WHAT DO COLORADO PARENTS ASK MOST ABOUT CHILD CUSTODY?
These are the Colorado child custody questions parents ask most, with short answers based on current Colorado law. Colorado calls what most people know as custody the allocation of parental responsibilities: decision-making responsibility and parenting time, both decided by the child's best interests.
Each answer is deliberately brief and links to a longer guide. For the full framework, start with our overview of Colorado custody laws.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
- How Parenting Time Is Divided
- Questions About the Children
- Starting a Case
- After Orders Are Entered
- Frequently Asked Questions
- Talking With a Colorado Springs Child Custody Attorney
- Sources
HOW PARENTING TIME IS DIVIDED
Is There a 50/50 Presumption in Colorado?
No. Colorado law does not presume equal parenting time. A 2026 bill, Senate Bill 26-027, would have created a presumption of equal time when both parents live within 25 miles of a reasonable location such as the child's school, but a Senate committee postponed it indefinitely on February 3, 2026.
A judge can order equal time when it serves the child, but the statute does not start from any number. The legislature's declaration in C.R.S. 14-10-124 favors frequent and continuing contact with both parents in most circumstances, which is a policy, not a 50/50 rule.
Do Mothers Get Preference in Colorado?
No. The same statute says the court shall not presume that any person is better able to serve the child's best interests because of that person's sex. The court looks at the factors instead, such as each parent's past involvement and ability to support the child's relationship with the other parent. Our article on fathers' rights in Colorado goes further.
Does Joint Decision-Making Mean Equal Time?
No. Decision-making responsibility and parenting time are allocated separately. Parents can share major decisions under an unequal schedule, or have equal time while one parent decides certain issues alone.
QUESTIONS ABOUT THE CHILDREN
At What Age Can a Child Choose Which Parent to Live With?
There is no age in Colorado at which a child chooses. The court considers a child's wishes as one factor, if the child is sufficiently mature to express reasoned and independent preferences about the parenting time schedule. How those views reach the judge is explained in our article on whether a child can choose which parent to live with in Colorado.
Will the Court Appoint Someone for My Child?
Sometimes. On a party's motion or its own, the court may appoint a Child and Family Investigator under C.R.S. 14-10-116.5, a Parental Responsibilities Evaluator under C.R.S. 14-10-127, or a Child's Legal Representative under C.R.S. 14-10-116.
The parties are usually ordered to pay. See does your child need a lawyer for how the child's representative works.
STARTING A CASE
What If We Were Never Married?
The same best interests rules apply. A parent can file a petition for allocation of parental responsibilities in the county where the child lives under C.R.S. 14-10-123, and the court determines legal parentage as part of the case. Our guide to custody laws for unmarried parents in Colorado covers the details.
Do I Need a Parenting Plan?
In practice, yes. Every order allocating parental responsibilities is carried out through a parenting plan: under C.R.S. 14-10-124, parents may submit one, and if none is submitted or approved, the court writes its own. The Judicial Branch's Parenting Plan form, JDF 1113, can be filed as an agreed plan or as separate proposed plans, and an agreed plan lets you control the details rather than leaving them to a judge.
Do We Have to Go to Mediation?
In El Paso and Teller counties, usually yes: a Fourth Judicial District blanket order requires a remote mediation session of at least two hours before a court hearing in domestic cases. A party unwilling to mediate because of claimed physical or psychological abuse by the other party can ask the court to waive it. Elsewhere in Colorado, a judge may order mediation, but no statewide statute requires it in every case.
How Long Does a Custody Case Take?
There is no fixed timeline.
In a divorce, the court cannot enter a decree until at least 91 days after it gains jurisdiction over the respondent under C.R.S. 14-10-106. Agreements move fastest; an evaluation adds time, and a Parental Responsibilities Evaluator's report must be delivered at least 21 days before the hearing. Our Colorado divorce timeline walks through each stage.
AFTER ORDERS ARE ENTERED
Can I Move With My Child?
Not without following the rules. While a case is pending, an automatic temporary injunction bars either parent from removing the child from Colorado without the other's consent or a court order, under C.R.S. 14-10-123 in parental responsibilities cases and C.R.S. 14-10-107 in divorce and legal separation cases.
After orders are entered, a parent with majority parenting time who plans a move that substantially changes the child's geographic ties to the other parent must give written notice as soon as practicable under C.R.S. 14-10-129. If the parents disagree, the court decides using the statute's relocation factors. See our guide to child relocation cases in Colorado.
Can Custody Orders Be Changed?
