Custody

If the other parent violates the order, you can file a motion for contempt. The judge can set the matter down for a hearing or order the parents to go to mediation and report back to the court. The judge can then approve an agreement reached by the parents or hold a hearing.¹

Upon completing the hearing, if the judge finds that a parent has violated the court order, the judge should do one or more of the following:

• make additional terms and conditions that are consistent with the prior order;
• change the previous order to meet the best interests of the child;
• require either or both parents to attend a parental education program to be paid for by the parent who violated the order;
• require the parties to participate in family counseling to be paid for by the parent who violated the order;
• require the parent who violated the order to place money with the court (post a bond) to ensure that s/he will follow the order in the future;
• require that makeup parenting time be provided to the parent who was denied time at a time that works for him/her;
• hold the parent who did not follow the parenting time schedule in contempt of court and order a jail sentence or a fine of up to $100 per incident of denied parenting time;
• schedule a hearing for modification of the existing order concerning custody or the allocation of parental responsibilities; or
• anything else that is in the best interests of the child.²

Also, if the judge determines that a parent did violate the order, s/he will have to pay the other party’s attorney’s fees or licensed legal paraprofessional’s fees, court costs, and expenses that are associated with bringing the contempt motion. If the parent accused of violating the order is found by the judge to have not violated the other, the parent who filed may have to pay those same fees of the accused parent.³

¹ C.R.S. § 14-10-129.5(1)
² C.R.S. § 14-10-129.5(2)
³ C.R.S. § 14-10-129.5(4)