When parents break up or divorce, one of the most important questions is how they will share time with their children. In Colorado, this is referred to as parenting time, although you may also hear people use terms such as visitation or custody.
For parents in Colorado Springs, creating a workable parenting schedule can be challenging. School, work schedules, extracurricular activities, holidays, travel, and the distance between two homes can all affect how parenting time should be structured. When it comes to child visitation, the primary consideration for Colorado courts is the best interests of the child.
At Ascent Legal Group, our Colorado Springs family law attorneys help parents address parenting time disputes, establish practical schedules, seek modifications, and enforce existing parenting orders. We understand that every family is different, and our goal is to help you pursue an arrangement that protects your parental rights while serving your child’s best interests. Contact our law offices today to schedule a free 30-minute consultation with a Colorado Springs parenting time lawyer.
What Is Parenting Time in Colorado?
In Colorado, child custody is referred to as the allocation of parental responsibilities (APR). It includes both decision-making authority and parenting time. Decision-making responsibility is the authority to make important decisions about a child’s life, while parenting time is the time that a child spends with each parent.
Parents can reach an agreement regarding parenting time, or a court may establish a schedule when the parents cannot agree. Colorado courts determine parenting time according to the best interests of the child, with the child’s safety and well-being the foremost consideration.
A detailed parenting plan can establish:
- Regular weekday and weekend schedules
- Overnight parenting time
- Holiday and school break schedules
- Summer vacation schedules
- Birthdays and special occasions
- Transportation and exchange arrangements
- Pickup and drop-off locations
- Telephone or video communication
- Travel with the child
- Parenting time when a parent has an unusual work schedule
- Provisions for supervised parenting time when appropriate
A carefully written schedule can reduce uncertainty and give both parents clear expectations.
Creating a Parenting Time Schedule
There is no single parenting schedule that works for every Colorado family. Parents may have equal or substantially shared parenting time. Alternatively, one parent may have significantly more parenting time than the other depending on the circumstances.
For example, parents who live close to one another and have similar work schedules may be able to use an alternating week schedule, a 2-2-3 schedule, or another shared arrangement. For younger children, parents may prefer shorter but more frequent periods of contact. A parent who lives farther away may need a schedule that emphasizes weekends, school breaks, holidays, or extended summer parenting time.
The practical details matter. A schedule that looks reasonable on paper may become difficult if one parent works nights, the child participates in a lot of activities, or if custody exchanges require extensive travel. Parents should consider the child’s routine, school obligations, transportation, extracurricular activities, and each parent’s availability when developing a parenting plan.
How Colorado Courts Determine Parenting Time
Many parents are able to come to an agreement about parenting time that works for them. This is often the best outcome, as parents can craft a schedule that meets their child’s and their own needs.
When parents cannot agree, a Colorado court may determine parenting time based on the best interests of the child. Under Colorado law, the court considers relevant circumstances while giving paramount consideration to the child’s safety and physical, mental, and emotional needs.
Colorado courts are required to consider 9 factors when determining the best interests of the child in allocation of parental responsibilities cases:
- The Parents’ Wishes: The court may consider what each parent wants the parenting schedule to look like. However, a parent’s preference is not automatically controlling. The proposed schedule must ultimately serve the child’s best interests.
- The Child’s Wishes: If the child is sufficiently mature to express a reasoned and independent preference, the court may consider the child’s wishes. This does not mean that the child gets to decide the outcome of the case. The weight given to the child’s preference depends on the circumstances and the child’s maturity.
- The Child’s Relationships: The court may consider the child’s relationships with parents, siblings, and other people who significantly affect the child’s best interests.
- Adjustment to Home, School, and Community: Maintaining stability can be important. The court may consider how a proposed schedule would affect the child’s home life, education, community, and established routines.
- Mental and Physical Health: The physical and mental health of the individuals involved in a child’s care may be relevant to their best interests. Importantly, Colorado law also recognizes that a parent having a disability is not, by itself, a basis for denying or restricting parenting time.
- Each Parent’s Relationship with the Other Parent: Courts may consider whether each parent is willing and able to encourage the child’s relationship with the other parent. However, Colorado law recognizes important exceptions when a parent takes protective action because of domestic violence, child abuse, or neglect.
- Past Involvement: The parents’ history of involvement with the child can help the court understand their time commitments, mutual support, and established roles in the child’s life.
