It is natural for parents who have ended their romantic relationship with one another to see things differently. Disagreements are so common that custody orders are necessary. Parents who now live separately despite having minor children together will typically have to either make their own arrangements for parenting plan and then submit paperwork to the courts or litigate and ask a judge to divide both time with the children and authority over them.
Judges expect that people will abide by the terms of a custody order once it is on record, and state law requires that parents cooperate with one another, including communicating honestly about the children and doing their best to uphold the established parenting schedule. Unfortunately, there are always bad actors who won’t abide by those requirements.
If the other parent won’t let you take the children during your scheduled parenting time, how can you protect your relationship with your children despite their interference?
You need proof of non-compliance
In order to take any sort of meaningful action, you will need evidence that will hold up in the Texas family courts showing that the other parent has repeatedly interfered in your attempts to spend time with the children. Although it may be inconvenient to do so, that means you will typically have to arrive for scheduled visits even when they tell you ahead of time that they will not let the children go with you.
Only when you make an earnest attempt to assert your parenting rights and get denied anyway can you then document the situation and ask the courts to enforce your rights.
You can file a motion requesting custody enforcement
Texas family law judges do not like to see one parent intentionally trying to prevent the other from spending time with the child or knowingly violating a custody order. The more documentation you have, the easier it will be to show a pattern of behavior to the judge that has disrupted your relationship with the children and violated the terms of the custody order.
A judge can use that information to formally warn the other parent and advise them on how they must resolve the matter, frequently by adhering to the parenting plan and possibly by granting you make-up parenting time.
If the willful interference in your parenting time continues, you can then present the records of those ongoing custody violations to the courts in the hopes of securing a custody modification. When one parent proves unwilling to put the children first and follow Texas law, they may put their parenting time at risk.
Understanding how to overcome challenges in your co-parenting arrangements will protect your relationship with your children.