Child Conservatorship Video

This video discusses the child conservatorship or parental rights and duties. We’ll also talk about primary and possessory conservators.

Go to the Next Video in the Divorce Seminar Series

If you have children, go on to the next video discussing child visitation or possession and access.

Child Visitation Video

There is a complete list of all the videos in the Divorce Seminar Series Videos at the bottom of the page.

About this Child Conservatorship Video

The first are that you’ll need to address related to children is conservatorship.

The Texas Family Code doesn’t actually give us a definition of what a conservator is, but it’s usually thought of as a person that has certain rights, duties and responsibilities for a child or children.

The state of Texas assumes that there is going to be a Joint Managing Conservatorship. That’s where both parents share the right to make medical and legal decisions for the child, but one parent (who is called the primary conservator) typically has the right to determine where the child lives.

The parent that is most involved in the daily care of the child usually ends up being the primary…but not always. The primary conservator is generally the parent that receives child support and determines where the child lives for purposes of school. The other parent is typically called the possessory conservator.

I want to address a misconception about deciding where the children will live. In Texas, children cannot decide who they want to live with.

They can say who they prefer to live with at age 12 and older, and a court can take their preference into consideration, but it does not mean that the Court is bound by a child’s request.

Remember, the Court will always use the best interest of the child as the standard for making such a decision.