Does First Right of Refusal in Apply to Stepparent Care

[atxpowers]

My question involves a child custody case from the State of: Texas

The father of my children and I have joint custody of our daughter in the state of Texas (never married) with a “First Right of Refusal” clause in our order. Their father (who lives less than 4 miles away) would have other people watch our children rather than giving me the opportunity to watch them, which is why we added the clause.

I am the custodial parent and getting married soon and my question is how does this clause work with their soon-to-be Stepfather? The exact language states “Right of First Refusal – If a conservator is unable to exercise visitation for more than two consecutive hours, the conservator shall notify the other conservator, who will have the right to take possession of the children before using another party to care for them for the period the conservator is unable to exercise visitation.”

Thanks in advance.

[free9man]

Your children's father will take priority over your new husband, who is a legal stranger in the arrangement.

[llworking]

My question involves a child custody case from the State of: Texas

The father of my children and I have joint custody of our daughter in the state of Texas (never married) with a “First Right of Refusal” clause in our order. Their father (who lives less than 4 miles away) would have other people watch our children rather than giving me the opportunity to watch them, which is why we added the clause.

I am the custodial parent and getting married soon and my question is how does this clause work with their soon-to-be Stepfather? The exact language states “Right of First Refusal – If a conservator is unable to exercise visitation for more than two consecutive hours, the conservator shall notify the other conservator, who will have the right to take possession of the children before using another party to care for them for the period the conservator is unable to exercise visitation.”

Thanks in advance.

That is an extremely short period for ROFR to kick in. Two hours is a really short period of time. Normally the shortest I have seen is 4 hours, and some require more than the normal amount of hours required for childcare while someone works.

Were those other people relatives of the children?

In any case, the way that its written your husband cannot watch the children without offering the time to dad first.

[Dogmatique]

I agree. 2 hours is, frankly, unworkable in the real world. That really needs to be modified.

[Mr. Knowitall]

Courts often do not apply this sort of clause to stepparents, but you have very broad language and practices can vary by jurisdiction, so it's worth checking with a local family lawyer to see how the judge assigned to the case is likely to respond if the issue is raised before the court. If the lawyer believes that the judge will apply the clause to a stepparent's care, then the lawyer can also advise as to how likely it would be for the court to modify the clause such that it does not apply.

You know him better than we do, but in most cases it's worth asking the father if he'll simply agree that the clause doesn't apply to the stepparent.

[llworking]

Courts often do not apply this sort of clause to stepparents, but you have very broad language and practices can vary by jurisdiction, so it's worth checking with a local family lawyer to see how the judge assigned to the case is likely to respond if the issue is raised before the court. If the lawyer believes that the judge will apply the clause to a stepparent's care, then the lawyer can also advise as to how likely it would be for the court to modify the clause such that it does not apply.

You know him better than we do, but in most cases it's worth asking the father if he'll simply agree that the clause doesn't apply to the stepparent.

One of the reasons why I asked her if the people watching the children on dad's time were relatives of the child was because I was trying to gauge who she objected to watching the child while the child was with dad. If the child was spending time with family on dad's time and mom objected to that, then I doubt that dad will agree to stepdad watching the child on mom's time.

Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on the point of view) this is one of those things that goes both ways.