tx-family-law`. For document form, see `tx-statewide-format`. ## Procedure is the TRCP Texas family cases run on the **Texas Rules of Civil Procedure (TRCP)** and the **Texas Family Code**, in the District Courts. There is no separate "family rules" set displacing the TRCP; the Family Code supplies the substantive law and certain special procedures (temporary orders, standing orders, mandatory disclosures in family cases), layered on top of the TRCP. Confirm the county's local rules and any **standing orders** that automatically take effect on filing (many counties impose automatic temporary injunctions / standing orders preserving the status quo and protecting children at the moment a divorce or SAPCR is filed) against the corpus and the county. ## What this venue handles | Matter | Heard in the District Court? | |---|---| | Divorce (decree of divorce) | **Yes** (Tex. Fam. Code Ch. 6) | | Property division | Yes — with the divorce ("just and right" division, Ch. 7) | | Spousal maintenance | Yes — with the divorce (Ch. 8) | | SAPCR — conservatorship & possession | **Yes** (Ch. 153) | | Child support and enforcement | **Yes** (Ch. 154 + Ch. 157 enforcement) | | Paternity / parentage | **Yes** (Ch. 160) | | Modification of family orders | **Yes** (Ch. 156) | | Annulment / suit to declare marriage void | **Yes** (Ch. 6) | | **Family-violence protective orders** | **Yes** (Title 4, Ch. 81–88) — distinct procedure (see below) | | UCCJEA / UIFSA jurisdiction | Ch. 152 / Ch. 159 | > **Terminology.** Use **Petitioner** and **Respondent** for the > parties, the **District Court** (or designated family district > court) for the forum, and **decree of divorce** for the dissolving > order. The suit concerning children is a **SAPCR** (Suit Affecting > the Parent-Child Relationship). ## SAPCR intake and standing A **SAPCR** is the vehicle for conservatorship (custody), possession and access (visitation), and child support. SAPCR issues may be brought **within a divorce** (when the parties have children of the marriage) or in a **stand-alone SAPCR** (e.g., between unmarried parents, or by a non-parent with standing). **Standing** to file an original SAPCR is governed by **Tex. Fam. Code Ch. 102** — a parent has standing, and certain non-parents (a person with actual care and control for a statutory period, a grandparent in defined circumstances, etc.) have standing only where the statute confers it. Confirm the standing basis against `tx-family-law` and Ch. 102 before filing; lack of standing is a threshold defect. ## The 60-day divorce waiting period Texas imposes a **statutory waiting period** between filing the divorce petition and the earliest date the court may grant the divorce — generally **60 days** after the petition is filed (subject to narrow family-violence exceptions). Treat this as a framework anchor and **confirm the current period and the exception against `tx-family-law` and the Family Code** (**Tex. Fam. Code § 6.702**) before calendaring. Residency prerequisites also apply (a domicile period in Texas and in the county before filing — confirm against `tx-family-law`, **Tex. Fam. Code § 6.301**). See `tx-deadlines`. ## Family-violence protective orders are a distinct track A **family-violence protective order** under **Title 4 (Tex. Fam. Code Ch. 81–88)** runs on its **own statutory procedure** — its own application, hearing-setting, and findings — even when the same parties have a pending divorce or SAPCR. Coordinate the two cases but do not fold the protective-order application into the divorce/SAPCR petition. Protective-order matters are time-sensitive and often involve safety concerns; encourage prompt consultation with counsel or a local family-violence advocate. The substantive overlay (how a protective order or a history of family violence bears on the best-interest conservatorship analysis) lives in `tx-family-law`; the distinct procedure is flagged here so it is not assumed to follow the ordinary SAPCR path. > Adoption, termination of parental rights, and child-protective (DFPS) > suits are likewise specialized proceedings; confirm the governing > chapter (Ch. 161 termination, Ch. 162 adoption) and any heightened > procedure before treating them as an ordinary family matter. ## Venue and jurisdiction - File in the **District Court** (or designated family district court) of the **county of proper venue.