How I Was Awarded Sole Conservatorship in Texas & How My Ex-Spouse Got Supervised Visitation—Again

In February 2025, I showed up to court representing myself and was awarded sole managing conservatorship of my child.

I was the only party who attended the hearing.

My ex-spouse had been served with court papers. He did not file an answer or counterpetition, and he did not appear.

I came prepared with four binders of evidence, exhibits, receipts, messages, and prior court documents, along with a flash drive.

I was allowed to proceed with the case without him. The judge heard my testimony, reviewed the evidence I presented, and ruled in my favor. A default judgment was entered.

I was awarded:

Sole managing conservatorship of our child.
The exclusive right to determine our child’s primary residence without a geographical restriction.
The exclusive right to apply for and renew our child’s passport.
Supervised visitation for him through a paid supervised visitation center.
Communication through a coparenting app.

The judge kept one of my evidence binders. At the end, she said, “Thanks for your preparedness.”

I handled this without an attorney.

Before that ruling, the last time he had seen our child in person was November 23, 2020. He did not see our child in person again between that visit and the February 2025 hearing—more than four years later.

To understand how I got to that courtroom, you have to understand what happened over the years leading up to it. There were unanswered messages, updates about our child’s autism diagnosis and therapies, invitations to visit, and conversations about travel that never turned into an actual visit.

I saved those messages because I wanted an accurate record of my efforts and his responses.

This is my experience, the history I documented, and the outcome I received.

The communication issues started long before 2020.

My screenshots go back to 2018.

On October 1, 2018, I told him I had mailed a letter about our relocation and new address to both addresses I had for him. I did that because I did not know where he was actually living.

He asked what the letter concerned. I explained, and he responded, “Cool.”

On October 4, he told me he would not be seeing our child that weekend.

I continued sending photographs and updates. I notified him of address changes in November 2018 and February 2019. In January 2019, I sent videos and an update about something our child had participated in.

I was keeping him informed about where our child lived and what was happening in his life.

When our child was diagnosed with autism, I reached out.

On June 27, 2019, I informed him that our child had been diagnosed with autism and would need several therapies.

I explained his schedule, treatment needs, and the importance of maintaining his routine. I also told him that if he wanted to see him, he could come to Atlanta, or we could discuss meeting in a state between us.

There is no response to that message shown in the screenshots I saved.

In August, I contacted him about therapy expenses. Our divorce decree addressed the division of medical expenses, and I referenced that provision when asking him to contribute.

He responded on August 21.

His response focused on my contacting his parents, his objection to paying an amount without documentation, and his position that he would communicate only through court-monitored communications.

I explained that the information I was sending concerned our child’s care. His parents had asked for updates and offered assistance. I also pointed out that his response did not ask about our child’s diagnosis or address scheduling a visit.

Then I provided the therapy documentation.

I offered him the option of paying the provider directly and followed up with additional information about evaluations and expenses.

I was trying to get our child’s needs addressed while keeping his father informed and involved.

There was some communication in 2020, and I want to be clear about that.

During 2020, he asked about calls, and we exchanged messages arranging times for him to speak with our child.

I responded and helped coordinate those conversations.

There was already an active Virginia supervised visitation order.

In one exchange, he said supervised visitation limited what he could do because of the distance. I encouraged him to FaceTime our child.

He said he felt uncomfortable with me holding the phone during their conversation. I explained that our child could not simply hold it himself because of sensory overload.

Helping our child communicate sometimes required my assistance. That was part of accommodating his needs.

There were messages in August and September about scheduling calls, postponing a call, and finding another time.

Those exchanges are part of the history, too.

November 2020 was the last in-person visit before I was awarded sole conservatorship.

We were living in Georgia, but I told him we would be visiting Norfolk in November.

Our child had been asking about him, and I wanted them to have time together.

I followed up about which day he wanted to meet. We discussed times and locations, including whether a place would be too loud or crowded for our child.

We arranged the visit for November 23, 2020.

The messages show us coordinating the meeting and confirming our arrival. Afterward, he sent photographs and videos.

He also wrote:

“Thank you so much! I definitely have to see him again.”

Despite that message, he did not see our child in person again before I was awarded sole conservatorship in February 2025.

A child support proceeding had taken place that morning, which he did not attend. The next day, I informed him that a failure-to-appear capias had been issued.

He responded that he had not known about the court date and questioned why I had not told him beforehand.

I explained that I had kept that issue separate from the visit because I wanted our child to have that time with him without an argument about court.

