POST-DECREE MODIFICATIONS HELP IN TELLER COUNTY
Moran, Allen & Associates Family Law handles post-decree modification, relocation, and enforcement cases for Woodland Park and Teller County families in the Fourth Judicial District. Call our Woodland Park office at (719) 686-7554 for a free consultation.
Key Takeaways
- A post-decree case asks the court to change or enforce an order that already exists. The court does not start over.
- Colorado applies different standards to parenting time, decision-making, child support, and maintenance. The first question is which order you want changed.
- Support and maintenance modifications take effect from the date the motion is filed, not the date life changed.
- Informal agreements between parents do not change a court order. The written order controls until the court changes it.
ON THIS PAGE
- What Post-Decree Means
- Modifying Parenting Time
- Modifying Decision-Making Responsibility
- Relocation After Final Orders
- Modifying Child Support
- Modifying or Ending Maintenance
- Enforcement Versus Modification
- The Process in Teller County
- Frequently Asked Questions
- Sources
WHAT POST-DECREE MEANS
The decree ends the divorce. It does not end the family's legal relationship. Children grow, jobs change, parents move, and an order that fit a six-year-old and two homes in Woodland Park does not fit a twelve-year-old with one parent in Colorado Springs.
A post-decree case is any request to change or enforce an existing family court order after final orders were entered. In Teller County these cases most often involve parenting time, decision-making, child support, maintenance, relocation, and contempt.
The person filing has to show a legal reason for the change. Dissatisfaction with the original order is not one. The Colorado Judicial Branch publishes an overview of changing court orders; the sections below explain what the court is actually looking for in each type of case.
MODIFYING PARENTING TIME
Parenting time modifications are governed by C.R.S. § 14-10-129, and the standard depends on how big the change is.
A modification that adjusts the schedule without changing which parent the child lives with most of the time is decided on the child's best interests. A new school schedule, a parent's changed work hours, or a plan that no longer works with U.S. 24 winter travel are typical grounds.
A modification that would substantially change parenting time and change the parent with whom the child resides a majority of the time is held to a higher standard. The court must find the parents agree, or the child has been integrated into the other parent's home with that parent's consent, or the child's present environment endangers physical health or significantly impairs emotional development, and that the harm of the change is outweighed by its advantage.
Colorado also limits repeat filings. A motion that would substantially change parenting time and residence generally cannot be filed within two years of a prior motion to modify unless endangerment is alleged. The Colorado Judicial Branch's change parenting time page outlines the forms. Our Woodland Park child custody page covers how schedules are built in the first place.
MODIFYING DECISION-MAKING RESPONSIBILITY
Decision-making modifications are governed by C.R.S. § 14-10-131 and are harder to obtain than schedule changes. The court will modify decision-making when the parents agree, when the child has been integrated into the moving parent's home with consent, when the parent with decision-making authority has consistently allowed the other parent to make those decisions, when retaining the current allocation would endanger the child, or when the existing allocation is no longer in the child's best interests because of a change in the child's or a parent's circumstances.
The same two-year limit on repeat motions applies, absent endangerment. The evidence that moves these cases is a documented pattern: emails showing unilateral school or medical decisions, records of deadlocks that harmed the child, or a history of the authorized parent simply not exercising the authority.
RELOCATION AFTER FINAL ORDERS
A parent with majority parenting time who wants to move in a way that substantially changes the geographic ties between the child and the other parent must give the other parent written notice as soon as practicable, stating the new location, the reason for the move, and a proposed revised parenting plan. That requirement is in C.R.S. § 14-10-129(1)(a)(II).
If the other parent objects, the court decides the relocation request on the best interests of the child using the specific factors in C.R.S. § 14-10-129(2)(c): the reasons for the move and for the objection, the history and quality of each parent's relationship with the child, the educational opportunities at each location, the presence of extended family, the advantages to the child of remaining with the primary caregiver, the anticipated impact on the child, and whether a reasonable parenting time schedule can be fashioned across the distance.
Woodland Park relocation cases are frequently short-distance. A move from Teller County to Colorado Springs, Pueblo, or the Denver metro changes schools, commute, and the workability of mid-week time, and the court treats it as a relocation even though it is in-state. The court must decide a contested relocation on an expedited basis.
MODIFYING CHILD SUPPORT
Child support can be modified on a showing of changed circumstances that are substantial and continuing. Under C.R.S. § 14-10-122(1)(b), a change is presumed substantial when applying the guidelines to current income, overnights, and expenses produces a number at least 10 percent different from the existing order.
