Williamson County, TX · Free Consultation
Georgetown, TX Modification Lawyer
What Our Clients Say
Written and reviewed by Shane M. Boasberg, founder of SMB Law, PC · Licensed in Texas since 2003 · Updated September 2026
Changing which parent a child primarily lives with is the hardest thing to ask a Texas family court for, and it should be. A Georgetown modification lawyer is useful mostly for telling you honestly whether your facts clear that bar before you spend a year finding out. Shane M. Boasberg has been licensed in Texas since 2003 and handles these cases on both sides.
As the Williamson County seat, Georgetown is where these petitions are decided, and we regularly see parents underestimate how much more a court demands before it will move a child’s primary home.
Where a Georgetown modification is handled
Georgetown is the Williamson County seat, so a modification is filed and heard at the Williamson County Justice Center on Martin Luther King Jr. Street, right in town.
The standard for any modification
Tex. Fam. Code § 156.101 lets a court modify conservatorship, possession, or access when the change is in the child’s best interest and one of three things is true: the circumstances of the child or a parent have materially and substantially changed since the order was rendered; the child is twelve or older and has told the court their preference; or the person with the exclusive right to designate the primary residence has voluntarily relinquished primary care and possession for at least six months.
Material and substantial is doing the work in most cases, and it is not a low bar. A job change, a remarriage, a relocation, a serious change in a child’s needs, a parent’s deterioration — these can qualify. Being annoyed with your ex does not, and neither does something that was already true and known when the last order was signed.
The one-year rule, and the affidavit that gets past it
Filing to change the parent who designates the child’s primary residence within one year of the current order triggers Tex. Fam. Code § 156.102. The petition must be accompanied by a sworn affidavit containing facts supporting at least one of three allegations:
- The child’s present environment may endanger the child’s physical health or significantly impair the child’s emotional development.
- The person with that exclusive right is the one seeking or consenting to the modification, and the change is in the child’s best interest.
- That person has voluntarily relinquished the primary care and possession of the child for at least six months, and the change is in the child’s best interest.
The court reads the affidavit first. If the facts stated in it would not, if true, support one of those allegations, the judge denies the relief and refuses to set a hearing at all. That is worth sitting with: within that first year, a weak affidavit does not lose at trial. It never reaches a trial.
Temporary orders are harder still
Parents often want the child moved now, while the case is pending. Tex. Fam. Code § 156.006(b) makes that deliberately difficult. A temporary order changing the designation of the person with the exclusive right to determine primary residence may be rendered only if it is in the child’s best interest and one of the following applies: the order is necessary because the child’s present circumstances would significantly impair physical health or emotional development; the person designated has voluntarily relinquished primary care for more than six months; or the child is twelve or older and has expressed a preference to the court.
The through-line in all of this is stability. Texas assumes a child is better off where the child is unless there is a real reason to move them, and it builds that assumption into the procedure rather than leaving it to argument.
What courts weigh in a change of primary custody
Texas courts start from a preference for stability, so the parent asking to move a child’s primary home carries a heavy burden. In a Georgetown case a judge looks at each parent’s day-to-day involvement, the child’s ties to school, friends, and community, any evidence of endangerment or neglect, each parent’s willingness to support the child’s relationship with the other, and, for a child twelve or older, the child’s own stated preference. A parent’s recent improvement — a steadier job, a safer home, more availability — can matter, but only as part of the whole picture of the child’s welfare. We assemble that record thoroughly, with school and medical documentation and credible witnesses, because a change-of-custody case is won on concrete proof about the child’s life, not on which parent argues more forcefully.
Modifying child support is a different test
Support modification has its own standard, and it is friendlier. Under Tex. Fam. Code § 156.401, a support order can be modified if the circumstances of the child or a person affected have materially and substantially changed, or if it has been at least three years since the order was rendered or last modified and the guideline amount now differs from the current order by twenty percent or $100.
That second path is mechanical. Three years plus a big enough gap, and you do not have to prove anything changed. Note the exception: the three-year test generally does not apply to an agreed order that already varies from the guidelines.
Two practical points. First, a modification is effective no earlier than the filing date, so support does not adjust retroactively to the month your income dropped — every month you delay is a month at the old number. Second, informal agreements between parents do not modify a court order. Section 156.409 allows a court to give credit for support actually paid directly to the other parent in certain circumstances, but relying on that is a poor substitute for an order that says what you actually agreed to.
Check whether you clear the twenty percent gap
Our calculator applies the current Texas guideline percentages and the $11,700 cap to your net resources, so you can compare today’s figure against the order you are living with.
Try the Texas Child Support CalculatorWorking with us from Georgetown
Our downtown Austin office is about 30 miles south of Georgetown, a 35-to-40-minute drive on I-35. Most Georgetown parents handle a modification by phone, video, and e-signature.
At SMB Law, PC you work with Shane M. Boasberg directly. He has been licensed in Texas since 2003 and has spent those years in Central Texas family courts. You get his read on your case in plain English, including the parts you may not want to hear.
Why clients choose SMB Law, PC
- Direct attorney access — you talk to Shane, not a call center or a rotating case manager.
- A candid read on the odds — modification cases are lost more often than won, and we will tell you before you file, not after.
- Records first — school, medical, and communication evidence assembled before the petition, because that is what a judge actually weighs.
- Fees in writing — the rate and the retainer, explained before you sign.
What working with us looks like
- Confidential consultation to understand your goals and the law that applies.
- Strategy and records tailored to your situation.
- Negotiation or court — we settle when we can and litigate when we must.
- Resolution implemented correctly so you can move on.
Many Georgetown families we represent are also dealing with a child support case, a custody case, or alimony in Texas; our Austin modification practice can guide the whole matter.
Frequently asked questions
What counts as a material and substantial change?
Something real that happened after the last order and was not already known when it was signed. A relocation, a significant change in either parent’s income or work schedule, a remarriage that changes the household, a serious change in the child’s medical or educational needs, a parent’s deteriorating circumstances. What does not qualify: disliking the arrangement you agreed to, or a fact that existed and was known when the order was entered.
Does my child get to decide where they live at twelve?
No, and this is the most persistent myth in Texas family law. Under Tex. Fam. Code § 153.009 a judge must interview a child twelve or older in chambers on a party’s request, and the child’s preference is one of the grounds listed in § 156.101 for considering a modification. But the judge is not bound by it and weighs it against everything else. A child of twelve can start the conversation. They do not end it.
My ex agreed to a different schedule. Do we need to go back to court?
If you want it enforceable, yes. An informal arrangement does not modify a court order, and the order is what a judge enforces when the arrangement breaks down. Agreed modifications are the cheapest and fastest kind of family case — there is no reason to leave a working agreement unwritten.
When can I modify child support?
Under Tex. Fam. Code § 156.401, when circumstances have materially and substantially changed, or when three years have passed since the order and the guideline amount now differs from it by twenty percent or $100. The second test is mechanical, so it is worth running the current numbers if your order is a few years old. Modifications are effective no earlier than the date you file.
Where is a Georgetown modification heard?
At the Williamson County Justice Center in Georgetown, since the city is the county seat. Our office is about thirty miles south on I-35, and most of the process runs by phone, video, and electronic signature.
Modification cases turn on whether something genuinely changed and whether you can prove it with something other than your own account. That assessment is worth getting before you file, not after. Call SMB Law, PC at (512) 561-5003 for a free and confidential consultation, and we will give you a straight answer about whether your facts get you there.