HOW DO YOU RESTRUCTURE YOUR FAMILY FOLLOWING DIVORCE?
Restructuring your family following divorce starts with a parenting plan: a written schedule for when the children are with each parent, and an agreement on who makes the major decisions about them. In Colorado, the court approves the parents' plan or writes its own based on the child's best interests, and the plan can be changed later through the court as the children grow.
One of the tragic effects of a divorce is its impact on the intimate attachment among members of a nuclear family. It might be time to meet with a Colorado Springs child custody attorney if you are having trouble reaching a workable family arrangement that is acceptable to you and your ex.
This guide covers what goes into a Colorado parenting plan, how decision-making can be shared, how mediation works in El Paso and Teller counties, and how to change a plan when your family's needs change.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
- Why Parenting Time Deserves Careful Planning
- No One Parenting Plan Fits Every Family
- Sharing Major Decisions
- Getting Help: Lawyers and Mediators
- Changing a Parenting Plan Later
- Frequently Asked Questions
- Talking With a Colorado Springs Family Law Attorney
- Sources
WHY PARENTING TIME DESERVES CAREFUL PLANNING
It is easy for divorcing parents to be so worried about the divorce itself that they overlook the value of structuring enough parenting time into a child's life afterward. Some parents keep their parenting plans as simple as possible to get the divorce finished, and simply expect their children to adapt. A smarter approach, though, is a detailed parenting plan that works for both households.
Colorado law points the same way. In C.R.S. 14-10-124, the legislature declares that in most circumstances it is in the best interest of all parties to encourage frequent and continuing contact between each parent and the children, while recognizing that co-parenting is not appropriate in every family.
The parent education statute, C.R.S. 14-10-123.7, also recognizes research documenting harm to children when parents "continue the marital conflict," "expose the children to this conflict," or "place the children in the middle of the conflict," or when "one parent drops out of the child's life." A clear plan leaves less to argue about, and our guide to how divorce affects children covers what else helps.
NO ONE PARENTING PLAN FITS EVERY FAMILY
Every household is different, so no single parenting plan works for every family. Your plan will depend on the age of your children, how close you will live to your former partner, where the children go to school, and many other considerations.
A plan like this sets the schedule for each parent's time, including vacations, overnights, holidays and school breaks. Under C.R.S. 14-10-124, the parents may submit a plan, together or separately, for the court's approval, and if no plan is submitted or the court does not approve one, the court must write its own. When parenting time is contested, the plan must be as specific as possible to address the needs of the family.
The statute says a plan may cover the type of decision-making, a practical parenting time schedule including holidays and school vacations, how and where exchanges happen, and how the parents communicate about the child. It may also cover how the child communicates with a parent during the other parent's time.
The State Parenting Plan Form
The Colorado Judicial Branch publishes a statewide form, the Parenting Plan, JDF 1113, currently revised December 18, 2025. It works as a checklist even if your lawyer drafts a custom plan.
| JDF 1113 section | What it covers |
|---|---|
| 6, Agreement Type | Whether the parents agree on everything, agree on some areas, or cannot agree and are filing separate plans |
| 9, Parenting Decisions | School and education; medical, dental and mental health; religious activities; extracurricular and recreational activities; passports |
| 10 and 11 | The school-year and summer schedules |
| 12 | Holidays and special occasions |
| 13 to 16 | Overnights, travel and vacations, phone access, and moving |
| 17 to 20 | Child support, health insurance and costs, optional expenses, and the child tax exemption |
| 21, Other Terms | Other agreements, including mediation, arbitration or another dispute resolution method if the parents disagree later |
For schedule ideas, see our guides to Colorado parenting time schedules and splitting holidays in Colorado.
SHARING MAJOR DECISIONS
Important decisions about the parenting time schedule, faith, education and medical care should be agreed upon by ex-spouses where possible, along with how child-related costs are shared. Colorado calls the authority to make major decisions decision-making responsibility, which is what many people know as legal custody.
These decisions can be assigned to one parent, made together, or split issue by issue, based on the child's best interests. In deciding, the court weighs credible evidence of the parents' ability to cooperate and make decisions jointly, whether their past involvement with the child shows they can, and whether shared decisions would promote more frequent or continuing contact between the child and each parent.
You will want to decide whether you and your former partner can realistically make these choices together before you propose how decision-making should be allocated. Our overview of Colorado custody laws explains the full framework.
When There Has Been Abuse
Shared decision-making does not suit every family. HB26-1309, approved May 27, 2026, changed the rules, and the 2025 online statutes do not yet show it.
Under the new law, if the court finds by a preponderance of the evidence that a parent committed domestic violence, child abuse or neglect, or a sexual assault that resulted in the child's conception, mutual decision-making over the objection of the other parent or the child's legal representative is not in the child's best interests. The only exception requires specific findings that it can occur without coercion, intimidation, retaliation or risk of harm to the abused party or the child.
