El Paso Local Area Business Talk
El Paso Local Area Business Talk
Need to Modify an Existing Child Custody Order? Laine Law Firm, PLLC Explains the process
Child Custody & Support Modifications in Texas – What Every Parent Should Know
In this episode of El Paso Local Area Business Talk, we dive deep into family law with Abby from Laine Law Firm, a family law attorney based in El Paso, Texas. Host David leads the conversation around a common but complex issue: modifying child custody or support agreements after a court order has already been finalized.
🔍 What You’ll Learn in This Episode:
📝 What Is a Modification?
Abby explains that when a parent wants to change an existing court order—such as requesting additional summer visitation, passport rights, or travel permissions—that action is referred to legally as a modification of the original custody or visitation order.
But not just any change qualifies. The court requires a “material and substantial change in circumstances” before granting any updates. This keeps parents from frequently revisiting court over minor disagreements.
✈️ Can You Take Your Child Overseas if It’s Not in the Agreement?
David poses a scenario: what if a parent wants to take their child on a summer trip to Europe, but international travel wasn’t included in the original agreement?
Abby clarifies that if the other parent has exclusive rights to the child’s passport, the requesting parent may need to petition the court to share that right. Courts will consider if the custodial parent is unreasonably withholding permission and may modify the order to allow joint rights—especially if the trip is in the child’s best interest.
💸 Will Child Support Change If Custody Changes?
Abby gives a reality check: filing a modification opens the door for child support to be re-evaluated, especially if it’s been three years since the last court order.
If the parent requesting changes has had a significant increase in income, they could end up paying more child support. Child support in Texas is typically 20% of the paying parent’s income for one child, and courts stick closely to this calculation.
Even if you’re paying for a child's travel or summer expenses, judges generally won’t adjust support just for that period. The support amount remains based on income, regardless of temporary custody arrangements or generosity.
⏳ When Does Child Support End?
A frequently asked question: Does child support end at age 18?
The answer: Whichever comes later—when the child turns 18 or graduates high school. So if a child is still in school at 18, support continues until graduation.
👩⚖️ What’s the Process to Modify a Custody or Support Agreement?
Abby outlines the process:
Initial consultation to assess if there’s a valid reason to request modification.
Filing a petition with the court.
Requesting temporary orders if urgent action is needed.
Proceeding to a final hearing if the matter is contested.
The timeline? Usually a few months, but it could take longer if the other parent fights the changes. Multiple hearings and attorney negotiations may follow.
📍 Firm Details: Laine Law Firm, PLLC
📞 Phone: (915) 200-4316
🌐 Website: www.lainelawfirm.com
🏢 Address: 700 North Stanton, El Paso, TX
Located off I-10 in West El Paso with a beautiful office and friendly staff.
💬 Final Thoughts:
Whether you're a parent looking to take your child on a special trip, facing issues getting cooperation from a co-parent, or feeling like your previous agreement didn’t serve your child’s best interests, this episode delivers key information on how to navigate Texas family law.
📢 Don’t miss this episode if you're dealing with custody, visitation, or support issues. Legal advice could save you stress, money, and most importantly—help ensure the best for your
All right. Well, Abby, thank you so much for your time. I did want to dive into one more subject of it, kind of dovetail from the child support stuff we were talking about. Like what happens when, you know, everything's been laid out and the court has ordered exactly how the agreement was made. But let's say one year I want to take my kid for maybe winning something or graduating something or whatever. I want to take them to Europe for the summer. And obviously the agreement doesn't allow me to do that. What would you recommend in a case like that to do a modification? What is it exactly called?
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, you would be modifying your existing order. So you'd be modifying the visitation portion only. Like for that situation when you're modifying, it's usually because there's a material change in circumstances that would warrant a change in the order. Okay. Because the court doesn't want parents going back to court every month or two or every year. So you have to show first that there's been a substantial change, and then you can ask for that modified order.
SPEAKER_01:Okay, cool. So I guess this would be a child custody modification, basically. What would you call that?
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, so in the scenario you gave me, I think that would just be a modification. just straight modification but I don't know if it'd be worth it more so when you get a modification of your existing order it's because one parent wants more time with the child that they weren't granted originally or they want different rights a lot of times what we see is maybe you need to get a passport for your child like you need to get a passport to go to your in your situation and the other parent is not agreeing and they're not allowing you to do that And then in your original order, it gave mom exclusive right to maintain the passport. So then you would go back to the court and say, there's been a change in circumstance because the mother is not being reasonable in her exclusive rights for the passport. And that needs to be shared equally by the parents so that I can take my son to Europe.
