The standing order the 451st and 498th District Courts issue on their own motion in every divorce suit and every suit affecting the parent-child relationship filed in Kendall County: it prohibits disruption of the children, restrains hostile conduct between the parties, preserves property and funds and personal and business records during a divorce case, addresses insurance and specific authorizations, governs service and effect of the order, encourages mediation, and sets out a Children's Bill of Rights. Adopted January 30, 2026, effective immediately upon filing.
Texas > Sixth Administrative Judicial Region > Kendall County > the 451st and 498th District Courts > every divorce suit and every suit affecting the parent-child relationship. Registered under Kendall County (TOPICs doc 2800).
STANDING ORDER ON CHILDREN, PROPERTY & CONDUCT OF PARTIES On its own motion, the 451st District Court and the 498th District Court issues this STANDING ORDER, which shall apply in every divorce suit and every suit affecting the parent-child relationship filed in Kendall County. The District Courts of Kendall County adopt this STANDING ORDER for the protection of the parties, their children, and for the preservation of their property. TABLE OF CONTENTS: 1. NO DISRUPTION OF CHILDREN .... Page 1 2. CONDUCT OF THE PARTIES DURING THE CASE .... Page 2 3. PRESERVATION OF PROPERTY AND USE OF FUNDS DURING DIVORCE CASE .... Page 3 4. PERSONAL AND BUSINESS RECORDS IN DIVORCE CASE .... Page 3 5. INSURANCE IN DIVORCE CASE .... Page 3-4 6. SPECIFIC AUTHORIZATIONS IN DIVORCE CASE .... Page 4 7. SERVICE AND APPLICATION OF THIS ORDER .... Page 4 8. EFFECT OF OTHER COURT ORDERS .... Page 4 9. PARTIES ENCOURAGED TO MEDIATE .... Page 4 10. CHILDREN'S BILL OF RIGHTS .... Page 4-10 11. ADOPTION .... Page 10 1. NO DISRUPTION OF CHILDREN. It is ORDERED that each party is prohibited from doing the following acts concerning any child who is the subject of this case: 1.1 During the pendency of an original suit, removing a child from the State of Texas for the purpose of changing the child's residence, acting directly or in concert with others, without the agreement of both parties or an order of this Court; 1.2 During the pendency of an original suit, disrupting or withdrawing a child from the school or day-care facility where the child is presently enrolled, without the written agreement of both parents or an order of this Court; 1.3 During the pendency of an original suit, hiding or secreting a child from the other parent or changing a child's current place of abode, without the written agreement of both parents or an order of this Court; 1.4 During the pendency of an original suit, disturbing the peace of a child; 1.5 During the pendency of an original suit, making disparaging remarks about each other or the other party's family members, to include but not be limited to the child's grandparents, aunts, uncles, or stepparents; 1.6 During the pendency of an original suit, discussing with a child, or with any other person in the presence of a child, any litigation related to a child or the other party; 1.7 If this is an original divorce action, allowing anyone with whom the party is romantically involved to remain overnight in the home while in possession of a child. Overnight is defined as from 10:00 P.M. until 7:00 A.M. 2 CONDUCT OF THE PARTIES DURING THE CASE. Both parties are ORDERED to refrain from the following acts: 2.1 Communicating in person or in any other manner, including by telephone, electronic voice transmission, video chat, writing, or electronic messaging, with the other party by use of vulgar, profane, obscene, or indecent language or in a course of offensive manner; 2.2 Threatening the other party in person or in any other manner, including by telephone, electronic voice transmission, video chat, writing, or electronic messaging, to take unlawful action against any person; 2.3 Placing one or more telephone calls, anonymously, at an unreasonable hour, in an offensive or repetitious manner, or without a legitimate purpose of communication; 2.4 Opening or diverting mail, e-mail, or any other electronic communication addressed to the other party; 2.5 Using any password or personal identification number to gain access to the other party's e-mail account, bank account, social media account, or any other electronic account; 2.6 Illegally intercepting or recording the other party's electronic communications. 