After such a finding, the safety and well-being of the child and the abused party become the primary concern, and the court must impose conditions on parenting time that protect them. The court also may not appoint a parenting coordinator solely to make mutual decision-making work.
GETTING HELP: LAWYERS AND MEDIATORS
Many divorcing couples work with lawyers to create a parenting plan and ask for a mediator's support if their communication breaks down. A child custody lawyer in Colorado Springs can help you create a workable plan that respects each parent's bond with the children.
Under C.R.S. 14-10-124, a court may order mediation to help parents form, change or carry out a parenting plan, and may divide the cost between them. The Judicial Branch's Office of Dispute Resolution keeps a roster of mediators: the parties choose one together, contact the mediator directly to schedule, and can apply for reduced fees. You do not need an active court case to use its mediators.
Mediation in El Paso and Teller Counties
In the Fourth Judicial District, a blanket mediation order (FCF 300A) applies to all family cases in El Paso and Teller counties and requires mediation before a court hearing in domestic cases. The order calls for a session of at least two hours, attended virtually, and the district offers no in-person mediation. Parties may use one of the district's contract mediators or choose a private mediator.
The order lists a fee of $150 per party for the two-hour session and $75 per party for each additional hour, paid directly to the mediator, with a reduced-fee application (JDF 211) due at least 14 days before the session. A party unwilling to mediate because of physical or psychological abuse by the other party may file a motion asking the court to waive the requirement.
Parenting Coordinators After the Plan Is in Place
If parents have a plan but keep struggling to carry it out, the court can appoint a parenting coordinator under C.R.S. 14-10-128.1 at any time after parenting orders are entered. Without the parents' agreement, the court must first find that they have not adequately implemented the plan, that mediation is inappropriate or has failed, and that the appointment is in the child's best interests.
A parenting coordinator helps parents resolve disputes and carry out the plan but does not make decisions for them. The appointment runs for a set term of no more than two years unless the parents agree to extend it, and the court divides the coordinator's fees between the parents.
CHANGING A PARENTING PLAN LATER
Restructuring your family does not end with the decree. Children grow, parents move or remarry, and work schedules change, so many families need to adjust their plan more than once.
If You Agree on the Change
Parents who agree can file a stipulation (JDF 1423), a proposed order (JDF 1424) and a new parenting plan (JDF 1113), as the Judicial Branch's change parenting time page explains. Once the court approves the change, the new plan is the order both parents must follow. Informal swaps that never reach the court do not change the order itself.
If You Do Not Agree
A parent can file a motion to change parenting time (JDF 1406), and the other parent can respond (JDF 1315). The Judicial Branch's list of fees shows $105 for a motion to modify a decree or final order filed more than 60 days after the order, as published in January 2025 and subject to change. The court may require a hearing or mediation.
The standard depends on the change you ask for, under C.R.S. 14-10-129 and, for decision-making, C.R.S. 14-10-131:
| Change requested | What the court must find |
|---|---|
| Adjusting the parenting time schedule | That the change would serve the child's best interests. |
| Restricting a parent's time, such as requiring supervision or ending time entirely | That the parenting time would endanger the child's physical health or significantly impair the child's emotional development, with specific factual findings supporting the restriction. |
| A substantial change that also changes the parent the child lives with most of the time | Changed circumstances, based on facts arising since the prior order or unknown to the court then, and that the change is necessary to serve the child's best interests. The court keeps the existing schedule unless the parents agree, the child has been integrated into the moving parent's family with consent, the majority-time parent intends a move that substantially changes the child's geographic ties to the other parent, or the child's present environment endangers the child and the advantage of a change outweighs the harm. |
| Changing decision-making responsibility | Changed circumstances, based on facts arising since the prior order or unknown to the court then, and that the change is necessary to serve the child's best interests. The court keeps the existing allocation unless an exception applies: an agreement, integration into the moving parent's family with consent, a parenting time change that warrants it, one parent's consistent consent to the other making decisions alone, or endangerment. |
The line between a schedule change and a restriction was clarified in May 2026. In In re Marriage of Dale, 2026 CO 35, the Colorado Supreme Court held that reducing a parent's time, even substantially, is a modification rather than a restriction, so the endangerment standard for restrictions does not apply. A change is a restriction only if it ends that parent's time entirely or adds qualitative limits such as supervision, no overnights or limits on where parenting time happens.
The Two-Year Rule
Under C.R.S. 14-10-129(1.5), once a parent files a motion for a substantial modification of parenting time that also changes the parent the child lives with most of the time, granted or not, no new motion of that kind may be filed within two years after the first one is decided.