SPEAKER_01:Okay. So you're going to do a three-month summer Euro trip with your kids. When you do that modification, is it going to also modify the child support payments if you're the majority payer, let's say?
SPEAKER_00:Well, that's something you would need to think about when you want to file your modification because most likely the mom's going to hire an attorney and the attorney's going to tell her, well, now it's been three years since the last order, so you should see if you should be getting paid more child support. So it's kind of one of the factors that we would talk about to see if it's worth it or if there's any other avenues you could do instead of
SPEAKER_01:that. Oh, you're saying if the spouse has an increase in income, you can... Yeah, that makes sense.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, you go back and ask for more. So if it's one child, it's 20% of your income as your child support amount. And so in year one, you earned$100,000, your child support's X amount, and then now you're earning$200,000, your child support's going to go up significantly if you go back to court.
SPEAKER_01:Okay, well, I'm thinking also, let's say the kid's in high school and they graduate at 17. It's 18 years? Is that what child support is? It's 18 years?
SPEAKER_00:It goes up to 18 years or when they graduate from high school, whichever happens last. Whichever happens last. She's 17 and she graduated from high school. Or she's not graduated yet. I forgot what
SPEAKER_01:you said. That's okay. They're 17 years old. So I'm paying child support until when?
SPEAKER_00:Until that child is 18? or graduates from high school.
SPEAKER_01:Okay. So if they're 18 and still in high school, I'm paying child
SPEAKER_00:support? Until they finish high school, yep.
SPEAKER_01:Gotcha. So if they're 17 and I want to take them on a Europe trip for the summer, does it behoove me to try to modify the child support agreement? Like, let's say, because it's three months, I'm completely supporting the child for those three months. Would it behoove me to... Ask a judge to give me a little bit of a preview, especially because it's so close to the end of the payment agreement.
SPEAKER_00:So the judges really don't have discretion in that. It's really black and white. So they just look at, this is your income. This is the percentage that's going to apply.
SPEAKER_01:No matter what.
SPEAKER_00:No
SPEAKER_01:matter what. So you just hope maybe your spouse is nice enough to say, hey, you don't have to send me money. You must just pay that.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:Okay, cool. So let's say when you do want to do this agreement, modification for the children. I'm going to come to your office. I've never met you before. I'm like, look, my last lawyer screwed me over. It was over there on Yandel and can't even find the office anymore. It's all dusty. Unlike your beautiful office here on I-10, part of El Paso, west side. I'm coming to you and I got a bad deal, or at least I think I feel like I got a bad deal. I'm coming to you. I want you to modify the agreement. when it comes to my children. What would be the first step? And then give me a timeline of how long it would take.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, so the first step would be me talking with you and figuring out your situation and trying to determine if you would qualify for a modification, if there has been a substantial change in circumstance. And then at that point, we would file the modification and ask for either a temporary hearing based on your needs are, what the needs are, and then the final after that.
SPEAKER_01:Cool. And how long does that usually take, like a turnaround time?
SPEAKER_00:A few months.
SPEAKER_01:Okay. If the opposing party's contesting it, does that drag out the process a lot more?
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, definitely.
SPEAKER_01:So it could be multiple hearings or multiple back and forths?
SPEAKER_00:Exactly.
SPEAKER_01:For that. Right. Okay, well, this should close out the podcast portion of our interview and stuff like that. I just want to thank you for your time, and this is a beautiful office. Can you go ahead and just tell everybody your contact information, where you're at, phone number, website?
SPEAKER_00:Okay, yeah, so you can reach us at 915-200-4316 or lanelawfirm.com.
SPEAKER_01:Okay, and it's over here. What's the address?
SPEAKER_00:700 North Stanton. El Paso, Texas.
SPEAKER_01:Awesome. And it really is a beautiful office. I'm looking at the freeway, the interstate I-10 right here. It's such a convenient location. And I recommend anybody that has family law issues to give this law firm a call. They got a great staff. It's not just this amazing lawyer. They got an amazing staff that I got to meet. And yeah, give them a shout out if you need anything in family law. But thank you so much, Abby. Thank you. It's nice to talk to you.
SPEAKER_00:Have a good day. Nice to talk to you too.