In the best-case scenario of child custody cases for divorcing, separating, or unmarried parents, both parents get past their personal animosity and reach a mutually acceptable agreement on a shared custody schedule that works well for their family.
Colorado courts make all decisions in the best interests of the child. When parents create a custody arrangement that maintains continued close contact with the child for both parents, a judge typically signs it into binding orders.
Unfortunately, not all parents achieve this optimal outcome and instead, they bring their arguments to the court for a judge to decide. Before parents in Colorado can draft an agreement for child custody or present their cases in court, they must first understand the types of child custody considered in Colorado courts. Contact Ciancio Ciancio Brown, P.C. to speak to our Denver child custody lawyers today.
Physical custody in Colorado refers to a court’s orders for with whom a child lives, typically shared between both parents in a legally enforceable schedule.
Legal custody refers to which parent has decision-making custody over the child, or if both parents share decision-making authority over important decisions regarding medical care, education, religion, and extra-curricular activities.
Parents may share legal custody or one parent may have sole authority to make important decisions for the child depending on the circumstances of the case and a judge’s decision.
Shared parental responsibility is also known as “joint custody.” In joint custody arrangements in Colorado, both parents share decision-making authority over a child and equal parenting time according to one of the state’s recommended shared custody schedules.
When a parent has sole parental responsibility (sole custody), they have primary physical custody of the child. The non-custodial parent in this arrangement has visitation rights with a schedule of overnight visits. A common schedule is visitation with the non-custodial parent every other weekend and a mid-week visit from after school until evening. Under this type of custody, one parent may have sole decision-making responsibility or both parents may share decision-making equally.
Equally shared parenting time is a common type of child custody decision in Colorado. The state offers several examples of workable child custody schedules for sharing parenting time as close to 50/50 as possible, including the following:
When parents or a judge decides on a primary custody/visitation schedule, it’s often every other weekend plus one weeknight with the non-custodial parent. This schedule works best for parents who live far apart or when one parent’s work schedule doesn’t accommodate full-time parenting.
If parents are unable to reach an agreement on child custody in Colorado even after attending mediation sessions, they take the case to court for a judge to decide after each side presents their arguments for their desired outcome.
A judge carefully considers the testimony and evidence of each side before making a decision and issuing binding orders for one of the types of Colorado child custody schedules that they believe meets the child’s best interest standard. Under Colorado revised statute §14-10-124, the statute states the following:
“In determining the best interests of the child for purposes of parenting time, the court shall consider all relevant factors.”
The statute goes on to describe relevant factors for determining the type of child custody as the following:
Colorado does not consider a parent’s gender or sexual orientation when making child custody decisions but only decides in the best interests of the child.
The court’s standard of making decisions in a child’s best interest begins with the presumption that continued close contact with both parents is in the child’s best interest. This is a “rebuttable” presumption, meaning one parent can present evidence to the court showing that continued close contact with the other parent is not in their child’s best interest. A parent must make a strong, evidence-based case against the other parent in order for a judge to restrict a parent’s access to their child completely or to order only supervised visitation. Typically, a Colorado judge would consider restricted child custody under circumstances such as the following:
If you think continued unsupervised contact with your child’s other parent endangers your child, an experienced attorney can assist you in making a compelling case in court.
In cases of imminent danger to a child arising after a judge has already issued custody orders, a parent can file a petition for an emergency custody order to obtain custody until a hearing date.
Child support in Colorado is based on a formula that considers all relevant factors, including the total gross incomes of both parents, the number of children in the relationship, and the number of overnight custody stays the children have with each parent. Under this formula, the custody schedule becomes the primary factor in determining which parent pays the other and the monthly amount they must pay—except in cases where one parent earns substantially more than the other, in which case their respective incomes may be the primary factor in the calculation of child support.
In most cases, even when parents share custody equally, one parent still pays the other child support, though the amount may be less if they also make equal or nearly equal incomes. Only rarely do parents make equal incomes and share parenting time so equally that neither parent pays child support in Colorado. Contact a divorce attorney in Denver to help navigate child custody amidst your divorce proceedings.
An experienced Colorado child custody attorney helps facilitate negotiations between parents to arrive at the best child custody schedule for their family’s needs; however, an attorney also understands that sometimes compromise on child custody isn’t possible or even advisable. If this is the case, your lawyer will represent you in your child custody case to make a compelling argument to the court as to why the type of child custody schedule you want is in your child’s best interest.
Call our Denver child custody attorneys at Ciancio Ciancio Brown,P.C. today so we can begin a strong strategy for your child custody orders in Colorado.