** For divorce, confirm the Texas **residency / domicile** prerequisites (**Tex. Fam. Code § 6.301**); for a SAPCR, confirm venue under **Tex. Fam. Code Ch. 103** (generally the child's county of residence). - If there are minor children, confirm Texas is the child's **home state** under the **UCCJEA (Tex. Fam. Code Ch. 152)** and plead the jurisdictional allegations (`tx-family-law`). - Confirm the county's family-docket assignment, whether the matter is referred to an **associate judge (Ch. 201)**, and the county's automatic standing orders with the venue skill (`tx-hcdc`, `tx-dcdc`, `tx-county-courts`). ## The caption — "In the Matter of the Marriage of" / "In the Interest of" Texas family-case captions conventionally read **In the Matter of the Marriage of [Spouse] and [Spouse]** for a divorce (and, where there are children, add **and In the Interest of [Child(ren)], Child(ren)**), or **In the Interest of [Child(ren)], Child(ren)** for a stand-alone SAPCR. Designate the parties **Petitioner** and **Respondent**. Build the caption in the District Court for the county under `tx-statewide-format` (the **§** divider, the line-numbered pleading paper, the footer, and the TRCP 57 signature block). ## Filing mechanics 1. **Confirm jurisdiction and venue** — District Court of the proper county; divorce residency (**§ 6.301**); SAPCR venue (**Ch. 103**); UCCJEA home-state allegations for children (`tx-family-law`). 2. **Prepare the initiating documents** — the **Original Petition for Divorce** (or Original SAPCR / Petition to Establish Parentage), stating the statutory ground (no-fault **insupportability**, **Tex. Fam. Code § 6.001**, and/or a fault ground), the conservatorship / possession and support requests for children, and the property allegations. Use `tx-statewide-format` for the caption and form, and `tx-draft-motion` / `tx-draft-declaration` / `tx-draft-order` for the documents. 3. **Check for automatic standing orders** — many counties impose an automatic temporary injunction / standing order on filing. Determine whether the county has one and attach/serve it as the local rule requires. 4. **Use TexasLawHelp.org / Texas Supreme Court forms** — self-represented filers can prepare Texas's official, court- approved family-law forms (uncontested divorce with/without children, SAPCR, modification) through **TexasLawHelp.org** and the guided-filing tools, which assemble the petition and supporting forms for filing through eFileTexas. Confirm the current packet and that the county accepts it. 5. **File and pay (or waive) the fee** — with the District Clerk; a **Statement of Inability to Afford Payment of Court Costs** may be available for qualifying self-represented filers. Confirm the county's filing fee and the eFileTexas path for the case type (`tx-file-packet`, and the venue skill). 6. **Serve** the petition and any citation under the applicable service rule; the **Original Answer / response** window follows the TRCP (the **TRCP 99 "Monday rule"** answer deadline) — `tx-first-30-days`. 7. **Waiting period and disclosures** — track the **60-day** divorce waiting period tied to **§ 6.702** (confirm the current figure — `tx-family-law`, `tx-deadlines`) and exchange the mandatory family-case disclosures. ## Self-represented (pro se) family intake - Texas provides extensive **TexasLawHelp.org** resources and court-approved form packets for family matters, plus guided-filing tools that assemble the petition and supporting forms for filing through eFileTexas. Confirm the current packet and the county's acceptance. - Designate the filer clearly as self-represented in the signature block (no State Bar of Texas number) — see `tx-pro-se`. - Clerks and self-help-center staff explain **procedure**, not legal advice. Encourage consultation with a licensed Texas family-law attorney where there are minor children, retirement assets, real property, a business, safety concerns, or any disputed issue. ## Composition - For substantive law (divorce grounds, community-property classification and the "just and right" division, spousal maintenance eligibility and caps, the Ch. 153 conservatorship and Standard Possession Order, the Ch. 154 child-support guideline percentages and the net-resources cap, modification, UCCJEA/UIFSA, and the protective-order substantive overlay): `tx-family-law` - For document format and the Texas caption: `tx-statewide-format` - For the specific county / clerk / family-docket assignment and e-filing: `tx-hcdc`, `tx-dcdc`, `tx-county-courts` - For pro se conventions and TexasLawHelp forms: `tx-pro-se` - For the response and the TRCP 99 "Monday rule": `tx-first-30-days` - For deadlines, the waiting period, and time computation: `tx-deadlines` - For drafting the petition / response / motion: `tx-draft-motion` - For sworn declarations / financial affidavits / unsworn declarations (Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 132.001): `tx-draft-declaration` - For the proposed decree / order: `tx-draft-order`, `tx-submit-order` - For assembling and preflighting the filing packet: `tx-file-packet` - For scheduling and hearings: `tx-schedule-hearing`, `tx-hearings` - For citation verification: `tx-fact-check` ## References - `../tx-law-references/references/court-rules/` — the TRCP and Texas Rules of Evidence for cross-reference, plus county local-rules and standing-order pointers - `../tx-law-references/references/tx-statutes-debt/` and the Texas Family Code corpus — the substantive family statutes invoked in the petition (Ch. 6, 7, 8, 102, 103, 152, 153, 154, 156, 157, 159, 160, and Title 4 protective orders), cross-referenced from `tx-family-law`