How to Get Custody of a Grandchild in Texas

You've been raising your grandchild for months — handling school, doctor visits, bedtime — and now you need the court order to match what's already happening. Texas does provide a legal path, but it requires meeting specific standing rules before a judge will hear your case.

The Legal Vehicle: SAPCR for Managing Conservatorship

In Texas, "custody" for a grandparent means filing a Suit Affecting the Parent-Child Relationship (SAPCR) and asking the court to appoint you as the child's managing conservator. This gives you the legal right to determine where the child lives, consent to medical treatment, make educational decisions, and handle day-to-day parenting.

You file in district or family district court. For an initial Texas custody determination, Texas generally must be the child's home state: the child must have lived in Texas with a parent or person acting as a parent for at least six consecutive months immediately before filing. The petition uses Form FM-SAPCR-100, available free through TexasLawHelp.org.

Standing: The Gate You Must Pass First

A Texas court will not consider your case unless you prove you have the legal right to file. HB 2350 (effective September 1, 2025) updated the standing rules, so older guides may be out of date. The current options:

Option A — Six months of exclusive care (§102.003(a)(9)). If you have had exclusive care, control, and possession of the child for at least six months, and that period ended no more than 90 days before filing, you have standing regardless of your blood relationship. The key word is "exclusive" — HB 2350 changed this from "actual" care. If the parent was still living in the home and sharing parenting duties during that period, this path may not work.

Option B — Relative within the fourth degree of consanguinity (§102.004(a)). HB 2350 expanded this from the third degree to the fourth, so grandparents, great-grandparents, aunts, uncles, first cousins, and great-aunts/great-uncles all qualify. But blood relationship alone isn't enough — you must also show one of these: both parents are deceased, both parents (or the surviving parent) consent to you filing, or the child's present environment would significantly impair the child's physical health or emotional development.

Option C — Intervention in a pending case (§102.004(b)). If there is already an open SAPCR — a divorce, a CPS case, or another custody dispute — you can ask the court for permission to intervene. You need to show substantial past contact with the child plus evidence that the parents as managing conservators would significantly impair the child.

The Threshold Affidavit (SB 2052)

Starting September 1, 2025, a nonparent filing an original or modification SAPCR seeking managing conservatorship must attach a sworn affidavit to the petition. The affidavit has to state specific facts — not conclusions — showing that leaving the child with the parent (or denying you conservatorship) would significantly impair the child's physical health or emotional development.

If the court finds the affidavit legally insufficient, your case gets dismissed before you ever see a courtroom. This is the fit-parent presumption in action: the law assumes parents act in their child's best interest unless you prove otherwise with clear and convincing evidence.

Prepare the affidavit carefully. Document dates, incidents, and consequences — medical records, school attendance records, DFPS reports, police reports, witness statements.

The Filing and Service Process

Once your petition and affidavit are ready:

1. File with the district clerk in the correct county. New SAPCR filing fees range from $280–$320 in representative rural counties, $350–$365 in Harris County, and $350–$401 in Dallas and Bexar counties. If you cannot afford the fees, file Form CB-CFFW-100 (Statement of Inability to Afford Payment of Court Costs) to request a waiver under TRCP Rule 145.

2. Serve every required party. Both parents must receive proper notice, through formal service or a valid waiver of service where allowed. Service may be handled by a sheriff, constable, court-certified private process server, or county clerk by certified mail with return receipt requested — you cannot deliver the papers yourself. If a parent is incarcerated, service is directed to the facility warden or designated process liaison. If a parent cannot be found after a diligent search, you can request citation by publication.

3. Attend the hearing. In uncontested cases where the parent agrees, the court holds a prove-up hearing — you confirm the agreement on the record and the judge signs the order. In contested cases, you present evidence, the parent (or their attorney) responds, and the court decides based on the child's best interest, weighted by the fit-parent presumption.

How Long Does It Take?

There is no single statewide timeline. Service, the court's docket, and whether the case is contested affect how long it takes. If you need immediate authority while the case is pending, you can request temporary orders at the outset.

What You Get with a Managing Conservatorship Order

The final order grants you the legal authority that schools, hospitals, benefits offices, and insurance companies recognize. Parents typically become possessory conservators with a visitation schedule rather than losing all rights. The order remains in effect until the child turns 18, is emancipated, or the court modifies it.

Our Texas Guardianship and Custody Court Process Guide covers each of these steps in detail, including the threshold affidavit, the county-by-county filing process, and the worksheets to organize your evidence before you file.

See more Texas guides →