- Distance Between the Parents’ Homes: Physical proximity can affect whether a proposed parenting schedule is practical. A schedule involving frequent exchanges may be difficult when parents live far apart or when transportation creates substantial burdens.
- The Child’s Needs: The court may consider whether each parent can put the child’s needs ahead of their own. Ultimately, parenting time decisions focus on what is best for the child instead of rewarding or punishing either parent.
Colorado courts do not consider the sex of the parties when making parenting time decisions. In other words, mothers do not automatically get a preference in APR cases simply because they are women. Courts also typically do not take into consideration other factors that don’t impact the best interests of the child, such as either parent’s salary, sexual orientation, job, religion, education level, and whether either parent engaged in adultery.
For many parents, the thought of allowing a court to decide how much time they get to spend with their kids is stressful. Our Colorado parenting time lawyers can help you negotiate a parenting schedule that works for you. When necessary, we are prepared to take the case to court to protect your rights as a parent.
Modifying Parenting Time in Colorado Springs
A parenting schedule that worked several years ago may no longer fit a family’s circumstances. Children grow older, parents change jobs, families relocate, and educational or medical needs can change over time.
Colorado law provides procedures for seeking a modification of parenting time. Depending on the type of modification requested and the circumstances involved, different legal standards may apply. For most parenting time changes, the court focuses on whether the proposed modification is necessary to serve the child’s best interests. More substantial changes related to the child’s primary residence may require showing that the child’s present environment endangers them in some way.
Common reasons a parent may seek modification include:
- A significant change in a parent’s work schedule
- A child’s changing school or activity schedule
- The child’s changing developmental needs
- A parent moving to another city or state
- A parent’s inability to follow the existing schedule
- Concerns about the child’s safety or well-being
- A substantial change in family circumstances
Relocation cases can be particularly complicated because moving may substantially affect the child’s relationship with the other parent. Colorado law contains specific provisions addressing relocation and parenting time modifications. Our Colorado Springs parenting time modification attorneys can help you understand your rights and whether modification may be appropriate in your circumstances.
In many cases, there is no fixed waiting period before you can ask the court to adjust a parenting schedule. A request to modify parenting time that does not change which parent the child lives with the majority of the time is generally evaluated under the best interests standard and can be brought when circumstances warrant it.
A stricter rule applies to more significant changes. If a parent seeks a substantial modification that would also change the parent with whom the child primarily resides, Colorado law generally prevents filing another such motion within two years of the last one, unless the child’s present environment endangers their physical health or significantly impairs their emotional development, or the majority-time parent intends to relocate in a way that substantially changes the child’s geographic ties to the other parent. Where parents already share equal parenting time, there is no set two-year waiting period, although courts discourage repeated filings.
Because the standard that applies depends on exactly what you are asking the court to change, it is a good idea to consult with a lawyer before filing. Simply believing that a new schedule would be better usually won’t be enough on its own. Our Colorado Springs parenting time attorneys can help you understand which standard applies to your situation and the likely outcome of a modification request based on the facts of your case.
Enforcing a Parenting Time Order
While some parents work out an informal agreement, if that schedule is not formalized by the court, then it can become a problem down the road. A court-sanctioned parenting plan becomes especially important when parents disagree. If a parent refuses to follow a court-ordered parenting schedule, the other parent may have legal options for seeking enforcement.
Examples of potential parenting-time violations can include:
- Repeatedly refusing to make a child available for scheduled parenting time
- Consistently failing to return a child according to the order
- Interfering with scheduled exchanges
- Unreasonably preventing communication between a parent and child
- Ignoring specific provisions of a parenting plan
- Making unilateral changes to the court-ordered schedule
Parents should be cautious about responding to violations by taking matters into their own hands. For example, withholding child support or refusing to comply with other portions of a parenting order may create additional legal problems.
Instead, you should document what occurred and review the existing order carefully. Messages, emails, calendars, school records, travel documentation, and other relevant evidence may help to establish a pattern of noncompliance. Depending on the circumstances, a parent may ask the court to enforce the existing parenting time order and seek appropriate remedies.
Can Parenting Time Be Restricted?
