TELLER COUNTY PARENTAL RESPONSIBILITY ASSISTANCE
Moran, Allen & Associates Family Law represents unmarried parents, separating parents, and non-parent caregivers in allocation of parental responsibilities cases filed in Teller County. Call our Woodland Park office at (719) 686-7554 for a free consultation.
Key Takeaways
- An APR case is how parents who are not divorcing get court-ordered parenting time and decision-making authority.
- Unmarried fathers may need to establish legal parentage before the court can allocate responsibilities.
- A grandparent or other non-parent can file when the child has lived with them for at least 182 days.
- Woodland Park APR cases are heard in Cripple Creek and follow the same disclosure, mediation, and hearing process as a divorce.
ON THIS PAGE
- What "Allocation of Parental Responsibilities" Means
- Who Files an APR Case
- Establishing Parentage First
- The APR Process in Teller County
- Decision-Making and Parenting Time in a First Order
- When the Other Parent Lives in Colorado Springs
- Frequently Asked Questions
- Sources
WHAT "ALLOCATION OF PARENTAL RESPONSIBILITIES" MEANS
Colorado replaced the word "custody" in its statutes years ago. The court now allocates parental responsibilities, which is the umbrella term for parenting time and decision-making responsibility under C.R.S. § 14-10-124.
When married parents divorce, those issues are decided inside the divorce case. When parents were never married, or when a non-parent is raising a child, there is no divorce to attach them to. The allocation of parental responsibilities case, often shortened to APR, is the standalone case that produces enforceable orders.
Without an order, neither parent has anything to enforce. A parent who is denied time has no court to go to. A parent who wants to enroll the child in school or consent to medical care may not be able to prove authority to do it. The APR case fixes that.
For how parenting time schedules are built and fought over once a case exists, see our Woodland Park child custody page. This page covers getting the first order in place.
WHO FILES AN APR CASE
Under C.R.S. § 14-10-123, an APR case can be started by either parent. It can also be started by a non-parent who has had physical care of the child for at least 182 days, as long as the petition is filed within 182 days after that care ended. Grandparents raising a grandchild in Woodland Park are the most common example.
A non-parent who does not meet the 182-day test may still have standing if the child is not in the physical care of either parent, and grandparents have a separate, narrower path to visitation under C.R.S. § 19-1-117.
The case is filed in the county where the child permanently resides or is found. For a child living in Woodland Park, Divide, or Florissant, that is Teller County.
ESTABLISHING PARENTAGE FIRST
A married father is presumed to be the legal parent. An unmarried father is not, unless parentage has been established. Until it is, the court cannot allocate parental responsibilities to him or order him to pay support.
Colorado's Uniform Parentage Act, C.R.S. Title 19, Article 4, provides the routes. The simplest is a voluntary acknowledgment of paternity signed by both parents, usually at the hospital or later through the state registrar. Where the acknowledgment was never signed or is disputed, either parent can ask the court to determine parentage, and the court can order genetic testing.
Parentage and APR are often handled in the same case. A father who has been involved in the child's life and simply never signed the paperwork should not assume the mother's cooperation; an unmarried mother has sole authority until an order says otherwise.
THE APR PROCESS IN TELLER COUNTY
An APR case moves through the same stages as a divorce without the property division.
The petitioner files a Petition for Allocation of Parental Responsibilities with a proposed parenting plan. The Colorado Judicial Branch publishes the forms to start or respond to an APR case. The other parent is served and has 21 days to respond if served in Colorado.
Both parties exchange sworn financial statements and mandatory disclosures, because child support is decided in the same case. The court sets an initial status conference. If the parents cannot agree, the court typically orders mediation, and may appoint a child and family investigator or parental responsibilities evaluator when the facts warrant it.
Temporary orders can be entered while the case is pending to set an interim schedule and interim support. If mediation does not resolve the case, it is tried before a district judge or magistrate at the Teller County Combined Court in Cripple Creek, about 26 miles from Woodland Park by way of Divide and Highway 67. Our Woodland Park family law office prepares and files these cases for Teller County parents.
DECISION-MAKING AND PARENTING TIME IN A FIRST ORDER
A first APR order does more than divide the calendar. It establishes which parent decides education, medical care, mental health treatment, and religion, and whether those decisions are joint or sole. It sets the exchange locations, the holiday rotation, the summer schedule, vacation notice, and the communication method between parents.
It should also anticipate the practical problems Teller County parents actually have. A U.S. 24 weather clause, a late-arrival grace period, and a named neutral exchange location cost nothing to include and prevent the disputes that bring parents back to court.
The court decides all of it on the best interests factors in C.R.S. § 14-10-124: the child's needs, each parent's history of involvement, the ability of the parents to cooperate, the distance between homes, and, above everything else, the child's safety. Where domestic violence is present, the statute directs the court to weigh it in both parenting time and decision-making.
WHEN THE OTHER PARENT LIVES IN COLORADO SPRINGS
This is the typical Woodland Park APR case. One parent is on the mountain, one is in the city, and the child's school is in one place or the other.
The distance between homes is a statutory best-interests factor, and it shapes the realistic schedule. A 50/50 plan with mid-week exchanges over Ute Pass puts a young child in a car in the dark on winter mornings. A school-year primary residence with expanded weekends, breaks, and summer is often the arrangement the child can actually live.
Venue can be contested in these cases. The child's residence controls, but where the child spends significant time in both counties, the first filing often sets the courthouse. We evaluate that before anything is filed.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUT PARENTAL RESPONSIBILITIES IN WOODLAND PARK
Is an APR Case the Same as a Custody Case?
Yes. Allocation of parental responsibilities is Colorado's legal term for what most people call a custody case. The order you receive will use the statutory language.
I Am the Father and We Were Never Married. What Are My Rights?
Until parentage is established and an APR order is entered, you have no enforceable parenting time or decision-making authority. Establishing parentage and filing the APR case, usually together, is how you get them.
Can a Grandparent File for Parental Responsibilities?
A grandparent who has had physical care of the child for at least 182 days can file, within 182 days after that care ends. Grandparents who do not meet that test have a narrower path to visitation under the Children's Code.
How Long Does an APR Case Take in Teller County?
An agreed case can be finished in two to three months. A contested case with disclosures, mediation, and a hearing commonly takes six months or more, longer if the court appoints an evaluator.
Does the Court Decide Child Support in the Same Case?
Yes. Support is calculated under the guidelines in C.R.S. § 14-10-115 using the parenting time the court orders. Our Woodland Park child support page explains the calculation.
SOURCES
- Colorado General Assembly, Colorado Revised Statutes 2024, Title 14, Domestic Matters (C.R.S. §§ 14-10-115, 14-10-123, 14-10-124)
- Colorado General Assembly, Colorado Revised Statutes 2024, Title 19, Children's Code (Uniform Parentage Act, Article 4; C.R.S. § 19-1-117)
- Colorado Judicial Branch, Start or Respond to a Parental Responsibilities Case
- Colorado Judicial Branch, Teller County Combined Court