Child Custody Arrangements

Family courts are renowned for the ‘child’s best interest’ or what’s ‘in the best interest of a child’. These principles guide many modern child custody proceedings. Even though child custody laws are sometimes complicated, your family lawyer needs to be someone who knows the law and has experience in such matters.

The Child’s Best Interests Usually Prevail

When parents who are divorcing aren’t able to agree on a specific parenting plan, they instead wind up in a Colorado courtroom to get a decision about parenting arrangements. In such situations, judges usually base their decisions on what they deem to be the best interests of any children that are involved.

The child custody laws of Colorado recognize that it’s typically in the best interests of a child to get frequent contact with each parent in a situation where both parents are participants in child-rearing.

Courts Want To Encourage Contact Between Parents And Minor Children

The legislature of Colorado has decided that while co-parenting isn’t appropriate in every situation after legal separation or the dissolution of marriage, it’s usually in the best interests of all involved parties to encourage ongoing and frequent contact between all parents and minor children from the marriage after parents are separated or decided to dissolve their marriage.

A court will also look to particular factors in making choices about child custody in the state of Colorado. These include but are not limited to the following:

• The parents’ wishes
• The child’s wishes
• The capacity of all involved parties to encourage contact and relationships with each other parent, with exceptions for cases involving neglect or abuse
• The previous involvement of every parent in the child’s life previous to the divorce
• The distance between each parent’s home
• Whether or not parents are able to cooperate and make joint decisions together
• Whether the past involvement of each parent with a child demonstrates mutual support, time commitment, and values
• The capacity of every parent to put the needs of the child ahead of their own
• The relationship the child has with each sibling and parent
• The child’s adjustment to community, school, and home

There are many kinds of child custody arrangements. They include:

• Alternating: Parents alternate between sole physical custody and legal custody
• Joint: Parents both have simultaneous legal and physical custody
• Shared: Parents share the legal custody but alternate the physical custody
• Sole: Only one parent has legal and physical custody
• Split: Each parent has sole and full custody over particular children from the marriage

The primary doctrine courts use in crafting child custody agreements relies on what they consider to be in the ‘best interests’ of the child as we’ve stated several times. If a court ascertains that it’s better for the child to only have one parent with sole physical and legal custody, then they’ll grant such powers to just one parent alone.

Child Custody Can Be Emotionally Draining

Determining child custody can prove to be an emotional process, not just for children, but for each parent.

Even with the emotional upheaval that comes for all involved parties, family law jurisprudence happens in ways such that standards and protocols are used so courts make uniform decisions that eliminate uncertainty and doubts about outcomes.

If you are looking for low-cost child custody, contact Mary Daugherty. Mary offers attorney-guided low-cost custody that can save you a LOT of money!

Schedule a Low-Cost Child Custody consultation now!