Child Custody Cases
Whether you are a Mother or a Father, your children are your highest priority and when it comes to making sure your children’s rights are protected, it’s important to find an attorney who understands what is truly at stake. Our attorneys have years of experience helping families in Colorado to reach stable child custody solutions.
In Colorado, child custody orders are determined by a variety of factors, including family-specific facts and circumstances. These factors include:
- Each parent’s past involvement with the child
- Whether each parent is able to encourage the child’s relationship with the other parent
- The mental health and physical health of both parents and the child
- How far apart the parents live from one another
Each parent’s wishes - Any history of domestic violence, child abuse, or neglect
The ultimate goal in every case involving children is to divide parenting time and decision-making authority according to what is in the best interests of the child.
The Law Office of Emily A. Jones is ready to assist you with:
Parenting Time Disputes
Sole Custody
Decision-Making Conflicts
Joint Custody
Guardianship
And more…
Modifying Parenting Time Orders
A parenting plan that was agreed to or ordered by a Court years ago, may no longer work for your family. In order to make changes to the parenting time schedule, you will need to file a motion to modify parenting time with the court that issued your last parenting time orders.
In many cases, the best interests of the child standard will apply when a court is determining whether a requested modification of parenting time should be granted or denied. However, in some cases where a parent is seeking to change the majority time parent or is seeking to substantially modify parenting time, much more difficult standards may apply.
A court may require that you prove your child is facing endangerment in the other parents home, or require you to provide evidence that there have been significant changes in circumstances for the parents and the child. These can include relocation or remarriage of one or both parties. Even in these situations, a court will always be guided by what is in your child’s best interests.
Enforcing Parenting Time Orders
Violating parenting time orders is a very serious issue and one that can carry significant legal and financial consequences for the offending parent. Not only does this amount to a violation of court orders, but it can have serious emotional consequences for your child. Luckily, there are steps you can take when the other parent refuses to abide by the current orders:
Contempt
Generally considered a last resort, if the other parent continues to violate custody orders and will not communicate with you to resolve the problem, you have the right to file for contempt. You will need to prove that a valid parenting time order is in place, that the other parent is not obeying that court order, and that they have the ability to obey the court order.
If a judge finds the offending parent in contempt, they can impose a number of penalties or sanctions. These can include:
- Requiring the offending parent to pay your attorneys fees
- Jail time
- Substantial monetary fines
- Make-up parenting time
- Motion Concerning Parenting Time Disputes
A motion concerning parenting time disputes must allege that a bona fide dispute has arisen regarding parenting time, and that the dispute requires the intervention of the court to resolve. These motions are often addressed much more quickly than contempt motions and can be the preferred manner of dealing with a parent who refuses to obey parenting time orders for that reason.
A court has a number of options available to it in resolving a motion concerning parenting time disputes. The court may:
- Order the offending parent to attend therapy or parenting classes
- Find the offending parent in contempt of court
- Require the offending parent to pay significant fines
- Order the offending parent to serve a jail sentence
- But most importantly, in ruling on a motion concerning parenting time disputes, the Court can also modify parenting time orders.
This can be a significant benefit because it can address some of the underlying problems that may be leading to the offending parent disregarding parenting time orders such as parental alienation.
The Representation You Need from a Qualified Colorado Child Custody Attorney
We understand that when it comes to your children, nothing is more important. The Law Office of Emily A. Jones will fight tirelessly to ensure you receive the parenting time and decision-making authority that you and your child deserve. We also have the experience you need to ensure parenting time and decision-making orders are followed by the other parent, and will not hesitate to take the issue to a Court to force compliance. This is because we understand the impact these cases can have on children, both short-term and long-term.