Every family is unique, and in Colorado same-sex parents have the same rights as other parents when it comes to divorce and child custody. Colorado family courts uphold a child’s best interests as their standard in all legal decision-making, including in child custody cases. The wording of all Colorado child custody laws is gender-neutral, allowing the courts to act in an unbiased way rather than showing preferential treatment toward mothers or fathers or in cases of same-sex parents seeking child custody. Call our experienced Denver child custody attorneys can assist you as you fight for your parental rights.
Under the “best interests of the child” standard, courts begin each child custody case with the presumption that a child should have continued close contact with both parents, including in same-sex divorce cases. In Colorado, shared parental responsibility is a common outcome for child custody, with 50/50 shared parenting time as the ideal goal. Also known as “joint custody,” a shared parenting schedule allows both parents to share physical custody of their children and legal decision-making authority. If a judge determines that the divorcing spouses are unable to communicate and compromise effectively, they may award legal (decision-making) custody to one parent rather than both.
Sole custody is a less common outcome in today’s divorces, but may still be in a child’s best interests, depending on the circumstances of the case. A parent awarded sole parental responsibility, or sole custody, has primary custody of the child while the other parent has visitation rights, including overnight visits. The most common primary custody/visitation schedule has the child stay with the non-custodial parent every other weekend with an additional mid-week visit from after school until evening.
It’s always beneficial to a family going forward after a divorce if both parents can reach an agreement on their child custody schedule rather than arguing the matter in court for a judge to decide. Unfortunately, the adversarial nature of most divorces makes this challenging in many cases. Under some circumstances, reaching an out-of-court agreement for child custody isn’t possible or even advisable, particularly in cases of abuse, neglect, or serious addiction. When parents cannot reach a custody agreement, a judge in Colorado decides for them. The following considerations for child custody are the same for same-sex parents as other parents:
A judge also considers allegations of abuse, neglect, or addiction, and whether or not one parent made false allegations of the same against the other parent.
While Colorado family law has evolved to afford same-sex parents the same rights during a custody case as other parents, potential complications sometimes arise. For example, if one parent didn’t legalize their parental relationship with their spouse’s child during the marriage and the other parent refuses to consider sharing parenting time, the non-biological parent must seek shared custody through a paternity or maternity action to establish parental rights. They could also exert their rights under the “parental presumption law.” When a child has another biological parent who could establish parental rights as well, it further complicates custody in same sex divorces.
Same-sex spouses may face unique challenges in a child custody case in Colorado despite having the same rights and obligations as other parents. Reach out to the experienced child custody attorneys at Ciancio Ciancio Brown, P.C. today for a consultation so we can craft a strong strategy for the specific circumstances of your case.