Our messages show that we disagreed about notice. The court records establish the service history and what the court issued.

After that November visit, there was an extended period without telephone or in-person contact between him and our child. He resumed communication in February 2024, but there were still no further in-person visits before the February 2025 ruling.

I kept reaching out.

I continued sending messages because our child continued asking about him.

On December 6, 2020, I told him our child had asked where he was and when he would see him. I asked when he planned to visit him in his own environment.

No response is shown.

On March 30, 2021, I told him our child continued asking about him and wanted to give him a hug.

No response is shown.

On July 22, 2021, I shared a skateboarding update because that was something his father could relate to.

No response is shown.

On August 19, 2021, I told him our child had mentioned him to his speech therapist and had repeatedly said he wanted to see him.

No response is shown.

On April 9, 2022, I told him our child had woken up saying he wanted to see him.

Again, no response is shown.

On April 29, 2022, I contacted him from my new number. I told him we no longer lived in Atlanta and had moved to Dallas, Texas. I encouraged him to come see our child and sent photographs.

A read indicator appears beneath the attachments, but no written response is shown.

I sent videos on May 10 and July 17, 2022. No responses to those updates appear in the screenshots.

When I say “no response shown,” I am describing the messages I preserved. My experience during that period was that he was not calling or visiting our child.

Meanwhile, I was still answering our child’s questions. I was still hearing that he wanted to see his father. I was still deciding whether to send another message and try again.

I allowed contact with his family, too.

While we lived in Georgia, I allowed our child to spend time with his paternal grandfather and his grandfather’s wife when they were traveling for a family birthday celebration in South Carolina.

When I asked where my ex-spouse and our child’s older sibling were, I was told he did not want to come or allow the sibling to come.

That is my recollection of the conversation.

I wanted our child to have relationships with his family. I was willing to make those opportunities happen.

Then I saw the travel posts and reviews.

One of the things I documented was the difference between the travel he described publicly and the difficulty of getting him to travel to see our child.

In a Google review, he described a car purchase dated May 19, 2018.

He wrote about driving from Virginia to Pennsylvania, flying from Philadelphia to Detroit, purchasing a car, and driving it back to Virginia.

That trip happened before the extended absence beginning in November 2020.

But it showed his experience making arrangements, traveling between states, getting on a plane, and driving a long distance to complete a purchase.

Another review described searching for a particular vehicle, contacting a dealership, placing a deposit, and coordinating a long-distance purchase.

A September 26, 2020 Instagram post also referenced traveling to Cleveland. In a comment, he said he was buying a car near the airport.

When I read those descriptions, I thought about the time, communication, and planning involved.

I wanted to understand why arranging a visit with our child so often stopped at a conversation.

I understand that circumstances can change. A past trip does not tell me everything about someone’s finances at another point in time. But these were his own accounts of travel he had completed, and I had questions about the difference in follow-through.

He posted about Atlanta while we were living in Georgia.

This part stood out to me because of the dates.

On August 19, 2021, I told him our child had been asking about him and wanted to see him.

An Instagram post dated August 26 showed a location tag for Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. Another dated August 29 included “ATL.”

An airport tag does not establish how long he was there or whether he left the airport.

What I can tell you is that I had recently reached out about our child wanting to see him, his posts referenced Atlanta, and no visit with our child was arranged.

That was painful to see.

He had also traveled to Dallas before we moved there.

A February 21, 2021 post was tagged in Dallas. The caption described being in Houston and Dallas during the winter storm.

We had not moved to Texas yet. My April 2022 message notified him of our move.

I include that distinction because I want the timeline to be accurate. The post documented earlier travel to the city where we later lived.

Other screenshots referenced Orlando, Chicago, Disney, airports, and a vehicle dealership visit.

I looked at those posts alongside my messages asking about contact.

I could see public accounts of travel. Meanwhile, our child’s in-person relationship with his father remained at a standstill.

In February 2024, he contacted me again.

When he resurfaced in February 2024, I responded.

He asked how our child was doing. He asked about talking. I made time and helped arrange communication with our child.

After everything that had happened, I still responded to the opportunity for them to communicate.

The later exchanges span 2024 and 2025. During that period, we discussed calls, school, gifts, and possible visits.

He also reached out about things happening in his own life.

He wanted to ask me about his divorce.

In one April exchange, he asked whether he could ask me a personal question.

I asked whether it concerned our child.

He said it concerned the divorce process.

He wanted to know what my divorce had cost and whether the amount I mentioned had been required upfront. He discussed an amount he was considering paying for his own case.

