Amicus Attorney in Texas Custody Cases

Last updated: September 8, 2026

When a Texas custody case becomes contested enough that the judge wants an independent view of the child's circumstances, the court may appoint an amicus attorney. The role is defined in Texas Family Code Chapter 107, and it is one of the most consequential and least understood appointments in family law.

The single most important thing to understand: the amicus is not on your side, is not on your child's side in the ordinary sense, and owes you no confidentiality.

What an Amicus Attorney Is

Section 107.001(1) defines an amicus attorney as an attorney appointed by the court in a suit, other than a suit filed by a governmental entity, whose role is to provide legal services necessary to assist the court in protecting a child's best interests — rather than to provide legal services to the child.

That last clause is the whole distinction. The amicus's client, functionally, is the court's need for information. The child is the subject of the inquiry, not the client.

Under § 107.021, the court may appoint an amicus attorney, an attorney ad litem, or a guardian ad litem in a contested SAPCR in which the best interests of the child are at issue. The appointment is discretionary in private suits.

What an Amicus Attorney Does

Section 107.0265(c) sets out the powers and duties of an amicus attorney. They closely track those of an attorney ad litem under § 107.003, but they are now a separate section — H.B. 2530 moved the amicus provisions into their own group of sections effective 1 September 2025. An amicus generally will:

• Interview the child — the statute requires interviewing a child aged four or older, in a developmentally appropriate manner
• Interview each parent and other parties to the suit
• Interview collateral witnesses: teachers, counselors, physicians, daycare providers, relatives, new partners
• Review records — school, medical, mental health, law enforcement, CPS
• Visit the homes of one or both parents, sometimes announced and sometimes not
• Participate in the litigation: attend hearings, conduct discovery, examine witnesses, and make arguments — which § 107.0265(c)(3)(H) describes as summarising evidence and suggesting reasonable inferences and deductions drawn from it. For a suit filed on or after 1 September 2025, those arguments may not include an opinion on conservatorship or possession of or access to the child (§ 107.027(a)(1)). The definition in § 107.001(1) still refers to an amicus “acting as a witness or making recommendations to the court”; that language was added by section 1 of the same Act and sits against the limitations above — see the note in this page’s source.

Under § 107.0265(a), the amicus attorney's primary duty is to review the facts and circumstances of the case and advocate the best interests of the child. Subsection (b) then says it outright: an amicus “is not bound by the expressed objectives of a child who is the subject of the suit.” If a child says they want to live with one parent and the amicus concludes otherwise, the amicus advocates the conclusion, not the wish.

Those duties are also subject to the specific limitations in the order of appointment under § 107.024, so read the appointment order — it can narrow what the amicus is authorised to do. Section 107.027 places further limits on amicus powers, and § 107.026 sets the standard of care.

Nothing You Say Is Confidential

Because an amicus is a lawyer, conducts interviews conversationally, and often meets in informal settings, parents routinely treat these conversations as protected. They are not. Assume every word will be repeated to the judge, because it may be.

Amicus, Attorney Ad Litem, Guardian Ad Litem

Chapter 107 creates three distinct roles that are constantly confused with one another.

A single case can include more than one of these. Read your appointment order carefully to see which role was actually created — the practical consequences differ substantially.

On the confidentiality column: the amicus row is answered for the law as it now stands. H.B. 2530 took effect 1 September 2025 and applies only to suits filed on or after that date; section 8 of the Act continues the previous law in effect for suits filed earlier. Under that earlier law, former § 107.005(c) did restrict an amicus from disclosing a child's communications, unless the amicus determined disclosure was necessary to assist the court in protecting the child's best interests. Check your filing date before relying on this row.

Who Pays, and How Much

Under § 107.023, the court may determine that amicus fees are necessaries for the child and order one or both parents to pay them, allocating the burden as the court finds appropriate. Courts frequently order payment in advance, in periodic installments, and may require a retainer before the amicus begins work.

