2023 Texas Statutes › Family Code › Title 5 - The Parent-Child Relationship and the Suit Affecting the Parent-Child Relationship › Subtitle B - Suits Affecting the Parent-Child Relationship › Chapter 153 - Conservatorship, Possession, and Access › Subchapter F. Standard Possession Order › Section 153.316. General Terms and Conditions

Sec. 153.316.  GENERAL TERMS AND CONDITIONS.  The court shall order the following general terms and conditions of possession of a child to apply without regard to the distance between the residence of a parent and the child:
(1)  the managing conservator shall surrender the child to the possessory conservator at the beginning of each period of the possessory conservator's possession at the residence of the managing conservator;
(2)  if the possessory conservator elects to begin a period of possession at the time the child's school is regularly dismissed, the managing conservator shall surrender the child to the possessory conservator at the beginning of each period of possession at the school in which the child is enrolled;
(3)  the possessory conservator shall be ordered to do one of the following:
(A)  the possessory conservator shall surrender the child to the managing conservator at the end of each period of possession at the residence of the possessory conservator; or
(B)  the possessory conservator shall return the child to the residence of the managing conservator at the end of each period of possession, except that the order shall provide that the possessory conservator shall surrender the child to the managing conservator at the end of each period of possession at the residence of the possessory conservator if:
(i)  at the time the original order or a modification of an order establishing terms and conditions of possession or access the possessory conservator and the managing conservator lived in the same county, the possessory conservator's county of residence remains the same after the rendition of the order, and the managing conservator's county of residence changes, effective on the date of the change of residence by the managing conservator; or
(ii)  the possessory conservator and managing conservator lived in the same residence at any time during a six-month period preceding the date on which a suit for dissolution of the marriage was filed and the possessory conservator's county of residence remains the same and the managing conservator's county of residence changes after they no longer live in the same residence, effective on the date the order is rendered;
(4)  if the possessory conservator elects to end a period of possession at the time the child's school resumes, the possessory conservator shall surrender the child to the managing conservator at the end of each period of possession at the school in which the child is enrolled;
(5)  each conservator shall return with the child the personal effects that the child brought at the beginning of the period of possession;
(6)  either parent may designate a competent adult to pick up and return the child, as applicable;  a parent or a designated competent adult shall be present when the child is picked up or returned;
(7)  a parent shall give notice to the person in possession of the child on each occasion that the parent will be unable to exercise that parent's right of possession for a specified period;
(8)  written notice, including notice provided by electronic mail or facsimile, shall be deemed to have been timely made if received or, if applicable, postmarked before or at the time that notice is due; and
(9)  if a conservator's time of possession of a child ends at the time school resumes and for any reason the child is not or will not be returned to school, the conservator in possession of the child shall immediately notify the school and the other conservator that the child will not be or has not been returned to school.
Added by Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 20, Sec. 1, eff. April 20, 1995.  Amended by Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 751, Sec. 37, eff. Sept. 1, 1995;  Acts 1997, 75th Leg., ch. 9, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1997.
Amended by:
Acts 2013, 83rd Leg., R.S., Ch. 277 (H.B. 845), Sec. 1, eff. September 1, 2013.