The Standard Possession Order in Texas — A Complete Guide

What Is the Standard Possession Order?

The Standard Possession Order (SPO) is the default parenting schedule in the Texas Family Code (§§153.312–153.317). When parents cannot agree on a possession schedule and the court does not find good reason to deviate from the default, the SPO is what is ordered.

The SPO applies to parents living within 100 miles of each other and covers three distinct periods: the regular school year, holidays, and summer.

Understanding the SPO precisely is important because most Texas parenting plans are either the standard SPO, the expanded SPO, or a custom schedule built around the SPO as a reference point. The SPO is also the baseline for enforcement — any deviation from its terms by either parent is an order violation.

School Year Schedule — The Regular Rotation

During the school year, the non-primary parent (NP) has the child on the following regular schedule:

Holiday Schedule — Alternating by Year

Holiday possession alternates between parents by year and overrides the regular weekend schedule. When a holiday period applies, the regular rotation yields to it.

Child’s birthday: Each parent has possession from 6 PM to 8 PM on the child’s birthday if it falls during the other parent’s scheduled time.

Parent’s birthday: Each parent may have possession from 6 PM to 8 PM on their own birthday.

Summer Possession

The non-primary parent receives 30 days of extended summer possession, taken as one continuous block or split into two periods. The NP must give written notice by April 1 designating their summer possession dates.

During the NP’s summer possession, the primary parent is entitled to one uninterrupted weekend (Friday 6 PM to Sunday 6 PM), provided they give written notice by April 15.

If neither parent gives written notice by the required dates, the default summer schedule applies: the NP has the child from June 15 through July 17.

Parents More Than 100 Miles Apart

When parents live more than 100 miles apart, the SPO is modified (Tex. Fam. Code §153.313):

The Expanded Standard Possession Order

The Expanded SPO extends weekend possession to run from Thursday after school through Monday morning when school resumes. This increases the NP’s time from approximately 30% to approximately 40% of the year.

The Expanded SPO can be agreed to by the parties or ordered by the court when the evidence supports it. It is increasingly common in cases where both parents have significant involvement with the children and neither has a compelling reason to limit the other’s access.

When Courts Deviate From the SPO

The SPO is presumed to be in the best interest of the child, but courts can deviate when evidence warrants. Common reasons for deviation include:

• Young children who require a more frequent but shorter contact schedule
• A parent’s work schedule making the standard times impractical
• Documented safety concerns that support supervised or restricted possession
• Geographic proximity enabling a more frequent schedule
• A parent’s history of non-compliance with orders
• Parental alienation or interference with the other parent’s relationship

The SPO in High-Conflict Cases

The SPO was designed for cooperative parents. In high-conflict cases, every ambiguity in the standard language becomes a potential conflict point. Your parenting plan should go significantly beyond the SPO’s standard provisions:

• A specific named exchange location — a public place, or school pickup/drop-off to eliminate direct contact
• A specific exchange protocol — no verbal communication, children transition directly, you leave immediately
• Mandatory co-parenting app (OurFamilyWizard or TalkingParents) for all communications
• Provisions addressing recurring conflicts — teacher workdays, school holidays, half-days
• Right of first refusal provisions
• Travel notice requirements before taking the child out of state

Enforcing SPO Violations

The SPO is a court order. Violations — denying possession, being consistently late, failing to produce the child — are enforceable through contempt proceedings. Repeated violations can result in make-up possession time, fines, attorney’s fee awards, jail time for contempt, and modification of the underlying custody order.

Documenting every violation — date, time, what happened, witnesses — is essential. Courts respond to documented patterns, not isolated complaints. Every entry in your documentation log is a brick in a case that becomes undeniable over time.