3 PRESERVATION OF PROPERTY AND USE OF FUNDS DURING DIVORCE CASE. These orders apply to electronic records and electronically stored information, regardless of whether the information is stored on a hard drive, in a removable storage device, in cloud storage, or in another electronic storage medium. If this is a divorce case, both parties to the marriage are ORDERED to refrain from doing the following acts: 3.1 Destroying, removing, concealing, encumbering, transferring, or otherwise harming or reducing the value of the property of one or both of the parties; 3.2 Misrepresenting or refusing to disclose to the other party or to the Court, on proper request, the existence, amount, or location of any tangible or intellectual property of one or both of the parties; 3.3 Damaging or destroying the tangible or intellectual property of one or both parties, including any document that represents or embodies anything of value; 3.4 Tampering with the tangible or intellectual property of one or both parties, including any document that represents or embodies anything of value, and causing pecuniary loss or substantial inconvenience to the other party; 3.5 Selling, transferring, assigning, mortgaging, encumbering, or in any other manner alienating any property of either party, whether personal property, real estate property, or intellectual property, and whether separate property or community property, except as specifically authorized by this order; 3.6 Incurring any debt, other than legal expenses in connection with this suit, except as specifically authorized by this order; 3.7 Withdrawing money from any checking or savings account in any financial institution for any purpose, except as specifically authorized by this order; 3.8 Spending any money in either party's possession or subject to either party's control for any purpose, except as specifically authorized by this order; 3.9 Withdrawing or borrowing in any manner for any purpose from any retirement, profit-sharing, pension, death, or other employee benefit plan, employee savings plan, individual retirement account, or Keogh account, of either party, except as specifically authorized by this order; 3.10 Signing or endorsing the other party's name on any negotiable instrument, check, or draft, including a tax refund, insurance payment, and dividend, or attempting to negotiate any negotiable instrument payable to the other party without the personal signature of the other party; 3.11 Taking any action to terminate or limit credit or charge cards in the name of the other party; 3.12 Entering, operating, or exercising control over a motor vehicle in the possession of the other party; 3.13 Discontinuing or altering the withholding for federal income taxes from either party's wages or salary; 3.14 Terminating or in any manner affecting the service of water, electricity, gas, telephone, cable television, or any other contractual service, such as security, pest control, landscaping, or yard maintenance at the other party's residence, or in any manner attempting to withdraw any deposit paid in connection with such services. 4 PERSONAL AND BUSINESS RECORDS IN DIVORCE CASE. These orders apply to the electronic records and electronically stored information, regardless of whether the information is stored on a hard drive, in a removable storage device, in cloud storage, or in another electronic storage medium. If this is a divorce case, both parties to the marriage are ORDERED to refrain from doing the following acts: 4.1 Concealing or destroying any family records, property records, business records, or any records of income, debts, or other obligations; 4.2 Falsifying any writing or record relating to the property of either party; 4.3 Destroying, disposing of, or altering any financial record of either party, including a canceled check, a deposit slip, any other record from a financial institution, a record of credit purchases or cash advances, a tax return, or a financial statement; 4.4 Destroying, disposing of, or altering any e-mail, text message, video message, chat message, or other electronic information relevant to the suit; 4.5 Modifying, changing, or altering the native format or metadata of any electronic information relevant to the suit; 4.6 Deleting any data or content from any social network profile used or created by either party or a child of the parties. 5 INSURANCE IN DIVORCE CASE. If this is a divorce case, both parties to the marriage are specifically authorized to do the following: 5.1 To engage in acts reasonable and necessary to conduct that party's usual business and occupation; 5.2 To make expenditures and incur indebtedness for reasonable attorney's fees and expenses in connection with this suit; 5.3 Canceling, altering, failing to renew or pay premiums on, or in any manner affecting the level of coverage that existed at the time the suit was filed, of any life, casualty, automobile, or health insurance policy insuring the parties' property or persons, including a child of the parties. 6 SPECIFIC AUTHORIZATIONS IN DIVORCE CASE. If this is a divorce case, both parties to the marriage are specifically authorized to do the following: 6.1 To engage in acts reasonable and necessary to conduct that party's usual business and occupation; 6.2 To make expenditures and incur indebtedness for reasonable attorney's fees and expenses in connection with this suit; 6.3 To make expenditures and incur indebtedness for reasonable and necessary living expenses for food, clothing, shelter, transportation, and medical care. 7 SERVICE AND APPLICATION OF THIS ORDER. 