The court can allow an earlier motion if it decides, on the basis of affidavits, that the child's present environment may endanger the child's physical health or significantly impair the child's emotional development. It can also allow one if the majority-time parent intends to relocate in a way that substantially changes the child's geographic ties to the other parent.
Ordinary schedule adjustments that do not change the majority-time parent do not trigger that rule. Decision-making changes have their own two-year rule in C.R.S. 14-10-131, with an exception when affidavits give the court reason to believe that keeping the existing allocation may endanger the child's physical health or significantly impair the child's emotional development.
When a Child Is in Danger
If a child is in imminent physical or emotional danger because of a parent's parenting time or contact, the other parent can file a motion under C.R.S. 14-10-129(4). The court must hear and rule on it within 14 days of filing, and any parenting time in the meantime must be supervised by an unrelated third party the court deems suitable or by a licensed mental health professional.
This tool carries risk for the parent who files it. If the court finds the motion substantially frivolous, groundless or vexatious, it must order the moving parent to pay the other parent's reasonable attorney fees and costs; see our guide to emergency custody orders in Colorado.
Moves and a Child's Wishes
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, with the new location, the reason and a proposed revised parenting time plan. Our guide to child relocation cases in Colorado covers that process.
When an older child wants a different schedule, the same standards apply; a child's wish alone does not decide the case. See what age a child can choose which parent to live with, and our post-decree modifications page for how changes after a divorce are handled.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
What Is a Parenting Plan in Colorado?
A parenting plan sets out the parenting time schedule and how decision-making responsibility is allocated, and it may also cover holidays, exchanges and communication. Under C.R.S. 14-10-124, parents may submit a plan for the court's approval, and the court writes its own if none is submitted or approved.
Does Colorado Have a Default Parenting Schedule?
No. Colorado has no default schedule and no presumption of equal parenting time; the court approves or writes a plan based on the child's best interests under C.R.S. 14-10-124.
Is Mediation Required in El Paso and Teller Counties?
Generally yes. A Fourth Judicial District blanket order (FCF 300A) requires a remote mediation session of at least two hours before a court hearing in domestic cases, and a party may ask the court to waive it based on claims of physical or psychological abuse.
How Do We Change a Parenting Plan if We Both Agree?
In Colorado, file a stipulation (JDF 1423), a proposed order (JDF 1424) and an updated parenting plan (JDF 1113) with the court that issued the original order. The new plan becomes the order both parents must follow once the court approves it.
How Soon Can I Ask Again to Change Which Parent the Child Lives With?
Generally not within two years after a prior motion of that kind is decided, under C.R.S. 14-10-129(1.5). The court can allow an earlier motion on affidavits showing the child's present environment may endanger the child, or that the majority-time parent intends a relocation that substantially changes the child's geographic ties to the other parent.
What If My Child Is in Danger Under the Current Plan?
In Colorado, a motion alleging that the child is in imminent physical or emotional danger must be heard and ruled on within 14 days under C.R.S. 14-10-129(4), and parenting time until then must be supervised. If a child is in immediate danger, call 911.
TALKING WITH A COLORADO SPRINGS FAMILY LAW ATTORNEY
A parenting plan that fits your family's real week, and that you know how to change, makes the years after a divorce more predictable for everyone, including the children. If you are writing a first plan or rethinking an old one, a lawyer can help you choose the terms and the process that fit.
Moran, Allen & Associates Family Law Attorneys represents parents in El Paso and Teller counties. Call (719) 447-0762 in Colorado Springs or (719) 686-7554 for our Woodland Park family law office, or schedule a free consultation.
This article is general information about Colorado law as of October 2026 and is not legal advice. Laws, court procedures, forms and local orders change, so speak with a licensed Colorado attorney about your own situation.
SOURCES
- C.R.S. 14-10-124, Best Interests of the Child (parenting plans, decision-making, mediation; 2025 compilation)
- Colorado Session Laws 2026, Chapter 163 (HB26-1309, Abuse in Cases of Separation, approved May 27, 2026)
- C.R.S. 14-10-123.7, Parental Education and Legislative Declaration
- C.R.S. 14-10-128.1, Parenting Coordinator
- C.R.S. 14-10-129, Modification of Parenting Time
- C.R.S. 14-10-131, Modification of Decision-Making Responsibility
- In re Marriage of Dale, 2026 CO 35 (Colo. May 26, 2026)
- Colorado Judicial Branch, Parenting Plan (JDF 1113), revised December 18, 2025
- Colorado Judicial Branch, Change Parenting Time (self-help)
- Colorado Judicial Branch, List of Fees
- Colorado Judicial Branch, Office of Dispute Resolution (mediation)
- Fourth Judicial District, Blanket Order to Alternative Dispute Resolution/Mediation in Domestic Cases (FCF 300A)