In a May 24 exchange, he asked about hiring a private investigator.

My understanding was that these conversations related to the breakdown of his subsequent relationship. The messages show his questions about divorce costs and investigative help.

What stood out to me was that he could initiate a conversation, ask specific questions, and coordinate a time to talk when he needed information for himself.

I wanted that same consistent effort directed toward rebuilding his relationship with our child.

I gave him opportunities to visit.

In another exchange, he expressed interest in having lunch with our child at school.

I was open to it.

I clarified that we were in Dallas, provided school dates, and told him the graduation date. I also mentioned a possible travel option through the military base in Fort Worth.

That was something I suggested he look into. It was not a guarantee that he was eligible or that a suitable flight would be available.

He discussed other court dates and airline preferences.

Later, I followed up and asked whether he had looked at flights.

There was discussion about coming, but the proposed visit did not become an in-person visit before the sole conservatorship hearing.

That was the issue I kept coming back to. We could discuss dates and possibilities, but our child still was not seeing him.

I continued sharing our child’s life with him.

There were positive exchanges, and I recognize those.

He agreed to get a butterfly kit our child wanted and later said it was on the way.

He sent me a Mother’s Day message acknowledging my parenting. Part of it said:

“For all that you do, big & small, you do it gracefully and it does not go unnoticed.”

I thanked him.

I sent school photographs. He asked whether it was our child’s first day, and I answered.

I also invited him to join us for our child’s birthday trip to California. I extended that invitation to his family as well.

No written response to that invitation appears in the screenshots.

I kept sharing milestones and offering ways for him to participate. My concern was whether those opportunities would lead to a consistent relationship.

Later, we disagreed about school, insurance, and his involvement.

When he asked which school our child attended, I provided the information.

I also questioned the timing after such a long period without seeing him.

He responded that he had a right to know and said our child would see him daily if we had not moved.

I disagreed with that explanation.

From my experience, the history included missed opportunities before and after our relocations. Moving did not explain every unanswered message or every visit that never happened.

I also explained that if he intended to visit the school, I needed advance notice so I could prepare our child and coordinate with the staff.

Our child has autism. An unexpected appearance after years of separation needed thought and preparation. I was considering how that encounter could affect him during the school day and afterward.

There were also questions about insurance and medical expenses.

I believed some of those requests were connected to the child support proceedings. He denied that interpretation.

What I wanted to know was when he planned to become consistently involved.

I told him about the upcoming custody hearing.

In a November exchange, I notified him about the February 11 custody hearing and told him to expect service of the petition.

He responded that he already received court letters and emails and did not need me to inform him.

I also attempted to coordinate mediation.

I sent my availability, asked when he was available, and followed up with information about a Zoom option, estimated costs, and splitting the fee.

No response to those messages appears in the screenshots.

I was trying to move the case forward and give him an opportunity to participate.

Then I prepared for court.

I went through years of communications.

I organized messages about addresses, our child’s diagnosis, therapy expenses, calls, visits, school, travel, and my attempts to coordinate mediation.

I included his responses. I included the exchanges where my messages went unanswered. I included the public posts and reviews I believed were relevant, along with prior court documents.

I prepared four binders and a flash drive.

When the hearing came in February 2025, I attended prepared to present my case.

He had been served, but he did not file an answer or counterpetition and did not appear.

I was the only party in attendance, and I was allowed to proceed without him.

The judge heard everything I had to say, considered the evidence I presented, and ruled in my favor. A default judgment was entered.

I was awarded sole managing conservatorship, the right to determine our child’s primary residence without a geographical restriction, and the exclusive right to apply for and renew his passport.

His visitation was ordered to take place through a paid supervised visitation center, and communication was directed through a coparenting app.

By that point, more than four years had passed since he last saw our child in person in November 2020.

What the outcome meant to me.

Throughout those years, I was arranging therapies, communicating with schools, managing routines, paying expenses, and answering our child’s questions.

I was also sending updates and asking about visits.

Getting the judgment gave structure to a situation that had involved years of uncertainty.

The supervised visitation arrangement provided a structured setting for contact. Communication through a coparenting app provided a designated place to discuss matters involving our child.

Being awarded sole managing conservatorship, no geographical restriction, and exclusive passport rights gave me the authority the court granted to move forward with decisions involving our child.

The outcome did not erase everything it took to get there. But I left that hearing knowing I had shown up, presented the history, and spoken for our child’s needs.

I represented myself. I was the only party who attended. I presented my evidence, and I won by default.