Texas · Coercive Control
Texas doesn’t have a coercive-control law.Here’s how it still matters in your case.
If you’ve read that some states let courts weigh “coercive control” and wondered where that leaves you in Texas, this is the honest answer: Texas has no such statute, but controlling behavior is not invisible here. It just has to be shown through the tools Texas does have.
I want to start with the honest part, because false hope helps no one in a Texas courtroom. If you were expecting to file something called a “coercive control” claim here, you can’t. Texas has not enacted a coercive-control statute, and none had passed as of the 2025 legislative session.6 California and Connecticut have written the term into their civil domestic-violence laws; Texas has not. That is worth knowing plainly, so you build your case on the ground that actually exists rather than the ground you wish existed.
New to the topic? Start with the overview: coercive control, what it is and how it shows up in family court. Then this Texas guide will make more sense.
If you are in danger right now, call 911.
To talk with someone any time, the National Domestic Violence Hotline is free and confidential, 24/7: call 1-800-799-7233, or text START to 88788 (thehotline.org). If your devices may be monitored, consider using a safer phone or computer.
What Texas recognizes instead.
Texas law is built around a different, narrower concept: family violence. And the definition matters enormously, so here it is in plain terms. Under the Texas Family Code, family violence is an act intended to result in physical harm, bodily injury, assault, or sexual assault, or a threat that reasonably places a family or household member in fear of imminent physical harm, bodily injury, assault, or sexual assault.1 Read that again, because the crux is in it: the definition is anchored to physical harm or the threat of it.
Here is what that means for you, said gently but clearly. Purely non-physical coercive control, the psychological domination, the financial control, the isolation, with no act or threat of physical harm, generally does not by itself meet the Texas definition of family violence.1 That is a real gap, and it is not your imagination if the system has felt like it doesn’t have a box for what you lived. It often doesn’t, at least not directly. But directly is not the only way in, and the rest of this piece is about the ways that do exist.
Texas may not have a name for the whole pattern. It does have tools for its sharpest pieces. Your work is to show those pieces clearly.
Where controlling behavior actually lands in a Texas case.
Because there is no standalone claim, controlling behavior reaches a Texas court through three indirect routes. Each one has a threshold, and understanding those thresholds is how you aim your energy and your documentation.
Family violence and protective orders
Where the controlling conduct includes qualifying acts or threats, a Texas court can issue a protective order. This requires the court to find that family violence has occurred and is likely to occur again, and only then can it impose remedies like no-contact and stay-away orders.2 The limit is the definition: non-physical control that never crosses into a qualifying act or threat generally will not, on its own, support a family-violence protective order. (Texas has separate protective-order tracks for stalking and sexual assault with their own standards, which an attorney can assess.)
Conservatorship consequences
A history or pattern of family violence directly shapes custody in Texas. A court may not appoint joint managing conservators where there is credible evidence of a history or pattern of physical or sexual abuse, must weigh family violence and sexual abuse when limiting a parent’s possession, and generally may not grant access to a parent shown by a preponderance of the evidence to have a history or pattern of family violence in the two years before filing or during the case.3 The leverage is real, but again it turns on conduct that qualifies as abuse or family violence.
The best-interest and Holley analysis
Texas decides custody under the child’s best interest, applying the non-exclusive Holley factors, which include the emotional and physical danger to the child now and in the future, and a parent’s acts or omissions bearing on the parent-child relationship.4 This is the widest door: a court can weigh controlling or abusive conduct and its effect on the child through the best-interest lens, even without a coercive-control statute. It is discretionary and fact-driven, so how much it helps depends on your evidence and your judge.
Notice the thread running through all three: each route still depends on conduct that meets a physical or sexual-abuse trigger, a family-violence finding, or demonstrable danger or harm to the child. None of them recognizes “coercive control” by that name, and none reaches purely non-physical control that never ties to a qualifying act. I would rather you hear that from me now, plainly, than discover it mid-case. It is exactly why documentation of the pieces that do qualify matters so much in Texas.
What this means practically, in Texas.
The honest limits above are not a dead end. They are a map of where to aim. If I were sitting with you here in Texas, this is where I’d start.
