Working out custody in Plano?
In Texas, custody is called conservatorship, and it decides who makes decisions for your child and the schedule each parent follows. Collin County judges decide on the best interest of the child, and the lawyer you choose shapes how your case is presented. Below are the Plano-area family-law firms that show up most consistently across independent rating services, including several with board-certified specialists.
Most Plano custody lawyers bill by the hour against a retainer — commonly $300 to $500 an hour, higher for board-certified specialists, with a retainer of $3,000 to $7,500. Board certification in family law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization is a meaningful credential: fewer than 10% of Texas family lawyers hold it, and it signals tested expertise.
Custody and divorce overlap, so most of these firms handle both. What separates them is trial depth in Collin County courts, how they communicate, and whether their style fits the temperature of your case. A cooperative co-parenting matter is best served by a strong negotiator; a high-conflict case calls for a litigator who tries cases. Talk to two or three before deciding.
How we picked these firms: We cross-referenced Super Lawyers, Avvo, Justia and Expertise.com, then looked for peer recognition, published results, and consistent client review patterns. A firm had to appear across at least two independent sources to make the list. We do not accept payment for placement and we do not write sponsored reviews. Where a firm's size or founding year isn't publicly confirmed, we leave it out rather than guess. More on our methodology →
Practice focus: Custody, divorce, complex family law
One of Texas's most respected family-law firms, with offices serving Collin and Denton counties and a deep bench of board-certified specialists including Jeff Domen, Kathryn J. Murphy, and Ryan R. Bauerle. Recognized by Super Lawyers, D Magazine, and Best Lawyers — a frequent choice for complex custody and high-asset cases.
Practice focus: Custody, divorce, high-net-worth family law
The largest family-law firm in Texas, with a Plano office. President Richard “Rick” Robertson is board certified in family law and has been listed in Super Lawyers each year since 2003. Strong for contested custody and complex financial cases.
Practice focus: Custody, divorce, complex property
CEO Kelly McClure has been board certified in family law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization since 1995. The firm has Dallas and Plano offices and represents clients across Collin, Dallas, Denton, and Tarrant counties.
Practice focus: Custody, divorce, family law
Serving North Texas — Plano, Frisco, Collin and Denton counties — since 2000. Senior partner Chris Oldner is one of a small number of attorneys board certified in both family law and criminal law, useful when a custody case has overlapping issues.
Practice focus: Custody, divorce, family law
Founded in 1992 by Randall Warmbrodt, who is board certified in family law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization. The firm brings more than 60 years of combined experience serving Plano, Allen, Frisco, and McKinney.
Practice focus: Custody, divorce, collaborative law
Partner Nancy Amick has been honored as a Super Lawyer. The firm handles collaborative, uncontested, and complex divorces along with child-custody and support matters.
Practice focus: Custody, divorce, mediation
Founding attorney Natalie Gregg was featured on the cover of the 2015 Texas Super Lawyers magazine. The firm mediates and negotiates custody, visitation, and property matters.
Practice focus: Child custody, fathers' and mothers' rights
A Plano family-law firm focused on child custody, representing both mothers and fathers in custody and possession disputes in Collin County courts.
Practice focus: Custody, fathers' rights, family law
A Plano family-law practice handling contested custody and fathers'-rights matters, listed among the area's family-law firms on independent directories.
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Request Free Consultation →Texas calls custody conservatorship and the schedule possession and access. Most Collin County cases start with an Original Suit Affecting the Parent-Child Relationship (or a divorce that includes children), followed by temporary orders that set an interim schedule. Courts usually order mediation before a contested final hearing, and many cases settle there. If you can't agree, a judge — or in rare cases a jury — decides.
Texas presumes that parents will be joint managing conservators, sharing rights and duties, though one parent typically gets the right to decide the child's primary residence. The schedule often starts from the Standard Possession Order and is adjusted to fit your family. Judges decide on the best interest of the child, weighing stability, each parent's involvement, and any history of family violence. Child support follows the Texas guidelines based on the paying parent's income. A custody lawyer builds the evidence and presents your case.
Most Plano custody lawyers charge $300 to $500 an hour — board-certified specialists at the higher end — against a retainer of roughly $3,000 to $7,500 that the hourly work is billed against. An agreed modification or simple matter can sometimes be flat-fee, but contested custody is hourly because the number of hearings is unpredictable. Mediation, when it works, is the cheapest route. Ask how the retainer works, the hourly rate, who handles the day-to-day work, and what happens to any unused retainer.
Start by matching the lawyer to your case. If you and the other parent can cooperate, a negotiator or collaborative-law practitioner will usually cost less and protect the co-parenting relationship. If the case is high-conflict — relocation, alienation, safety, or a parent who won't negotiate — choose a litigator with real Collin County trial experience, and consider a board-certified family-law specialist. Ask how often cases like yours settle, who will appear in court, and how they communicate. Pick the fit, not just the credentials.
Bring a short list and use the free consultation to compare firms on more than price. Useful questions: How many custody cases like mine have you handled in the last three years, and how many went to trial? Will you personally handle my hearings, or will an associate? How do you bill, and what is a realistic total range for a case like mine? Do you push toward settlement and mediation, or trial, and why for my facts? How quickly do you return calls and emails? What is the single biggest risk in my case? A lawyer who answers plainly — including the parts you won't like — is usually the one worth hiring.
A few errors quietly damage custody cases. Don't badmouth the other parent to or in front of the kids — judges weigh which parent supports the child's relationship with the other. Don't violate a temporary order, even if you think it's unfair; fix it through your lawyer instead. Keep your social media clean and assume the other side will read it. Document the parenting time you actually exercise, since consistency matters. And don't sign an agreement just to end the stress — a parenting plan is hard to change later, so get it right the first time. Outcomes depend on the judge and your specific facts, so lean on your lawyer's read of your county's courts.
It's the Texas term for custody — the legal rights and duties a parent has for a child, including decision-making. Texas presumes parents will be joint managing conservators, though one usually has the right to set the child's primary residence.
Most charge $300 to $500 an hour — board-certified specialists higher — against a retainer of about $3,000 to $7,500. Contested custody is billed hourly; simple matters are sometimes flat-fee.
Often not. Collin County courts usually require mediation first, and many custody cases settle there without a contested trial.
Texas judges decide on the best interest of the child, weighing stability, each parent's involvement and relationship with the child, the child's needs, and any history of family violence.
It means the lawyer passed a rigorous exam and peer review in family law through the Texas Board of Legal Specialization. Fewer than 10% of Texas family lawyers hold it, so it's a strong signal of expertise.
Many Plano family-law firms offer a free or low-cost initial consultation, though some specialists charge for it. Confirm when you call.
Plano is in Collin County, so most cases are heard in the Collin County family courts in McKinney. Cases are filed where the child has lived for the past six months under Texas jurisdiction rules.
A child 12 or older can tell the judge their preference in chambers, but the judge isn't bound by it. The court decides on the child's best interest, weighing the preference as one factor.
One last thing. Choosing a lawyer is personal. Read recent reviews, then talk to two or three firms before you decide. Ask each how many cases like yours they have handled in the last three years — the answer tells you a lot. — The LawFirmSquare team