Yes. Most changes to parenting time need only serve the child's best interests. Restricting a parent's time requires a finding that it would endanger the child's physical health or significantly impair the child's emotional development, and a change that substantially alters time and changes the parent with whom the child lives most of the time requires changed circumstances and a finding that the change is necessary for the child's best interests.
After a motion of that last kind is decided, another one generally cannot be filed for two years, unless affidavits show the child may be endangered or the majority-time parent plans to relocate. The Judicial Branch's list of fees shows $105 for a motion to modify filed more than 60 days after the order, as published in January 2025 and subject to change, and its self-help page on changing parenting time lists the forms. Our parenting time guide explains each standard, and our post-decree modifications page covers the process.
What Happens If the Other Parent Ignores the Schedule?
Keep a written record and file a verified motion under C.R.S. 14-10-129.5. Within 35 days the court decides whether to deny it, set a hearing, or order mediation. Possible remedies include makeup parenting time, counseling, a bond, a civil fine of up to $100 per incident, and contempt, and a parent who failed to provide court-ordered parenting time must be ordered to pay the other party's attorney fees and costs.
Can I Stop Paying Child Support If I Am Denied Parenting Time?
Not without a court order. Colorado treats child support and parenting time as separate issues, and the enforcement statute directs the court not to condition support on parenting time. The support order stays in effect until a court changes it, so use the parenting time enforcement process instead.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Can a Grandparent or Other Relative Ask for Parental Responsibilities?
Only in limited situations. Under C.R.S. 14-10-123, a nonparent may petition when the child is not in a parent's physical care, or after having physical care of the child for 182 days or more, if the petition is filed within 182 days after that care ended.
Can I Get Emergency Orders If My Child Is in Danger?
Yes. A motion to restrict parenting time that alleges the child is in imminent physical or emotional danger must be heard and ruled on within 14 days, and any parenting time until then must be supervised by a suitable unrelated third party or a licensed mental health professional. If the court finds the motion substantially frivolous, groundless or vexatious, it must order the moving party to pay the other party's reasonable attorney fees and costs; see our guide to emergency custody orders in Colorado.
How Much Does It Cost to File?
The Judicial Branch's January 2025 list shows $260 for a divorce or legal separation petition, $252 for a petition for allocation of parental responsibilities, and $105 for a motion to modify filed more than 60 days after the order. Fees can change, and the court has a process for filing without payment if you cannot afford the fee.
Does the Judge Have to Explain the Decision?
In a contested hearing on final orders, yes. The court must state on the record the factors it considered and why its allocation is in the child's best interests.
Does the Parent With More Time Automatically Receive Child Support?
Not automatically. Support is calculated under C.R.S. 14-10-115 from both parents' combined adjusted gross income, with an adjustment based on how many overnights each parent has, so the result depends on both incomes and the schedule.
TALKING WITH A COLORADO SPRINGS CHILD CUSTODY ATTORNEY
Short answers help, but your family's facts decide how the law applies. If you would like to talk through your situation with a Colorado Springs child custody attorney, call Moran, Allen & Associates Family Law Attorneys at (719) 447-0762, or (719) 686-7554 for our Woodland Park office, or schedule a consultation.
You can also browse our other child custody articles or the full family law blog.
This article is general information about Colorado law as of October 2026 and is not legal advice. Laws and court procedures change, so speak with a licensed Colorado attorney about your own situation.
SOURCES
- C.R.S. 14-10-106, Dissolution of Marriage and Legal Separation
- C.R.S. 14-10-107, Automatic Temporary Injunction
- C.R.S. 14-10-115, Child Support Guidelines
- C.R.S. 14-10-116, Child's Legal Representative
- C.R.S. 14-10-116.5, Child and Family Investigator
- C.R.S. 14-10-123, Commencement of Proceedings Concerning Allocation of Parental Responsibilities
- C.R.S. 14-10-124, Best Interests of the Child
- C.R.S. 14-10-127, Evaluation and Reports
- C.R.S. 14-10-129, Modification of Parenting Time
- C.R.S. 14-10-129.5, Disputes Concerning Parenting Time
- Colorado General Assembly, SB26-027, Parental Equality and Child Empowerment Act
- Legislative Council Staff, SB26-027 Final Fiscal Note (postponed indefinitely February 3, 2026)
- Colorado Judicial Branch, Parenting Plan (JDF 1113)
- Fourth Judicial District, Blanket Order to Alternative Dispute Resolution/Mediation in Domestic Cases (FCF 300A)
- Colorado Judicial Branch, List of Fees
- Colorado Judicial Branch, Change Parenting Time (self-help)