- Document the conduct that does qualify: specific threats, any physical incidents, stalking or monitoring, and financial abuse tied to court orders. Dates, records, witnesses. This is what the Texas tools can actually reach.
- Keep a single, dated log of the whole pattern anyway. Even where a piece does not meet the family-violence definition, it can inform the best-interest picture and help your attorney see the shape.
- Ask a Texas family-law attorney which route fits your facts: a protective order, conservatorship arguments under the family-violence provisions, or the best-interest and Holley analysis. This is a legal judgment, and it is theirs to make with you.
- Connect with a domestic violence advocate for safety planning and support. Texas advocates know the local protective-order process well.
- If reunification-style counseling is ever raised, know that a 2025 Texas law now limits what a court can order there, though it does not use the term “coercive control.”5
Aim at what the Texas tools can reach, document it steadily, and let your attorney choose the route. That is ground you can stand on.
Where I stop, and where your Texas attorney begins
I want to be plain about my lane, because in Texas the details decide cases and they are not mine to decide. I am a high-conflict divorce coach who has lived this, not a lawyer and not a therapist. Nothing here is legal advice. Whether your facts meet Texas’s family-violence definition, which protective-order track fits, and how to present the pattern are questions for a licensed Texas family-law attorney, and the emotional weight of it deserves a domestic violence advocate and a good therapist. What I do is help you get organized, name the pattern, communicate with discipline, and prepare, working alongside your attorney rather than in place of them.
Related Texas reading: parental alienation claims in Texas family court, for when the control takes the shape of a false accusation.
Questions Texas parents ask.
If Texas has no coercive-control law, was what I lived not really abuse?
Can I get a Texas protective order for non-physical control alone?
Does controlling behavior affect custody in Texas at all?
Do I need a Texas lawyer, or can coaching handle this?
If you’re facing this in Texas.
You don’t have to figure out which Texas tool fits your situation alone, from fear, the night before a hearing. We can start with a clear head and one real next step. No cost, no pressure.
Free consultation →High-Conflict Divorce Coaching support is not legal advice or therapy. For legal matters, consult a licensed Texas attorney; for safety and emotional support, contact a domestic violence advocate or a licensed professional. Information here about Texas family-court process and the law is general education, current as of 2025, may change, and is not a diagnosis or a substitute for professional counsel. Statutes are cited for general reference; how they apply depends on the facts of your case. National Domestic Violence Hotline: 1-800-799-7233, or text START to 88788 (thehotline.org). In immediate danger, call 911.
Sources.
- Texas Family Code § 71.004 (and related definitions §§ 71.0021, 71.003, 71.005, 71.006). Family Violence. Defines family violence around acts or threats of physical harm, bodily injury, assault, or sexual assault; purely non-physical control generally does not meet it. Statute ↩
- Texas Family Code §§ 81.001, 85.001, 85.022. Protective orders. A family-violence protective order requires the court to find that family violence occurred (as defined in § 71.004) before imposing remedies such as no-contact and stay-away orders. § 85.001, § 85.022 ↩
- Texas Family Code § 153.004. History of Domestic Violence or Sexual Abuse. Bars joint managing conservatorship on credible evidence of a history or pattern of physical or sexual abuse, restricts possession and access for family violence, and sets a two-year window the court must consider. Statute ↩
- Texas Family Code § 153.002; Holley v. Adams, 544 S.W.2d 367 (Tex. 1976). Best interest of the child; Holley factors. Custody is decided by best interest, using non-exclusive factors that include the emotional and physical danger to the child now and in the future. § 153.002 ↩
- Texas H.B. 3783, 89th Leg., R.S. (2025), amending Texas Family Code § 153.010 (eff. June 20, 2025). Limits court-ordered reunification counseling in custody cases; its text does not use “coercive control” or “parental alienation.” Bill history ↩
- The Marshall Project (2025), Is Coercive Control a Crime? Domestic Abuse Laws May Expand in These States; California Fam. Code § 6320; Connecticut Public Act 21-78 (2021). Survey of state coercive-control laws confirming Texas is not among the states that have enacted one, while California and Connecticut have. Survey ↩