Chapter 4 - § 4.3 • CUSTODY|ALLOCATION OF PARENTAL RESPONSIBILITIES

• Jurisdiction: Colorado

§ 4.3 • CUSTODY/ALLOCATION OF PARENTAL RESPONSIBILITIES

Effective February 1, 1999, the UDMA was amended to replace references to "custody" with the phrase "allocation of parental responsibilities." C.R.S. § 14-10-103(4). Prior to this change, the statute used the word "custody" for issues relating to children. The changes were made primarily for the following reasons. First, it was felt that custody was a possessory concept that was inappropriate when talking about children and contributed to conflict between parties. No longer can parties claim they "won custody" or "lost custody." Second, the term "parental responsibilities" more clearly describes the obligations of a parent than the term "custody." Third, the amended statute gives the parties and the courts more flexibility to create a plan that will meet the specific needs of a child and to consider the attributes of each parent by dealing with parental responsibility for each issue separately.

Because orders entered by Colorado courts before February 1, 1999, refer to custody, all such subject children are now over the age of 18. As such, not even modification of the custody orders will be relevant any longer.

§ 4.3.1—Allocation of Parental Responsibilities

For all orders entered after the February 1, 1999, statutory amendments allocate parental responsibilities "including parenting time and decision-making responsibilities in accordance with the best interests of the children." C.R.S. § 14-10-124(1.5). Parenting time and decision-making will be discussed in more detail in §§ 4.4 and 4.5. Allocation of parental responsibilities are matters to be determined within the sound discretion of the trial court. In re Lester, 791 P.2d 1244, 1246 (Colo. App. 1990).

In some states, there is a statutory presumption in favor of shared parental responsibilities, which requires a court to award shared decision-making of a child to the parties unless the court finds specific grounds for not doing so. In Colorado, there is no presumption or preference for certain orders. Rather, orders are to be based upon the specific subject child's best interests. In fact, Colorado's statute clarifies that co-parenting is not always appropriate. C.R.S. § 14-10-124(a).

Shared Physical Care

Shared physical care is a term defined within the child support statute, C.R.S. § 14-10-115(3)(h). If each parent has the child for more than 92 overnights each year and both contribute to the support of the child in addition to the payment of...