Allocation of Parental Responsibilities Attorney in Parker, CO
Divorce in and of itself is difficult enough, but when the couple has children, ending the marriage will be more complicated and, in most cases, more emotional. A divorcing parent has concerns about the future well-being of the children as well as about legal rights to physical custody, parenting time and decision-making responsibility.
Under Colorado law, these concepts are known collectively as the allocation of parental responsibilities.
How Judges Approach The Allocation Of Responsibilities
When a Colorado state court judge decides how to allocate these responsibilities — that is, parenting time and decision-making responsibility — he or she is required by law to enter orders that are in the best interests of the child.
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The judge is not to consider parental behavior that does not impact his or her relationship with the child, nor is the judge to favor either parent because of the parent’s gender.
Colorado law declares a public policy that it is usually in everyone’s best interest to encourage co-parenting and keep both parents regularly involved in their children’s lives after divorce. To that end, the law encourages parents to “share the rights and responsibilities of child rearing and … encourage the love, affection and contact between the children and the parents.”
Of course, despite this official preference for joint custody, if it is not in the child’s best interest, a different decision in the child’s best interest is required. Colorado statute says that in determining a child’s best interests, the court should give “paramount consideration to the child’s safety and the physical, mental and emotional conditions and needs of the child …”
