Your spouse has been a stay-at-home parent for years, and you understand that during that time they spent much more time with your children. You were working to support your family, so you weren’t home as much as they were, but you still feel that you should get a fair amount of parenting time and have the right to make decisions about your children’s care.
Many working parents worry that the stay-at-home parent is more likely to get a greater proportion of parenting time, but that is not always the case. Most of the time, the courts in Texas would like to see that the children see both parents regularly. The court wants to know that the children will be in a stable home environment and be able to have the support of both parents.
If you want parenting time, you should ask for it
If you worked in the past but want to have equal time with your children now, you’re going to need to show that you have the time to spend with them. Additionally, you may want to start gathering evidence of your involvement in your children’s lives, so you can show that being in their lives half the time or more is not going to be a major change for them right away.
Most of the time, situations like this don’t have to become frustrating or combative. You and the other parent may be able to work out a 50-50 time share, especially if the other parent has to go back to work to support themselves.
On the other hand, if you’re going to have a hard time making the time to see your children, keep in mind that a fair parenting time policy doesn’t necessarily mean a 50-50 split. You should only take on the parenting time that you know you can commit to.
If you need help working out a parenting time schedule, you may want to look into Texas’s laws and the kinds of schedules that have worked for divorcing couples in the past. With the right parenting time plan, you will be able to see your children and spend quality time together.