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Family & Divorce Law

When a couple ends a relationship, things become more complex and emotionally charged when children are involved. This intensifies when the adults involved cannot agree on the best outcome for those children. There are certainly good reasons to engage in a custody dispute. Parents do this to ensure they will obtain adequate time with their children, for example, or even to protect them from being exposed to unhealthy behaviors. Even two good parents can disagree on what’s best when it comes to the child's education or upbringing.

Still, it’s important for parents to know what a custody case entails. There are emotional costs to be sure. There are also financial costs, and it’s important to be aware of those.

Custody and visitation. For a father who has not been through a divorce that involves custody of children, this can be a scary matter. What rights do you have as a father? Do the courts usually grant custody to the mother and only visitation rights to the father? 

Apart from understanding the legal aspects, preparing for custody hearings can be emotionally draining and the conversation with your spouse can easily become hostile. That’s why it’s important to approach a custody case with a solid understanding of your rights.  

Understanding Custody

In a perfect world, divorced couples can put their differences aside and parent cooperatively with one another. They put their heads together and come to an agreement on major issues such as house rules and education. They support one another in their parenting decisions. They’re even able to attend events together harmoniously.

Unfortunately, in reality co-parenting arrangements do not always work. Sometimes both parents play a role in this. They’re simply too angry, or they have too many philosophical differences to co-parent. Sadly, there are also situations where one parent behaves in a manner that makes co-parenting impossible. 

Let's take a look at some common co-parenting problems and how to resolve them.

You and your divorcing spouse have each a hired divorce attorney, as you should. You need to involve a professional and experienced family lawyer who can protect your rights during every aspect of a divorce. 

But often the court will also order mediation, especially when there are custody and child support issues to deal with. How does divorce mediation work, and what does it entail?

The short answer to this question is “yes.” You contract with a lawyer for his or her services, and you pay an agreed-upon amount as those services are provided throughout your divorce.

But at any given time, you may decide that you want a different attorney.

If you’ve watched legal dramas, the term “deposition” may already be familiar to you. While the process of giving a deposition usually looks intimidating in the movies, in reality, it’s not as nerve-wracking as you might think.

Sometimes having a restraining order in place is the only way to keep yourself protected from unwanted communication and harassment.

Yet, life circumstances often change and take unexpected turns, putting you in a position where you can be hit with a contempt charge for having that order in place.

If you or a loved one is facing a situation in which a restraining order has been - or could be - issued, it's important that you understand the basic implications behind this legal measure. 

In Colorado, there are a few different ways for paternity to be established. First, if a couple is married or they separated shortly before the birth of a child, the man is presumed by the state to be the father. 

If the parents are not and have never been married, the father may sign an affidavit of paternity or allow his name to be included on the birth certificate. If someone outside of the relationship is thought to be the father or there are doubts to paternity coming from either the father or mother, a paternity test will need to be administered. 

Costs and Establishing Paternity

Divorce affects children to varying degrees, but one thing they shouldn't have to worry about is how they'll be cared for. And that's what child support is all about.

In Colorado, the legislature has developed statewide guidelines for calculating child support. Using a mathematical formula, these guidelines take into consideration several factors: custody arrangements, incomes of both parents, and, of course, the parenting plan that has been worked out through the divorce attorney or a family lawyer.

Here in Colorado there have been a handful of recent cases in which the "laches" defense has been invoked. While this defense is rarely used and upheld, it is a tactic that could be used in certain situations within family law cases. 

Laches doesn’t prevent litigation. Instead, it is used as a defense. Understanding this term is important if you plan to pursue child support payments or spousal maintenance.