High-Conflict Divorce and Custody in Texas
Most divorce and custody cases in Rockwall and Collin County settle without much of a fight. This page is for the cases that don’t — where the other side won’t negotiate, won’t follow the order, or is using the children as leverage. If that’s where you are, here is what actually matters, and what a case like this really involves.
What Actually Makes a Case “High Conflict”
The term gets used loosely. In practice, we mean something specific: a case where one side won’t engage in good faith. That can look like refusing to respond to reasonable settlement proposals, withholding financial information, violating a temporary order the day after it’s signed, coaching a child against the other parent, or making allegations that don’t hold up when examined. It is not the same thing as a case that is simply emotional, or a divorce where both people are hurt and angry but still capable of reaching an agreement. Most cases are the second kind. This page is about the first.
Why This Is the Case That (Often) Actually Needs Temporary Orders and Discovery
We tell most clients that a contested temporary orders hearing and formal discovery often add unnecessary cost without adding value if the parties already have the information they need and can agree on how to run two households while a case is pending. Also, good professional lawyers can make informal agreements to exchange information that we know the other party needs to make informed decisions.
A high-conflict case is the exception to this general advice, not a contradiction of it. When the other side won’t voluntarily disclose what they own, won’t follow an informal schedule, or can’t be trusted to keep the children out of the dispute, temporary orders, court interventions, and formal discovery stop being optional — they become the tools that get you a schedule and a set of facts a judge can enforce. The same honesty that tells most clients to skip these steps is what tells a high-conflict client to use them. It’s about return on investment: high-conflict cases require a better evaluation and use of the tools available to impose structure on the process where trust is missing to guide the case.
Read more: Most divorces don’t need temporary orders — some absolutely do, and how to tell which case you are in.
Parental Alienation and False Allegations
Two of the most damaging patterns in high-conflict cases, and two of the hardest to prove.
Parental Alienation
Alienation is a pattern, not a single conversation — a parent consistently undermining the child’s relationship with the other parent, through comments, restricted contact, or putting a child in the middle of adult decisions. Texas courts take it seriously when it’s documented, and documentation is the difference between a real claim and an accusation that goes nowhere. We help clients build a record: what was said, when, by whom, and how it shows up in the child’s behavior.
False Allegations
The reverse happens too — allegations of abuse or neglect raised, sometimes in good faith and sometimes as a tactic, in the middle of a custody fight. Either way, the allegation has to be addressed directly and factually. We’ve handled both sides of this: clients who were wrongly accused and needed to clear the record, and clients whose real safety concerns were not being taken seriously enough.
Read more: What parental alienation actually means in a Texas custody case, what courts do about it, and what to do if you are the one being accused. See also what happens when the other parent lies in court.
When the Other Parent Won’t Follow the Order
An order that isn’t followed is common in high-conflict cases, and Texas courts have real enforcement tools — for possession and access, for child support, for nearly any term of a final decree. See Modifications & Enforcement for how that process works.
Read more: What to do when a parent refuses to hand over the children — the steps that preserve your case, and the ones that quietly destroy it.
Supervised Visitation — When Courts Actually Order It
Supervised access is not the default, and courts don’t order it lightly. It comes up when there is a genuine, specific safety concern — family violence, active substance abuse, a credible threat to the child. It can be short-term, tied to a condition the other parent has to meet, or longer, depending on the facts. If you believe supervision is warranted, or if it’s being sought against you without real cause, the difference is entirely in what you can document.
Amicus Attorneys and Attorneys Ad Litem
In contested custody cases, Texas courts sometimes appoint a lawyer to represent the child’s interests directly, separate from either parent’s case. An attorney ad litem represents the child as a client and advocates for the child’s expressed wishes. An amicus attorney investigates the family’s circumstances and makes an independent recommendation to the court about what serves the child’s best interest — a different role, even though people often use the terms interchangeably. Either way, that person’s report and recommendation carries real weight, and how a family presents itself to them matters.
Read more: Amicus attorney vs. attorney ad litem — what each one does, and when a Texas court appoints them.
Co-Parenting With Someone Who Won’t Negotiate
If you’re searching because you believe the person on the other side is a narcissist, we’re not going to tell you the word is wrong. What we will tell you is that a judge doesn’t rule on a diagnosis — none of us in this office is qualified to make one, and a court won’t act on it either. What a judge rules on is conduct: violated orders, refusal to communicate in good faith, using the children as leverage. We build the case on what can be documented and shown, not on a label, because that’s what actually moves a courtroom.
Read more: How to divorce a narcissist in Texas, and how you actually prove difficult behavior — you prove the conduct, not the label.
When Mediation Fails
Every Rockwall court, and most Collin County courts, order mediation before trial. In an ordinary case, that works — a mediator helps two reasonable people find the deal neither had thought of. In a genuinely high-conflict case, mediation sometimes produces nothing, because one side isn’t there to negotiate. That’s not a failure of the process; it’s information. It tells the court, and it tells us, that the case is headed to a contested hearing, and we prepare it that way from the start rather than treating mediation as a formality to get through.
How We Handle These Cases
High-conflict cases are where having more than one experienced person on your side matters most. David Eaker has spent decades in the Rockwall and Collin County courts these cases move through. Leslie Alvarez, our associate attorney, works matters under his direction at her own rate, and Heather Mixon, our paralegal, brings more than twenty years of family law experience to the documentation and preparation these cases demand. The team approach means the case doesn’t stall because one person is in trial — and it means you’re not paying an attorney’s hourly rate for work that doesn’t require one.
Common Questions
What actually counts as a “high-conflict” case?
A case where the other side won’t engage in good faith — refusing to negotiate, violating orders, withholding information, or involving the children in the dispute. It’s different from a divorce that’s simply emotional but still workable.
Do I need to prove my ex is a narcissist to win custody?
No. Texas courts decide custody based on conduct and the child’s best interest, not on a diagnosis. What matters is what you can document and show — not the label you’d use for the other parent.
What is parental alienation, and how do I prove it?
It’s a pattern of one parent undermining the child’s relationship with the other parent. Proving it requires documentation — specific incidents, dates, and how it shows up in the child’s behavior — rather than a general impression.
What does an amicus attorney or attorney ad litem do?
Both represent the child’s interests separately from either parent, but differently: an attorney ad litem advocates for what the child wants, while an amicus attorney investigates and recommends what the court should do based on the child’s best interest.
What happens if mediation doesn’t work?
The case proceeds to a contested hearing. In a genuinely high-conflict case, we prepare for that possibility from the start rather than assuming mediation will resolve it.
What if the other parent isn’t following the custody order right now?
Texas courts have real enforcement tools for possession and access, child support, and other order terms. See our Modifications & Enforcement page for how that process works.