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How much does it cost to file for custody in Texas?

A Texas custody case is a SAPCR — a Suit Affecting the Parent-Child Relationship — and it opens in district court on the standard Texas civil base filing: $350, built by statute from a $137 state consolidated fee and a $213 local consolidated fee. The Harris County District Clerk's family fee schedule prices new family filings on that same base, and the motions that follow a SAPCR order — modification and enforcement — are separately scheduled at $80 to $95 in Harris County.

Texas SAPCR fees at a glance

Texas consolidated its district-court filing fees in 2021–2022, which is why a SAPCR's entry price can be stated statewide with unusual confidence: §133.151 of the Local Government Code collects $137 on the filing of any civil case in district court, and §135.101 collects a further $213 local consolidated fee on any civil case other than probate, guardianship or mental health — $350 before the case-specific extras of citation, service and any county domestic-relations charges. The Harris County District Clerk's Fee Schedule for Civil and Family cases is the worked example used on this page: it prices post-judgment SAPCR business at $80 for a motion for enforcement and $95 where children are involved, expressly folding in the $15 fee authorised by Family Code §§110.002 and 203.005, and it is the same schedule that prices a Harris County divorce at $350 without children and $365 with them. Counties add citation and service at their own published rates, so confirm your district clerk's current schedule — the statewide context is on the Texas court costs guide and the national overview on the child custody filing costs hub.

Standing, home state and what a SAPCR decides

Standing to file an original SAPCR is defined by Family Code §102.003: parents, a man alleging himself to be the father, a custodian or person having care and control of the child for at least six months (subject to timing limits), a foster parent in defined circumstances, and the child's governmental agencies are the core categories. Jurisdiction follows the UCCJEA in Family Code ch. 152: Texas may make the initial custody determination if it is the child's home state — the state where the child lived with a parent for at least six consecutive months immediately before filing (or since birth for a younger infant). The order itself speaks in Texas vocabulary, not "custody" and "visitation": the court appoints managing conservators — joint managing conservatorship is presumed to be in the child's best interest under §153.131 — and a possessory conservator where applicable, then sets possession and access, typically on the standard possession order in ch. 153, and child support under ch. 154. The best-interest standard of §153.002 governs every one of those choices.

Modification and enforcement: the $80–$95 filings

Most SAPCR litigation happens after the first order. A suit to modify conservatorship or possession must plead and prove the §156.101 ground — materially and substantially changed circumstances, a child aged 12 or older who has expressed a preference in chambers, or voluntary relinquishment of primary care for at least six months — and in Harris County the modification filing with children is the $95 item on the clerk's schedule, built on the $15 Family Code §110.002 filing fee for modification and enforcement suits plus the consolidated charges. Enforcement — compelling compliance with possession or support terms — is the $80 motion ($95 with children). Those figures matter for budgeting because modification and enforcement, not the original petition, are where separated parents actually spend their clerk money over a childhood, and Texas prices them at roughly a quarter of the original filing.

How the case runs

1. Confirm standing under §102.003 and that Texas is the child's home state under ch. 152; complete the Original Petition in Suit Affecting the Parent-Child Relationship (TexasLawHelp publishes the parent SAPCR kit)
2. File with the district clerk in the county where the child lives — by eFileTexas or in person — and pay the base filing $350 ($137 state + $213 local) plus citation $8 in Harris County
3. Have the other parent served by constable, sheriff or certified process server $85 constable service in Harris County, or obtain a signed waiver of service
4. Seek temporary orders if the child needs an immediate schedule, and attend any mediation the court orders before trial
5. Obtain the final order appointing conservators and setting possession and support; later changes proceed by modification $95 with children in Harris County

What custody really costs beyond the clerk

Beyond the base filing, citation and service, a contested SAPCR generates costs no Texas schedule publishes: mediation (commonly ordered before a custody trial and priced by the mediator), amicus attorneys and custody evaluations in high-conflict cases (appointed and priced by the court), and attorney fees, which Texas courts may also award as costs in family cases. This page deliberately prices only what the statutes and the Harris County schedule publish. Two budgeting points are safe, though: service is always extra and per-person, and a parent responding to a SAPCR rather than filing one pays no original filing fee to answer. Compare Ohio custody costs and Pennsylvania custody costs, and the divorce-side base in Texas divorce costs.

Can't afford the fee?

Texas filers who cannot pay file a Statement of Inability to Afford Payment of Court Costs under Rule 145 of the Texas Rules of Civil Procedure, sworn under penalty of perjury, instead of paying at the window. The clerk must docket the case and issue citation without prepayment; the statement can be contested and reviewed by the court, but the case proceeds meanwhile. TexasLawHelp's SAPCR guidance walks parents through filing the statement with the petition. The general mechanics are explained in the fee waiver guide.

Sources: Texas Local Gov't Code §133.151 (state consolidated fee $137 on filing a civil case in district court) and §135.101 (local consolidated fee $213) · Harris County District Clerk — Fee Schedule, Civil and Family (motion for enforcement $80; enforcement/modification with children $95 including the $15 fee under Tex. Fam. Code §§110.002, 203.005; family original filings on the $350 base; citation $8) and Harris County published service schedule (constable in-county service $85) · Tex. Fam. Code §§102.003 (standing), 152.102 (home state), 153.002, 153.131 (joint managing conservatorship presumption), 156.101 (modification grounds) · TexasLawHelp (Texas Legal Services Center) — SAPCR parent guide · Tex. R. Civ. P. 145. Last verified: October 2026 — confirm current figures with your district clerk.