Colorado courts generally favor equal or shared parenting time as long as it serves the child’s best interests. However, parenting time can be restricted when the evidence establishes that unrestricted parenting time would endanger the child’s physical health or significantly impair the child’s emotional development. When restrictions are imposed or continued, Colorado law requires specific factual findings supporting the restriction.
Concerns involving domestic violence, child abuse, neglect, or other threats to a child’s safety can have a significant effect on parenting time proceedings. Depending on the circumstances, a court may consider measures such as supervised parenting time or other conditions designed to protect the child.
These cases require careful handling. Allegations of any type of abuse or neglect can have serious consequences for everyone involved. Parents should avoid making unsupported accusations simply to gain leverage in a custody dispute.
How a Colorado Springs Child Visitation Attorney Can Help
Parenting disputes are about more than dividing a calendar. The decisions that you make today can affect your child’s daily routine and your relationship with your child for years to come.
An experienced Colorado Springs family law attorney can help you:
- Understand your rights and obligations under Colorado law
- Develop a parenting schedule suited to your family’s circumstances
- Negotiate with the other parent when an agreement is possible
- Prepare a parenting plan for court approval
- Gather and organize relevant evidence
- Request a modification when circumstances have changed
- Respond to a parent’s request to modify parenting time
- Seek enforcement when an existing order is not being followed
- Address relocation-related parenting disputes
- Present your position to the court when relocation is necessary
At Ascent Legal Group, we understand how stressful parenting time decisions can be. Our Colorado Springs family lawyers work to resolve matters amicably when possible. We also are fully prepared to advocate for our clients in court when necessary.
Reach Out for a Free Consultation with a Colorado Parenting Time Lawyer
Parenting time disputes can affect both your relationship with your child and your family’s day-to-day life. Whether you are creating an initial parenting plan, seeking more parenting time, responding to a requested modification, or dealing with a parent who is not following an existing order, having experienced legal guidance can help you understand your rights and determine the best path forward.
At Ascent Legal Group, our Colorado Springs parenting time lawyers help parents pursue practical solutions that protect their parental rights while keeping their children’s best interests at the center of the case. We work to resolve disputes through negotiation when possible, but we are prepared to advocate for you in court when an agreement cannot be reached.
Contact Ascent Legal Group today to schedule a free 30-minute consultation with a Colorado parenting time lawyer. We can discuss your circumstances, answer your questions, and help you understand what steps you can take next. You can schedule your consultation by filling out a contact form or by calling 719-256-0067.
Frequently Asked Questions about Child Visitation in Colorado
Is Visitation the Same Thing As Parenting Time in Colorado?
Yes. Visitation is commonly used to describe the time that a parent spends with a child, but Colorado family law uses the term parenting time. Colorado also uses the broader concept of allocation of parental responsibilities, which includes both parenting time and decision-making responsibilities.
Can My Child Choose Where They Want to Live?
If a child is sufficiently mature to express a reasoned and independent preference, Colorado courts may consider the child’s wishes when determining parenting time. However, the child does not get to make the final decision. The court must consider the child’s best interests and their safety.
How Does Parenting Time Affect Child Support?
Parenting time can affect child support, but it is not the only factor. Colorado calculates child support using both parents’ incomes together with the number of overnights each parent has. The parent with the greater number of overnights often receives support, but this is not automatic. In some cases, a higher-earning parent may still owe support even with the majority of overnights. Our law firm can help you evaluate how a parenting schedule, or a change to it, may affect obligations such as child support in your specific circumstances.
Can Parenting Time Be Changed Without Going to Court?
Parents can agree to changes in a parenting schedule, but an informal agreement may not provide the same certainty or enforceability as a court-approved modification. If you need a new arrangement, instead of smaller changes like swapping days every so often, then it is a good idea to pursue a modification. Our Colorado Springs family law attorneys can help you determine what steps are appropriate based on your circumstances.
Can I Request More Parenting Time If My Circumstances Have Changed?
Possibly. Changes in employment, living arrangements, a child’s needs, or other circumstances may support a request to modify parenting time. In addition to a change in circumstances, you must also demonstrate that the modification would be in your child’s best interests. A Colorado Springs child visitation attorney can help you evaluate your situation and determine if you should move forward with a request for modification.
Resources:
- Colorado Revised Statutes Title 14 – Domestic Matters. Colorado General Assembly. https://content.leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/images/olls/crs2014-title-14.pdf