Two timing rules matter. The modification is effective as of the date the motion is filed, so a parent who waits six months after losing a job owes the full original amount for those six months. And the guidelines themselves changed on March 1, 2026 under HB 25-1159; an order entered under the old schedule can be recalculated under the new one, subject to the 10 percent presumption.
Until the court enters a new order, the old one controls. Paying less on your own creates arrears with statutory interest and exposes you to contempt. The Colorado Judicial Branch explains the child support modification process. Our Woodland Park child support page covers the calculation itself.
MODIFYING OR ENDING MAINTENANCE
Maintenance can be modified when circumstances have changed so substantially and continuously that the existing terms are unfair, unless the decree made maintenance contractual and non-modifiable. Job loss, disability, retirement at full Social Security retirement age, and a large income change on either side are the usual grounds.
Maintenance terminates automatically on the death of either party, the expiration of the term, or the recipient's remarriage or civil union. It does not terminate on cohabitation unless the agreement says so. The Colorado Judicial Branch's change or end spousal support page outlines the process; our Woodland Park spousal maintenance page covers the underlying law.
ENFORCEMENT VERSUS MODIFICATION
Modification changes the order. Enforcement makes someone follow it. They are different motions with different evidence, and filing the wrong one wastes months.
When the other parent is refusing exchanges, ignoring the holiday schedule, or withholding school and medical information, the remedy is a motion concerning parenting time disputes under C.R.S. § 14-10-129.5, which can result in make-up time, mediation, modification, fees, and in serious cases contempt.
When the other party is not paying support or maintenance, the remedies are an income assignment directing the employer to withhold, a judgment for arrears with interest, and contempt under C.R.C.P. 107. Remedial contempt can include incarceration until a purge amount is paid.
When the order itself no longer fits, the remedy is modification. Many Teller County cases need both: an enforcement motion for the violations that already happened and a modification motion for the order going forward.
THE PROCESS IN TELLER COUNTY
Post-decree motions are filed in the court that entered the original order, using the existing case number. For most Woodland Park families that is the Teller County Combined Court in Cripple Creek. If the original case was in El Paso County, it stays there unless the court transfers it. Our Woodland Park family law office handles post-decree motions in both courts.
The motion, supporting affidavit, and, for financial changes, updated sworn financial statements are filed and served. The other party has 21 days to respond. The court typically orders mediation before a contested hearing, and it may appoint a child and family investigator when parenting time or decision-making is at issue.
A filing fee applies to most post-decree motions; the current amount is on the Colorado Judicial Branch's List of Fees. Evidence for these hearings is a timeline: dated exchange logs, messages, pay records, school and medical records, and the prior orders. Courts modify orders on patterns, not on single incidents.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUT POST-DECREE MODIFICATIONS IN WOODLAND PARK
Can We Change the Parenting Schedule Without Going Back to Court?
You can agree to short-term adjustments informally. A long-term change that is not approved by the court is not enforceable, and the old order controls if the agreement breaks down. Stipulated modifications can be submitted to the court without a hearing.
How Much Does My Income Have to Change to Modify Child Support?
Enough that the recalculated guideline amount differs from the current order by at least 10 percent. That is a presumption of substantial change, not a hard bar in either direction.
My Ex Moved to Colorado Springs Without Telling Me. What Can I Do?
If the move substantially changes the child's geographic ties to you, the other parent was required to give written notice with a proposed revised plan. You can file a motion to modify parenting time and ask the court to address the relocation. The sooner, the better; the court considers whether the child has already settled into the new arrangement.
Can I Stop Paying Maintenance When I Retire?
Not without an order. Retirement at or after full Social Security retirement age is presumed to be in good faith and supports a motion to modify, but the obligation continues until the court changes it.
How Long Do I Have to Wait to File Another Modification?
For motions that would substantially change parenting time and residence, or change decision-making, generally two years from the last such motion unless the child is endangered. Support and maintenance modifications have no waiting period.
SOURCES
- Colorado General Assembly, Colorado Revised Statutes 2024, Title 14, Domestic Matters (C.R.S. §§ 14-10-122, 14-10-129, 14-10-129.5, 14-10-131)
- Colorado Judicial Branch, Change Court Orders
- Colorado Judicial Branch, Change Parenting Time
- Colorado Judicial Branch, Change Child Support
- Colorado Judicial Branch, Change or End Spousal Support
- Colorado Judicial Branch, Teller County Combined Court