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.
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.
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.
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 today so we can begin a strong strategy for your child custody orders in Colorado.