In a contested case, an amicus appointment can add thousands of dollars in cost. If you cannot pay, say so early and in writing rather than accruing arrears — § 107.023 contemplates the court considering ability to pay, and a party found indigent may be treated differently. See our SAPCR cost guide and the legal aid directory.

How to Work With an Amicus Attorney

1. Be accurate rather than persuasive. Amicus attorneys interview many people and cross-check. An exaggeration that gets caught costs more than the point it was meant to win.
2. Do not coach your child. It is usually detectable, and it is close to the most damaging thing a parent can do in this process.
3. Respond promptly to requests for records and releases. Delay reads as concealment.
4. Keep the focus on the child. Criticism of the other parent lands better when it is specific, documented, and tied to an effect on the child.
5. Assume nothing is off the record — including text messages, voicemails, and remarks made in a hallway.
6. Keep your own records of every interaction with the amicus, including dates and what was discussed.

Challenging What the Amicus Puts Before the Court

Suits filed on or after 1 September 2025. Under § 107.027(a)(1) an amicus attorney may not offer an opinion regarding conservatorship, or possession of or access to a child. There is no "amicus recommendation" on those questions to challenge, because the statute does not permit one to be offered. If an amicus does offer such an opinion, that itself is the objection. The amicus also may not engage in ex parte communications with the court (§ 107.027(a)(2)).

Suits filed before 1 September 2025. The pre-2025 chapter did not carry that prohibition, and an amicus in an older case may well have made recommendations on conservatorship and possession. But even then the amicus could not submit a report into evidence or testify, under the version of § 107.007 in force at the time. What an amicus argued reached the judge as advocacy, not as sworn evidence — which is the distinction that matters when you are deciding what can be cross-examined.

What holds under both. The amicus does not decide anything; the judge does. An amicus cannot be cross-examined as a witness on the thoroughness of their investigation, because an amicus does not testify to it. Where the facts an amicus relied on are contested, they are contested through the evidence itself — the witnesses, records and testimony actually before the court — not by putting the amicus on the stand.

Chapter 107 also addresses removal: a party may move to remove an appointed amicus or ad litem for cause, and the court retains authority over its own appointments. For a suit filed on or after 1 September 2025, §§ 107.0255 and 107.0275 govern conflicts of interest, bias and removal, and § 107.027(a)(6)(B) permits amicus testimony on exactly those questions.

If You Never Got the Chance to Participate

An amicus investigation is meaningless if one parent is never in the case. Where a default judgment was entered without notice, no one interviewed the absent parent, no one visited their home, and the resulting order reflects a one-sided record. If that describes your situation, the place to begin is the service record — whether a return of service was filed and what address appears on any Certificate of Last Known Address.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is an amicus attorney in Texas?

An attorney appointed under § 107.001(1) to provide legal services assisting the court in protecting a child's best interests, rather than to provide legal services to the child.

Is what I tell an amicus attorney confidential?

No. The amicus does not represent you and owes you no confidentiality. Assume anything you say may reach the court.

Who pays for an amicus attorney?

The court allocates the cost, and under § 107.023 may treat the fees as necessaries for the child and order one or both parents to pay, often in advance.

Can I refuse to meet with the amicus?

You can decline, but refusing to cooperate with a court-appointed amicus is nearly always damaging. The amicus cannot submit a report into evidence or testify about the refusal (§ 107.027(a)(5)–(6); § 107.007(a)(3)–(4) for suits filed before 1 September 2025), but the amicus still advocates in your case, the court can be told through other means, and declining to speak leaves your account of the facts out of a process that continues without it.

Does the judge have to follow what the amicus says?

No — and for a suit filed on or after 1 September 2025 the question is narrower than it used to be. Under § 107.027(a)(1) an amicus may not offer an opinion on conservatorship or possession of or access to a child at all. Whatever an amicus does put forward is advocacy, not evidence: an amicus may not submit a report into evidence or testify, under both the current and the prior version of chapter 107. Neither version's bar reaches an attorney's duty to report child abuse or neglect under § 261.101 (§ 107.027(b); § 107.007(b) before it). The judge decides on the record.