Custody

If you have an allocation of parental responsibilities order already in place, you can petition the court to change (modify) it. The judge may do so if the modification would serve the best interests of the child.¹

Generally, the judge will not change an order that substantially changes the parenting time and changes with which parent the child lives a majority of the time unless all of the following are true:

• There are new facts that have come up since the prior order that the judge did not know about;
• There is a change in the circumstances of the child or the party with whom the child lives the majority of the time; and
• The modification is necessary to serve the best interests of the child.²

Evidence of abuse, a criminal conviction for certain crimes, or domestic violence will most likely be considered a new fact or change in circumstance.³ To read more about Colorado’s modification law, go to our Selected Colorado Statutes page. If you want to relocate with your child, go to What steps do I have to take if I want to relocate?

If you believe that your child is in immediate physical or emotional danger because of the other parent’s contact or parenting time with the child, you may file a motion to restrict his/her parenting time or contact with the child. The judge will hold a hearing to decide your motion within seven days. During those seven days, any parenting time that the other parent has with your child must be supervised by an unrelated third party who has been approved by the judge.⁴ Note: If the judge finds that your motion to restrict parenting time based on the child being in immediate physical or emotional danger was frivolous, groundless, or intended only to annoy or harm the other parent, the judge will order you to pay the fees and costs of the other parent’s attorney or licensed legal paraprofessional.⁵

To modify an allocation of parental responsibilities order, you will generally need to go to the court that issued the order, even if you have moved. Generally, once a court has jurisdiction, that court will keep jurisdiction, even if you move to another state. If you have moved, you can ask the court to change the jurisdiction to the new state that you are in. This is often complicated, and as with all allocation of parental responsibilities issues, we recommend that you talk to a lawyer about this. Go to the CO Finding a Lawyer page to find someone who can help you.

¹ C.R.S. § 14-10-129(1)(a)(I); see generally C.R.S. § 14-10-129
² C.R.S. § 14-10-129(2)
³ C.R.S. § 14-10-129(3)
⁴ C.R.S. § 14-10-129(4)
⁵ C.R.S. § 14-10-129(5)