7.1 The Petitioner shall attach a copy of this order to the original petition and to each copy of the petition. At the time the petition is filed, if the Petitioner has failed to attach a copy of this order to the petition and any copy of the petition, the Clerk shall ensure that a copy of this order is attached to the petition and every copy of the petition presented; 7.2 This order is effective upon the filing of the original petition and shall remain in full force and effect as a temporary restraining order for fourteen days after the date of the filing of the original petition. If no party contests this order by presenting evidence at a hearing on or before fourteen days after the date of the filing of the original petition, this order shall continue in full force and effect as a temporary injunction until further order of this court. This entire order will terminate and will no longer be effective when the court signs a final order or the case is dismissed. 8 EFFECT OF OTHER COURT ORDERS. If any part of this order is different from any part of a protective order that has already been entered or is later entered, the protective order provisions prevail. Any part of this order not changed by some later order remains in full force and effect until the court signs a final order. 9 PARTIES ENCOURAGED TO MEDIATE. The parties are encouraged to settle their disputes amicably without court intervention. The parties are encouraged to use alternative dispute resolution methods, such as mediation, to resolve the conflicts that may arise in this lawsuit. 10 CHILDREN'S BILL OF RIGHTS. Marriage is a contract between adults, and when it ends, the matter is between the adults also. Yet no parental action has a greater impact on children. Children love their parents and want to be with them. Even in times of great stress, parents have a responsibility to conduct their legal affairs in a manner that will protect their children from adult conflicts. This Children's Bill of Rights shall be adhered to during the pendency of the proceeding of which the child is subject. Each adult party shall make this document known to every other adult who has any significant role in the child's life as a caretaker. The term "child" as used below refers to each and every child subject to this suit. 10.1 Neither parent shall deny the child reasonable use of the telephone to place and receive calls with the other parent and relatives. 10.2 Neither parent shall speak or write derogatory remarks about the other parent to the child, or engage in abusive, coarse or foul language, which can be overheard by the child whether or not the language involves the other parent. 10.3 Neither parent shall permit the children to overhear arguments, negotiations or other substantive discussions about legal or business dealings between the parents. 10.4 Neither parent shall physically or psychologically attempt to pressure or attempt to influence the children concerning the personal opinion or position of the child concerning legal proceedings between the parents. 10.5 Each parent will permit the child to display photographs of the other parent or both parents in the child's room. 10.6 Neither parent shall communicate moral judgments about the other parent to the child concerning the other parent's choice of values, lifestyle, choice of friends, successes or failures in life (career, financial, relational) or residential choice. 10.7 The parents will acknowledge to the child that the child has two homes although the child may spend more time at one home than the other. 10.8 The parents shall cooperate to the greatest extent practicable in sharing time with the child. 10.9 Each parent will permit the child to retain, and allow easy access to, correspondence, greeting cards, and other written materials received from the other parent. 10.10 Each parent will respect the physical integrity of items possessed by the child which depict the other parent or remind the child of the other parent. 10.11 Neither parent will trivialize, or deny the existence of the other parent to the child. 10.12 Neither parent will interrogate the child about the other parent nor will either parent discourage comments by the child about the other parent. 10.13 Neither parent will intercept, "lose", derail, "forget" or otherwise interfere with communications to the child from the other parent. 10.14 Neither parent will refuse to acknowledge that the child can have or should have good experiences with the other parent. 10.15 Neither parent will directly or indirectly attack or criticize to the child the extended family of the other parent, the other parent's career, the living and travel arrangements of the other parent, or lawful activities of the other parent or associates of the other parent. 10.16 Neither parent will use the child as a "middleman" by using the child to communicate with the other parent on inappropriate topics. 10.17 Neither parent will undermine the other parent in the eyes of the child by engaging in the "circumstantial syndrome" which is done by manipulating, changing, or rearranging facts. 10.18 Neither parent will create for, or exaggerate to, the child differences between the parents. 10.19 Neither parent will say and do things with an eye to gaining the child as an "ally" against the other parent. 10.20 Neither parent will encourage or instruct the child to be disobedient to the other parent, stepparents, or relatives. 10.21 Neither parent will reward the child to act negatively toward the other parent. 