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The court may modify an order that sets the terms and conditions for possession of or access to a child or that prescribes the relative rights and duties of conservators when any one of the following tests is met:
- The circumstances of the child or a person affected by the order or decree have materially and substantially changed since the date of the rendition of the order or decree.
- The order or decree has become unworkable or inappropriate under existing circumstances.
- The notice of change of a conservator's residence required by Family Code Section 105.007 was not given or there was a change in a conservator's residence to a place outside Texas.
- A conservator has repeatedly failed to give notice of an inability to exercise possessory rights
- A conservator has had a significant history of alcohol or drug abuse since the date the order was rendered
Modification must be in child's best interest.
In addition to establishing one of the above alternatives, the petitioner must also show that the proposed modification is in the child's best interest.
Types of modification available.
Among the types of possible modification are:
- The appointment or removal of a possessory conservator or a person who is not a possessory conservator but who has or desires rights regarding possession of or access to the child.
- Changes in the specific terms and conditions of the periods of possession of or access to a child given to the managing or possessory conservator or to another person with or seeking rights to the child (that is, visitation periods).
- Changes in the specific terms and conditions of the rights and duties of a managing or possessory conservator or persons with the right of possession of or access to the child (that is, terms of conservatorship). A modification of the terms of conservatorship may include, for example, modifying a prior order to allow a conservator to take the child outside the court's jurisdiction.
Modification for SPO election.
Once a standard possession order has been rendered, a possessory conservator who wishes to make a different election regarding visitation must first meet one of the statutory criteria for modification. Although a possessory conservator may make certain elections as a matter of right when an original standard possession order is rendered, an election in a modification proceeding is not available unless the possessory conservator is entitled to modification under Family Code Section 156.301.
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