Understanding Child Custody Laws in Colorado
The allocation of parental responsibilities (APR) is the legal terminology used to describe the child custody process in Colorado. APR encompasses two broad areas:
- Parenting Time: This refers to where the children will be, and with what parent.
- Decision Making: This refers to decision-making authority in vital areas of their life, from education to medical care, to whether or not the children will have a religious upbringing and which one.
Furthermore, Decision Making can be handled in one of two ways:
- Sole Decision Making: This is where one parent makes the major decisions for the children.
- Joint Decision Making: This is when both parents have an equal say in the major decisions regarding the children, and typically what a Court would order.
Finally, it’s important to note that the two different areas of custody—parenting time and decision making—do not have to be divided the same way. A common example would be one parent getting majority parenting time (the children will live with them mostly, while the other parent gets scheduled parenting time), but also exercising joint decision making.
The underlying reason for this, and all decisions made in APR cases, is that the best interests of the child are always the driving factor in a judge’s decision.
To use the above example, it’s not uncommon for a child’s best interests to be served by living with one parent (for stability and perhaps be closer to their school), while still recognizing that both parents are fit to share in the important decisions about their children’s lives.
This is just one possible outcome. Any combination is possible depending on the unique circumstances of each case and the best interest of your children.
Our Douglas County child custody attorney routinely handles cases in Arapahoe, Adams, Denver, Jefferson, Weld, and Larimer counties. If you are outside of these counties, please call as we may still assist you. Call us at (303) 590-3690 for a free consultation.
We're committed to empowering you to make informed choices for your family and to providing you the highest level of personalized service.
Supervised Visitation Rights in Colorado
Parents who are not awarded primary or joint parenting time of their children will still usually get visitation rights. A judge will typically assume that the best interests of the child are served by having both parents in their lives. There are certainly cases where this isn’t true—domestic violence situations being a prime example. A parent may restrict another parents’ parenting time by a Motion to the Court where they must show that the other parent is a danger to the children’s physical safety or mental well being. Upon filing of this Motion, the other parent’s parenting time is restricted until a hearing is held within fourteen days.
Our founding partner, Attorney Kimberly N. Moreno, has considerable experience working with survivors of domestic violence. Whether its domestic violence, sexual abuse or another reason that you believe your child may be at risk with another parent, don’t hesitate to talk to us. We’re here to help them.
Other reasons for restricting visitation can include drug or alcohol abuse, along with severe irresponsibility in keeping the child safe. In the event a Judge does determine that parenting time should be restricted, there are several options at their disposal. For example, a parent might get visitation, but only with supervision. Or a court may impose certain conditions to the parent exercising parenting time such as drug screening.
