Child Custody in Colorado

Terminology: allocation of parental responsibilities, not custody

Colorado's Uniform Dissolution of Marriage Act framework, C.R.S. Title 14, Article 10, replaced 'custody' and 'visitation' with 'allocation of parental responsibilities.' Decision-making responsibility can go solely to one parent or jointly to both. A joint allocation requires the parents to confer and agree on major decisions. Parenting time is decided separately and does not have to match the decision-making allocation.

C.R.S. § 14-10-124 lists the best-interest factors a court applies. These include the wishes of the parents and, if the child is mature enough, the child's own wishes. The court also looks at the child's relationship with each parent, siblings, and anyone else who significantly affects the child's best interest. It considers the child's adjustment to home, school, and community, and the physical and mental health of everyone involved. Another factor is each parent's ability to encourage a positive relationship between the child and the other parent. Finally, the court weighs evidence of domestic violence, sexual assault, or child abuse; the statute directs courts to weigh this heavily against the parent responsible for it.

Where and how a case starts

Allocation of parental responsibilities is decided in Colorado District Court, the state's general-jurisdiction trial court, in the county where the case is filed. A parent raises the issue inside a Petition for Dissolution of Marriage, a Petition for Legal Separation, or a standalone Petition for Allocation of Parental Responsibilities for unmarried parents. This generally happens alongside establishing paternity, if that has not already been done. Colorado requires at least one party to have been domiciled in the state for at least 91 days before a related dissolution proceeding can be filed. The Colorado Judicial Branch's Self-Help Resources center and its statewide self-help forms library publish the current JDF-series forms and step-by-step filing instructions.

The parenting plan, mediation, and parent education

C.R.S. § 14-10-124 requires an order allocating parental responsibilities to include, or come with, a parenting plan. The plan must cover decision-making responsibility, a parenting-time schedule, and a method for resolving future disputes between the parents. Colorado courts frequently order or strongly encourage mediation before a contested APR hearing, to help parents reach an agreed parenting plan. Many judicial districts operate their own Office of Dispute Resolution or keep lists of approved family mediators. Colorado has no single statewide law requiring every parent to complete a parenting class. But a number of judicial districts require parents in a contested case involving children to complete a locally administered parent education program before a final order. Check the specific district's local rules to confirm.

Changing an allocation of parental responsibilities later

Colorado treats a request to change parenting time differently from a request to change decision-making responsibility. Modifying a parenting-time schedule generally requires only showing that the change serves the child's best interests. Modifying who holds decision-making responsibility, or changing which parent the child primarily lives with, is held to a higher bar under C.R.S. § 14-10-131. Absent an agreement between the parties, or evidence that the current environment endangers the child's physical health or significantly impairs emotional development, a motion to change decision-making responsibility generally cannot be brought within two years of the prior decree. A modification motion is filed in the same District Court case that produced the original order.