The Texas Standard Possession Order (SPO) is the default parenting-time schedule in Chapter 153 of the Texas Family Code. It gives the parent who does not have the right to set the child’s primary residence a fixed pattern of weekends, Thursday visits, holidays and summer time. The exact hours depend on how far apart the parents live and on the options chosen when the order is signed. Below is how the schedule works, where parents can deviate from it, and how to keep records that hold up if the order is ever disputed.

TL;DR

  • The SPO is a presumed minimum schedule. The Texas Attorney General says the guidelines are presumed to be in the child’s best interest.
  • Distance drives the schedule: 50 miles or less, 51 to 100 miles, and over 100 miles each get different weekend, Thursday and summer terms.
  • Parents can agree to a different schedule. If they cannot agree, the written court order controls.
  • For children under three, courts do not presume the SPO and set an order suited to the circumstances.
  • Dated, neutral records of exchanges, missed visits and expenses are what make a dispute over the schedule easy to resolve.

Table of Contents

What the Standard Possession Order is

The SPO guidelines sit in Chapter 153 of the Texas Family Code and help courts set parenting-time schedules for many families, according to the Office of the Attorney General. The law presumes the SPO gives reasonable minimum parenting time that serves the child’s best interest. Texas public policy is to assure frequent and continuing contact between a child and each parent who has shown the ability to act in the child’s best interest, as the Family Code states.

Two terms matter when you read an order. The parent with the right to designate the child’s primary residence is usually called the custodial parent. The other parent, the possessory conservator, is the “noncustodial parent” in most state guidance. The SPO describes the time that second parent is entitled to at minimum. The custodial parent has the child the rest of the time.

The SPO is a presumption, not a guarantee. A judge in a contested case may decide it is unworkable or inappropriate for a family, and a modified possession order is simply a schedule different from the SPO. Family violence concerns, for example, can be evidence that the SPO is not in the child’s best interest, according to Texas Access.

What the Standard Possession Order is

Children under three

For children under three, Section 153.254 requires the court to render an order appropriate to the circumstances rather than presumptively using the SPO. If your child is an infant or toddler, expect a step-up or tailored schedule, and read your own order carefully for when and how it changes.

Default or election: how pickup times get set

The options in an SPO are offered when the order is being completed. Under the Attorney General’s explanation, the noncustodial parent chooses between a “default” and an “election” version. If no election is made, the default schedule may be placed in the order, unless the court finds a different selection is not in the child’s best interest.

In practice, the default usually ties exchanges to school: pickup when school is dismissed and drop-off when school resumes. The election swaps many of those for fixed evening times. For example, on school-term Thursdays the default is pickup at dismissal and drop-off when school resumes Friday, while the election is pickup at 6 p.m. and drop-off at 8 p.m. the same Thursday.

Default and election Thursday exchange time comparison

For parents who live 51 to 100 miles apart, one family-law firm explains that the ordinary SPO is the baseline, and the expanded beginning and ending times under Section 153.317(a) are available only if the possessory conservator affirmatively elects them when the order is made. Whatever your order says is what counts, so keep a copy of the signed version handy.

The schedule by distance

Parents 50 miles apart or less

This is the fullest version of the SPO. Per the Attorney General, it includes:

  • Weekend possession on the 1st, 3rd and 5th weekends of the month.
  • Thursday visits during the school term.
  • Holiday periods, including Christmas break, Thanksgiving and spring vacation.
  • 30 days of extended summer possession.

Holidays alternate by year. Under the Attorney General’s schedule, the noncustodial parent has Thanksgiving in odd-numbered years, spring vacation in even-numbered years, and the first part of Christmas break in even-numbered years, with the second half (from noon on December 28) in odd-numbered years.

For summer, extended possession is exercised in no more than two separate periods of at least seven consecutive days, must not interfere with Father’s Day possession, and requires written notice. The custodial parent may also pick one weekend during the 30 days, with written notice to the other parent by April 15.

Parents 51 to 100 miles apart

The summary from TexasLawHelp is that when parents live within 100 miles, the noncustodial parent generally has the first, third and fifth weekends, a Thursday evening during the school year, alternating holidays and 30 days in summer. The practical difference in this band is largely about the beginning and ending times, which hinge on the election described above.

Parents more than 100 miles apart

Long distance changes the structure. According to TexasLawHelp, the mid-week visit is removed, the weekend schedule may stay the same or drop to one weekend monthly, holidays remain, summer possession rises to 42 days, and the noncustodial parent gets every spring break.

The Attorney General’s page for this band adds detail:

  • The noncustodial parent chooses either the first, third and fifth Fridays of each month, or one weekend a month of their choice.
  • Default weekend possession runs Friday at 6 p.m. to Sunday at 6 p.m. Under the election, exchanges happen at school dismissal and school resumption during the school term.
  • The 42 days of summer possession generally require written notice by April 1, may be split into no more than two periods of at least seven consecutive days, and must avoid Father’s Day possession.

A quick example

Imagine two parents in Houston and Katy, well under 50 miles apart, with an SPO and the election for evening times. The noncustodial parent has the child on the first Friday of the month from the Friday exchange to Sunday evening, then again on the third Friday. Every school-term Thursday, they pick up at 6 p.m. and return the child at 8 p.m. In an even-numbered year, that parent also has spring break and the first part of Christmas break, and in odd-numbered years Thanksgiving and the second half of Christmas. In April the parent sends written notice with the summer dates.

