How Custody Works in Divorce Cases

Figuring out custody arrangements can be one of the most stressful parts of divorce. This guide is for married parents who are filing for divorce or are already in the process. It explains how the court handles issues related to children, including custody (called “Allocation of Parental Responsibilities” or APR), parenting time, decision-making, and child support.

 What is Allocation of Parental Responsibilities (APR)?

In Colorado, custody is called Allocation of Parental Responsibility, or APR. It includes three parts:

1. Parenting time: Who the child lives with and when
2. Decision-making: Who makes major decisions for the child
3. Child support: Whow financial support is calculated and paid

What is parenting time?

Parenting time is the schedule for when your child spends time with each parent. 

There’s no one-size-fits-all schedule. Yours should reflect your family’s needs. If both parents don’t agree on a schedule, the judge will decide on one. Judges want children to have frequent and continuing contact with both parents to the extent possible. But the child’s safety and emotional well-being come first. 

The judge will focus on the “best interest of the child” to decide parenting time. When the judge considers what is in the best interests of the child they consider a list of factors including: 

• What the parents want
• What the child wants, if they are mature enough
• The interactions and relationship between the child and the parents, siblings, and others
• Evidence of domestic violence, child abuse or neglect, or sexual assault resulting in the conception of he child
• The child’s adjustment to their home, school, and community
• The mental and physical health of everyone involved, except that a disability alone cannot be a reason to deny or restrict parenting time
• The parent’s ability to encourage the sharing of love, affection and contact between the child and the other parent; except that if a parent is protecting a child from child abuse or neglect or from seeing domestic violence, that parent’s protective actions will not be held against them
• If the past pattern of involvement of the parents and the child show a system of values, time commitment, and support
• How closely everyone lives to each other for practical considerations
• Each parent’s ability to place their child’s needs ahead of their own needs. 

Will the judge consider what my child wants for parenting time?

Maybe. If the judge decides your child is mature enough to have their own opinion, they may consider it but the judge is not required to follow a child’s wish or opinion. There’s no set age for when a child is mature enough to have their own opinion. It’s a case-by-case analysis.

How to share your child’s opinion with the judge:

Your child will not be allowed to testify in court, and you will generally not be allowed to testify about what they told you they want. However, you can:

• Ask the judge to appoint a Child and Family Investigator (CFI) who will talk to your child and write a report with recommendations on what custody arrangements are in the child’s best interest. The CFI is allowed to tell the judge what your child says they want.
• File a motion asking the judge to talk with your child privately 

What is decision-making?

Decision-making refers to who makes major decisions for your child. These decisions fall into four categories:

1. Medical
2. Educational
3. Religious
4. Extracurricular activities

Day-to-day decisions (like chores, clothing, or minor discipline) are made by the parent who has the child at the time. The judge could award joint decision-making in which both parents make the major decisions together. The judge could also award sole decision-making responsibilities to one parent on all or some of the categories. The judge will consider the best interests of the child when deciding how to award decision making responsibilities. 

The judge will consider the “best interest factors” that are listed above. The judge will also consider:

• If the parties are able to cooperate and make decisions together
• If the past pattern of involvement of the parents with the child shows a system of values, time commitment, and support that would show an ability for the parents to provide a positive and nourishing relationships with the child as joint-decision makers 
• If joint decision-making would promote more frequent or continuing contact between the child and each of the parents 
• If the judge finds that there has been domestic violence, child abuse or neglect, or that the child was conceived through sexual assault; it is not in the child’s best interest to award joint decision-making if a parent objects unless the judge finds that joint decision-making can happen without coercion, intimidation, retaliation, or risk of harm to the abused parent or to the child.

How is child support calculated?

Colorado uses a formula set by law to calculate child support.

The main factors are:

• Each parent’s gross income (before taxes and other deductions)
• The number of overnights each parent has with the child
• Costs for childcare and health insurance

How can I estimate child support?

Calculating child support can be tricky. There is a free calculator on the Colorado Judicial Department website that can help.

Need more help?

You can get help from the courts. Every judicial district has staff called “Sherlocks” to help people with their legal questions. To find the Sherlock in your county, visit the Judicial Department’s Sherlock webpage.