Temporary Relief under the Texas Family Code

In Austin, Texas parties to a divorce proceeding or suit affecting the parent-child relationship are going to have three kinds of relief in family law cases: temporary restraining orders, or “TRO’s”, temporary injunctions and temporary orders.

Temporary restraining orders are used to maintain the “status quo.” Under the Texas Family Code, a temporary restraining order may be granted ex-parte without notice to the other party for a period of 14 days. (Ex-parte refers to a situation where only one party appears before the judge.) The petition or motion must “state what relief the court is being asked to grant.” Furthermore, the petition or motion must state the statutory grounds on which the request is based. By preserving the “status quo,” the temporary restraining order may stop a party from doing some act. For example: a husband and wife own a house in Austin, which is located in Travis County, Texas. The husband is filing for divorce, but is afraid that his wife is going to reduce the value of the house or other household property. The husband may ask the Travis County Court for relief by asking the court to temporarily restrain his wife from intentionally, knowingly, or recklessly destroying, removing, concealing, encumbering, transferring, or otherwise harming or reducing the value of the property of the parties, etc. In Texas, a temporary restraining order may be employed in combination with a suit for dissolution of a marriage, (a.k.a. divorce) or in a suit affecting the parent-child relationship. A temporary restraining order may be employed to protect a child’s safety and welfare, the preservation of property, or to protect one of the parties.

While a temporary restraining order generally refers to an ex-parte request to maintain the “status quo” for a short duration of time, a temporary injunction is used to maintain the “status quo” until the case is resolved. In other words, a temporary injunction is used to stop a party, (either husband or wife) from doing some “specified activity” until the case is resolved. A major difference between the temporary restraining order and a temporary injunction is that a temporary injunction requires notice and a hearing before the Texas court can grant relief. As I said, generally, the temporary injunction is going to remain in effect until there is a final judgment. However, the temporary injunction may be lifted by another order by the court. Typically, a temporary injunction is used to extend an already existing temporary restraining order.

Temporary orders are regarded differently than temporary restraining orders and temporary injunctions. Temporary orders are regarded as “non-injunctive” in nature. While, temporary orders are regarded as “non-injunctive” they may have some mandatory or prohibitory effects. For example, if one of the parties (either husband or wife)to a suit-affecting the parent-child relationship wants possession and access to a child that constitutes a departure from Standard Possession Order that party must present evidence to the court to justify this variation. One factor to be considered by the court is the child’s age. If a child is under the age of 3 then the court may deviate from the Standard Possession Order. That being said, the best interest of the child standard is going to be the courts chief concern when determining conservatorship, possession or access to the child. Furthermore, the parties to a suit affecting the parent-child relationship may request the court to grant an order that echo’s an agreement entered into by the parties.
Disclaimer: This site and any information contained within this site is intended for informational purposes only and should not be construed as legal advice. The excerpts taken from the Texas Penal and Family Code, and other Texas Codes are not all-inclusive. Furthermore, due to the rapidly shifting nature of the law, we make no warranty or guarantee concerning the accuracy or reliability of the content at this site. Do not attempt to interpret the law. You should consult an attorney for advice on any legal matter.

Stella janci is a legal journalist in Austin, Texas.
Stella Janci works with children, individuals, couples, geriatric patients, depression, bipolar, anxiety and substance abuse. Please visit http://www.lawyer-austin.net/ for any further information.