None of this is complicated on paper. The friction comes from the exchanges: a late pickup, a skipped Thursday, a holiday that starts at the wrong time because a school calendar changed. The Attorney General’s own My Sticker Calendar exists for parents and children to track and plan where the child spends time, which tells you how much value there is in making the schedule visible.

When parents agree to something different

The SPO is a floor. Texas Access puts it plainly: parents can agree to any schedule that works for both of them, but if they cannot agree, they must follow the court-ordered schedule. The law recognizes that rigid schedules can be unworkable because of year-round school or shift work, and Section 153.253 allows modification.

Good agreements are specific to the family. If a nanny or other caregiver covers part of the week, for instance, it helps to think through who does handovers and who approves changes, and this guide on divorced parents and nanny schedules shows how families structure that.

When you and the other parent agree to swap a weekend, treat it as an exception to the order, not a replacement for it. Until a judge signs a new order, the written one is what governs. A few habits protect you:

  1. Confirm each change in writing the same day, with the date and times.
  2. Note who proposed it and who accepted it.
  3. Record that the swap was a one-time accommodation if that is what it was.
  4. Return to the order’s schedule afterward unless you formally modify it.

For a free, neutral place to ask questions, the Texas Access and Visitation Hotline gives parents phone access to parenting-time specialists who provide legal information about custody and visitation. For advice about your specific case, talk to a Texas family law attorney.

Documenting exchanges so the schedule is easy to prove

Most SPO disputes are not about what the order says. They are about what happened: whether a parent showed up at 6 p.m., whether Thursday was exercised, who paid for what. Records made at the time beat memory months later. We cover the habits in more depth in our guide on how to prove parenting time, but the core is simple.

  • Log every exchange. Date, scheduled time, actual time, location, who was present.
  • Keep the order’s language next to your notes. Note whether you are on the default or the election times so lateness is measured against the right clock.
  • Record missed or changed visits with the reason given and how it was communicated.
  • Stay neutral. Facts read better than frustration. “Pickup was 6:25 p.m., scheduled for 6:00” is stronger than “as usual, late again.”
  • Track expenses tied to the schedule, such as travel for long-distance exchanges.

If you want to see how a different pattern would look next to your current one, our custody schedule comparison tool lays parenting patterns side by side.

Our perspective

We built Casewell for the moment after a handover, when the details are fresh and the temptation is to vent in a text thread. A schedule like the SPO runs on specifics: 6 p.m. on a Thursday, noon on December 28, the first, third and fifth Fridays. When a disagreement comes, the parent with a clear, dated record of those specifics is the one whose account is easy to follow.

That is why the journal prompts you after each exchange or handover, keeps messages, expenses and agreements on one timeline, and can rewrite an entry in neutral language, which you review and approve before it is saved. The AI is optional, and the words stay yours.

Privacy matters just as much. Casewell stores your records encrypted on your own device, and we do not keep copies on company servers. When you need to share them, you can export a filterable, indexed PDF that a lawyer, mediator or judge can read quickly.

Mielad

Turn your records into something court-ready

Casewell is a digital custody journal for co-parents. You log exchanges, messages and expenses in one place, then export clear PDFs organized by date and topic. Casewell Premium is $2.99 per week or $49.99 per year, and you start with a free trial.

Casewell

See how the parenting time log works, read about our court-ready PDF reports, or start from the Casewell home page. If you want a dated overview of events built for a hearing, the Court timeline service starts at £29 one-off.

Common mistakes with a possession order

  • Assuming a verbal change is permanent. Informal swaps help the family in the moment but do not amend the order.
  • Missing a notice deadline. Summer notice dates, such as April 1 for the over-100-mile 42 days or April 15 for the custodial parent’s weekend pick during the 30-day period, are written into the Attorney General’s schedules. Put them in your calendar every year.
  • Mixing up default and election times. Check which one your order uses before you log a late pickup.
  • Forgetting the alternating-year rule. Thanksgiving, spring vacation and Christmas flip between even and odd years.
  • Relying on memory. If an exchange matters, write it down the same day.

If your co-parent is uncooperative, records matter even more, because you may not get agreement on what happened. Our article on chances of getting full custody in Texas looks at how courts weigh the parent-child picture more broadly.

FAQ

What is the most common possession schedule in Texas?

The Standard Possession Order is the guideline schedule courts start from, and the law presumes it provides reasonable minimum parenting time in the child’s best interest. Many orders use it as written or with modest changes. Your own order is what governs, so read it for the exact times.

Can we agree to a different schedule than the SPO?

Yes. Parents can agree to any schedule that works for both of them. If they cannot agree, they must follow the court-ordered schedule, so put any lasting change in a signed, modified order rather than relying on a casual understanding.

Does the SPO apply to a baby or toddler?

Not presumptively. For children under three, Section 153.254 of the Family Code has the court render an order appropriate to the circumstances. A lawyer can tell you how that applies to your child’s age and situation.

What changes if we live more than 100 miles apart?

The Thursday visit goes away, the noncustodial parent may choose either the first, third and fifth Fridays or one weekend a month, and summer possession increases to 42 days. The noncustodial parent also gets every spring break, according to TexasLawHelp.

Where can I get free help understanding my order?

The Texas Access and Visitation Hotline offers free phone access to parenting-time specialists who give legal information about custody and visitation. For advice on your specific case, consult a Texas family law attorney.

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