Parenting Allocations
The Court defaults to 50/50 parenting time and 50/50 decision-making unless there is a showing by a parent the other parent having these splits is not in the child’s Best Interests. The most common reasons for the Court to Order allocations other than 50/50 are abuse/domestic violence and addiction issues. Geographic distance between parents is another reason but, the Court usually makes best efforts to keep decision-making neutral and parenting time as balanced as possible.
Challenges to Parenting Allocations
Get to know CRS 14-10-124 which is the measure the Court must use for determinations of parenting allocations. Unless there is an endangerment situation, Motions for Modification of Parenting Allocations may only occur every 2 years, so plan ahead if you are thinking about making changes. If you don’t have adequate evidence now to request changes, you should probably wait until you do. Also, make sure the challenge or requested change is entirely for the children and not solely for your convenience or to punish the other parent.
Evidence
Collect all you possibly can to support your narrative but, be wise about it…being too much Sherlock Holmes can work against you. Get as much of the big picture of the parenting situation on the record during the divorce as is possible, it makes it easier for yourself and the Court to consider changes down the road. Hiring a good PRE or CFI during the divorce is the best practice to achieve this goal. Conversely, getting a poor or gender-biased PRE or CFI can make changes more challenging now and in the future.
Check the Mirror
Just because the other parent may have issues which may affect their parenting allocations, make sure you don’t have the same or different issues which may also work against you. If you are going to point the finger, make sure the other parent can’t point a finger back at you. If you have overcome issues which may affect your parenting allocations, ensure they are well documented as fully in the past. Don’t expect to get your one-month sobriety coin and then have enough evidence to Motion for changes to allocations if your restrictions were because of your addiction issues. The Court must consider the entire big picture and if you don’t have a history of being straight or clean, your challenge will likely be unsuccessful…keep going! Your reward of reestablishing your relationship with your children will come soon enough if you stay sober and clean up your life.
Communication is Paramount
Children are considerably more intuitive than they may seem. You and your current or soon-to-be ex-spouse should come together and develop a unified message to the children concerning your divorce. Making disparaging comments about the other parent in a manner the children can hear and understand is strongly condemned by the Court and will be a significant strike against you. Although you may hate each other with the strongest passion, you hopefully still mutually love the children and this is for them. Don’t make their lives difficult just because you and your ex can’t figure it out.