10.22 Neither parent will try to make the child believe he or she loves the child more than the other parent, by, for example, saying that he or she loves the child more than the other parent or over-informing the child on adult topics or overindulging the child. 10.23 Neither parent will discuss child support issues with the child. 10.24 Neither parent will engage in judgmental, opinionated or negative commentary, physical inspections or interrogations once the child arrives from his/her other home. 10.25 Neither parent will "rewrite" or "re-script" facts which the child originally knows to be different. 10.26 Neither parent will punish the child physically or threaten such punishment in order to influence the child to adopt the parent's negative program, if any, against the other parent. 10.27 Neither parent will permit the child to be transported by a person who is intoxicated due to consumption of alcohol or illegal drugs. 10.28 Each parent will permit the child to carry gifts, toys, clothing, and other items belonging to the child with him or her to the residence of the other parent or relatives or permit the child to take gifts, toys, clothing, and other items belonging to the child back to the residence of the other parent, as the case may be, to facilitate the child having with him or her objects, important to the child. The gifts, toys, clothing and other items belonging to the child referred to here mean items which are reasonable transportable and does not include pets (which the parents agree are impractical to move about). 11 ADOPTION. These rules shall become effective as of the date delineated below until amended, repealed or modified by the District Courts. Each numbered or lettered paragraph of these rules shall be considered separate and distinct from all other portions hereof, and if any portion should be declared by a higher Court to be improper, such declaration will not affect any other portion not so declared to be improper. The District Clerk is directed to furnish a copy of these rules to the Supreme Court of Texas pursuant to Rule 3a of the Texas Rules of Civil Procedure, and to record these rules in the Minutes of the 451st AND THE 498th District Courts of Kendall County. Adopted on this 30 day of January, 2026, to become effective immediately upon filing. __________________________________ [signature] Judge Kirsten B. Cohoon 451st Judicial District Court Kendall County, Texas __________________________________ [signature] Judge M. Katherine McDaniel 498th Judicial District Court Kendall County, Texas [File stamp: FILED 2026 JAN 30 PH 2:39; Susan Jackson, District Clerk, Kendall County, Texas]
STANDING ORDER ON CHILDREN, PROPERTY & CONDUCT OF PARTIES On its own motion, the 451st District Court and the 498th District Court issues this STANDING ORDER, which shall apply in every divorce suit and every suit affecting the parent-child relationship filed in Kendall County. The District Courts of Kendall County adopt this STANDING ORDER for the protection of the parties, their children, and for the preservation of their property. TABLE OF CONTENTS: 1. NO DISRUPTION OF CHILDREN .... Page 1 2.
Reviewer note: Composed 2026-09-12 (AJR-6 Sixth Region build) from BenchPath custody registered/2800.pdf (application/pdf, 2107348 bytes, sha256 7cdf409458e07904aeb118bb1632ef9ba31cfdfcf569174142091e4fdbe88c8c; 7 pages) — the TOPICs-registered document. Transcribed in full from the document text layer; running footers removed, header OCR artifacts corrected (451st/498th), signature block shown as [signature]. Signed by Judge Kirsten B. Cohoon (451st) and Judge M. Katherine McDaniel (498th).
Standing order of the 109th Judicial District Court for every pending or later-filed case in Andrews, Winkler and Crane Counties: any attorney or self-represented litigant who uses any form of artificial intelligence for legal research or drafting in a case must, before using AI-generated information in a court submission or proceeding, sign and submit the court's certification form stating that all language, quotations, sources, citations, arguments and legal analysis created or contributed to by generative AI were verified as accurate by a human through traditional (non-AI) legal sources, and acknowledging responsibility and potential sanctions for their or their co-counsel's failure to comply. Effective immediately; in effect until rescinded or replaced.
Standing order of the 109th Judicial District Court for every pending or later-filed case in Andrews, Winkler and Crane Counties: any attorney or self-represented litigant who uses any form of artificial intelligence for legal research or drafting in a case must, before using AI-generated information in a court submission or proceeding, sign and submit the court's certification form stating that all language, quotations, sources, citations, arguments and legal analysis created or contributed to by generative AI were verified as accurate by a human through traditional (non-AI) legal sources, and acknowledging responsibility and potential sanctions for their or their co-counsel's failure to comply. Effective immediately; in effect until rescinded or replaced.