By enacting new §153.317(a)(9) and §153.3171, Family Code, the Legislature responded to calls for "equal parenting" or "50/50" custody orders.
These two new provisions apply to custody cases pending on September 1, 2021, and those filed on or after that date.

When the possessory conservator (“PC”) has the Standard Possession Order ("SPO") and a school holiday occurs on a Monday following a weekend period of possession, rather than return the child at 6 p.m. on Monday, under the new law the PC may elect to return the child on Tuesday morning. The new provision will add overnights to the PC's possession time, with the number depending on the applicable school calendar.

· If the PC lives 50 miles or less from the child's primary residence, the Expanded Standard Possession Order ("ESPO") will apply, unless the PC opts out of one or more of the alternative beginning and ending times specified in §153.317(a), Family Code.
· This provision alone will provide the PC with a floor of 46% of possession time—at the minimum. And it does so by using schedules designed to meet children’s needs and with which litigants, lawyers and judges are already familiar as these statutory options are already in existence.
· A court can override the new law if it is not in the best interest of the child. Among the reasons the ESPO might not be in the child's best interest, as stated in the statute, are:
§ The ESPO is unworkable or inappropriate given the circumstances of the area or the parties. For example: A court could consider how the likely travel times between residences would affect the child’s schedule. Or, one or both parents might not have access to vehicles and there is no public transportation, making it unlikely the parents could comply.
§ Before the suit, the PC had not frequently and continuously exercised parental rights and duties, precluding someone who is a biological parent but is actually a stranger to the child from automatically having a virtually 50/50 custody order.

Increasing parenting time means increasing responsibility. A PC who lives 50 miles or less from the child will have the responsibility of understanding the law and opting out of his or her rights to possession so the needs of the child are met rather than opting in, as the law previously provided.

NOTE: When the PC lives more than 50 but not more than 100 miles from the child's primary residence, the law will not change: that parent may still opt into the ESPO--but it will not be automatic.