What Is the Colorado Best Interest of the Child Standard?

 

Understand the common factors Colorado’s judges use when making child custody decisions.

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Colorado courts use the "best interest of the child" standard to make child custody decisions. Specifically, judges refer to Colorado Revised Statutes Section 14-10-124 which says:

The court shall determine the allocation of parental responsibilities, including parenting time and decision-making responsibilities, in accordance with the best interests of the child giving paramount consideration to the child's safety and the physical, mental, and emotional conditions and needs of the child . . . 

Colorado law favors awarding shared parenting responsibilities whenever possible. The goal is to maximize the time that a child gets to spend with each parent, as long as the parent is safe for the child.

How Courts Make Child Custody Decisions in Colorado

When determining parenting time, Colorado law requires the court to consider the following factors when deciding what is in the best interest of a child:

  • the parents' wishes
  • the child's wishes, if the judge finds that the child is mature enough to express a meaningful, independent preference
  • the child's relationship with their parents, siblings, and anyone else who may significantly affect the child's best interest
  • the child's adjustment to home, school, and community
  • the mental and physical health of everyone involved (but the court may not restrict parenting time based on a disability alone)
  • the ability of each parent to encourage a relationship between the child and the other parent, except in cases involving abuse or domestic violence
  • how supportive each parent's past relationship with the child has been
  • how far apart the parents live
  • the ability of each parent to place the needs of the child ahead of his or her own needs.

When allocating decisionmaking responsibilities, the law adds the following three factors:

  • evidence of how well the parents cooperate make decisions together
  • whether the parents' past relationships with the child indicate an ability to act as mutual decision makers to provide a positive and nourishing relationship with the child
  • whether mutual decisionmaking responsibility would promote more frequent or continuing contact between the child and each parent.

Colorado judges have a lot of flexibility to establish a custody arrangement based on the best interest of the child. In addition to the factors listed above, the court may consider any other factors the judge finds relevant to the child's best interest.

Court Should be Your Last Resort

Going to court to get custody of a child will be stressful for you and, worse, tough on the children. Also, because judges have so much flexibility to make custody decisions, it leaves the family vulnerable to the biased opinions of individual judges. For these reasons and more, a court case is something to pursue only if all other options—like negotiation and mediation—have failed. Take advantage of all the resources available to you for creating a parenting plan before subjecting yourself and your kids to a court battle.

More Information

Studying the law. This article summarizes the key factors courts use to make custody decisions in Colorado. That said, family law is a complicated subject and laws do change. We recommend that you read the full version of Colorado Statutes Section 14-10-124.

Working with a lawyer. If you’re working with a lawyer, mediator, or both, ask them for help understanding how Colorado law applies to your specific circumstances.

How to Find a Child Custody Lawyer in Colorado

Finding your local family court. In Colorado, family law cases are handled in the county district courts. Be sure to take advantage of the self-help resources your court offers.

Colorado Family Law Court for Ouray County


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Jurisdictional relevance: ST

There are versions of this article for each State.