Children’s Bill of Rights
Understanding the Children’s Bill of Rights in Texas Custody Cases
If you are involved in a custody case in Texas, you may hear the term “Children’s Bill of Rights.”
While it is not a standalone statute, it reflects core principles embedded in the Texas Family Code and frequently incorporated into court orders across Texas family courts.
At its core, the Children’s Bill of Rights is about one thing:
Protecting the child from the conflict between parents.
In high-conflict cases especially, courts expect parents to center decisions on the child’s emotional, physical, and psychological well-being — not the dispute.
Below is what that typically looks like in practice.
What Is the Children’s Bill of Rights?
In Texas custody litigation, judges often include language in temporary orders or final decrees that outlines a child’s fundamental rights during and after divorce.
These rights are designed to:
Reduce parental conflict exposure
Prevent manipulation or loyalty conflicts
Promote emotional stability
Preserve healthy parent-child relationships
Courts in counties across Texas expect parents to adhere to these principles whether or not the language is explicitly labeled “Children’s Bill of Rights.”
Children’s Bill of Rights
Neither parent shall deny the child reasonable use of the telephone to place and receive calls with the other parent and relatives. Such use shall be private to the child without unreasonable interference such as rigid adherence to time parameters, or tying up the phone with internet connections or other calls during prescribed times, instructed disconnects for chores, etc.
Neither parent shall speak or write derogatory remarks about the other parent to the child, or engage in abusive, coarse or foul language, which can be overheard by the child whether or not the language involves the other parent.
Neither parent shall permit the children to overhear arguments, negotiations or other substantive discussions about legal or business dealings between the parents.
Neither parent shall physically or psychologically attempt to pressure or attempt to influence the children concerning the personal opinion or position of the child concerning legal proceedings between the parents.
Each parent will permit the child to display photographs of the other parent or both parents in the child's room.
Neither parent shall communicate moral judgments about the other parent to the child concerning the other parent's choice of values, lifestyle, choice of friends, successes or failures in life (career, financial, relational) or residential choice.
The parents will acknowledge to the child that the child has two homes although the child may spend more time at one home than the other.
The parents shall cooperate to the greatest extent practicable in sharing time with the child.
Neither party shall suggest to the child that it is the child's option whether or not to engage in visitation during the other party's time for possession and access.
Each parent will permit the child to retain, and allow easy access to, correspondence, greeting cards, and other written materials received from the other parent.
Each parent will respect the physical integrity of items possessed by the child which depict the other parent or remind the child of the other parent.
Each party will assist and encourage the child's attendance and participation at church, temple or other organized religious activities if such is the desire of the child.
Neither parent will trivialize, or deny the existence of the other parent to the child.
Neither parent will interrogate the child about the other parent nor will either parent discourage comments by the child about the other parent.
Neither parent will intercept, "lose", derail, "forget" or otherwise interfere with communications to the child from the other parent.
Neither parent will refuse to acknowledge that the child can have or should have good experiences with the other parent.
Neither parent will directly or indirectly attack or criticize to the child the extended family of the other parent, the other parent's career, the living and travel arrangements of the other parent, or lawful activities of the other parent or associates of the other parent.
Neither parent will use the child as a "middleman" by using the child to communicate with the other parent on inappropriate topics.
Neither parent will undermine the other parent in the eyes of the child by engaging in the "circumstantial syndrome" which is done by manipulating, changing, or rearranging facts.
Neither parent will create for, or exaggerate to, the child differences between the parents.
Neither parent will say and do things with an eye to gaining the child as an "ally" against the other parent.
Neither parent will encourage or instruct the child to be disobedient to the other parent, stepparents, or relatives.
Neither parent will reward the child to act negatively toward the other parent.
Neither parent will try to make the child believe he or she loves the child more than the other parent, by, for example, saying that he or she loves the child more than the other parent or over-informing the child on adult topics or overindulging the child.
Neither parent will discuss child support issues with the child.
Neither parent will engage in judgmental, opinionated or negative commentary, physical inspections or interrogations once the child arrives from his/her other home.
Neither parent will "rewrite" or "re-script" facts which the child originally knows to be different.
Neither parent will punish the child physically or threaten such punishment in order to influence the child to adopt the parent's negative program, if any, against the other parent.
Neither parent will permit the child to be transported by a person who is intoxicated due to consumption of alcohol or illegal drugs.
Neither parent will smoke tobacco materials inside structures or vehicles occupied at the time by the child.
Each parent will permit the child to carry gifts, toys, clothing, and other items belonging to the child with him or her to the residence of the other parent or relatives or permit the child to take gifts, toys, clothing, and other items belonging to the child back to the residence of the other parent, as the case may be, to facilitate the child having with him or her objects, important to the child. The gifts, toys, clothing and other items belonging to the child referred to here mean items which are reasonable transportable and does not include pets (which the parents agree are impractical to move about).
Why Courts Care About This
Under Texas law, custody decisions are made according to the best interest of the child standard.
That framework was articulated in the landmark case of Holley v. Adams, which outlined factors courts consider when determining conservatorship and possession.
Judges evaluate:
Emotional and physical needs
Parental abilities
Stability of the home
Any acts or omissions that may indicate improper parent-child relationships
When a parent:
Speaks negatively about the other parent
Involves the child in litigation details
Uses the child to gather information
Undermines the other parent’s authority
…it can weigh against them in custody determinations.
What This Means for Parents
Family court is not about winning the narrative.
It is about demonstrating stability, restraint, and child-centered decision-making.
Even when the other parent behaves poorly, the court expects:
Emotional regulation
Neutral communication
Protection of the child from adult conflict
Judges notice patterns.
In smaller communities especially, courtroom credibility matters. Consistency matters. Conduct matters.
A Practical Reality
The Children’s Bill of Rights is not about perfection.
It is about demonstrating that you understand:
Your child did not choose this situation
Your child should not carry your anger
Your child deserves emotional freedom from the litigation
When parents internalize that principle, custody cases often resolve more efficiently — and children fare significantly better long-term.
