Summit County Divorce: Restricting Parenting Time
When a marriage comes to an end there are no clean outs. This is especially true when a divorce ends a marriage with children. You can guarantee that the parents will have to deal with each other for the rest of their lives. Hopefully, that does not require you to go back to court. Unfortunately, sometimes you have to do just that to protect your children.
Summit County divorce attorneys know that there are instances when a modification of parenting time is the right thing for a parent and the children. Are the permanent orders just not working after your Colorado divorce was finalized?
Were you divorced in Breckenridge but now have moved to Eagle County? What happens when your ex puts your children in imminent danger of physical or emotional harm?
Recently, the Colorado Court of Appeals was forced to evaluate the appropriate standard a parent needs to show in order to get an emergency hearing to restrict parenting time. This article will discuss In re Marriage of Thorburn, 2022 COA 80, 519 P.3d 736, and the new law covering motions to restrict parenting time in Colorado as of July 2022.
Our Summit County divorce lawyers at Newland Legal focus exclusively on serving the needs of the mountain community with a select clientele. Newland Legal only serves clients in Summit County, Jefferson County, Clear Creek County, and Park County because we know that our clients need the highest quality service from an attorney who understands what the modern mountain family needs.
Colorado Emergency Motions To Restrict Parenting Time
Colorado family law is notoriously not-well defined. Many other states have detailed statutory provisions that cover all different types of specific conduct and instruct judges on what exactly to do.
Colorado, by contrast, has a relatively small statutory framework for evaluating restrictions of parenting time. This is particularly true for requests to restrict parenting time in the context of making sure a child is safe from physical and emotional endangerment.
The relevant rules of the road are found at C.R.S. § 14-10-129. There are two specific provisions which interplay when emergency motions to restrict parenting time are filed. Those subsections are (1)(b)(I) and subsection (4) of § 14-10-129.
The first subsection applies to any order imposing or continuing a parenting time restriction. Subsection (4), on the other hand, allows a Summit County divorce court, on an emergency basis, to restrict parenting time until a hearing can be held within 14 days.
So what is the problem? The issue is that the general subsection ((1)(b)(I)) does not mention anything about an “imminent” threat, but subsection (4) does. Thornburn discussed this distinction in detail in a Colorado family law case every attorney in Jefferson County needs to know.
Where is the beef: do you need to prove “imminent” danger to restrict parenting time?
The endangerment standard is found at Section 14-10-129(1)(b)(I) of the Colorado Revised Statutes and it applies to all motions to restrict parenting time in Summit County courts:
The court shall not restrict a parent's parenting time rights unless it finds that the parenting time would endanger the child's physical health or significantly impair the child's emotional development. In addition to a finding that parenting time would endanger the child's physical health or significantly impair the child's emotional development, in any order imposing or continuing a parenting time restriction, the court shall enumerate the specific factual findings supporting the restriction.
(Emphasis Added).
A separate provision found at Subsection (4) allows a parent to obtain a parenting time restriction on an emergency basis:
A motion to restrict parenting time or parental contact with a parent which alleges that the child is in imminent physical or emotional danger due to the parenting time or contact by the parent shall be heard and ruled upon by the court not later than fourteen days after the day of the filing of the motion. Any parenting time which occurs during such fourteen-day period after the filing of such a motion shall be supervised by an unrelated third party deemed suitable by the court or by a licensed mental health professional…
Restricting Parenting Time: Arguments Raised
The father in the Thornburn case wanted to define “imminent” as “near at hand or impending.” However, the magistrate judge rejected that definition. The mother argued that the “imminent” standard applied only to the district court’s initial determination as to whether an emergency motion to restrict parenting time under subsection (4) met the pleading requirements for Colorado family law.
Put differently, the mother argued that imminence need not be proved at the emergency hearing, nor is the court required to make a specific finding of imminence for the court to continue a parenting time restriction. Instead, “imminent” should be viewed as a trigger determination: prove imminence and you get a mandatory emergency hearing within 14 days.
What Proof Is Needed To Restrict Parenting Time In Colorado?
The Thornburn court agreed with the mother’s argument. They viewed the use of the phrase “imminent” in subsection (4) but not in the general endangerment standard as determinative. In a nutshell: A) you have to prove an “imminent” physical or emotional danger to get an emergency hearing; and B) you must prove endangerment of physical or emotional health at that hearing to get an order to restrict. This is a lower standard than what the father sought. We anticipate an increase in the filing of motions to restrict parenting time based on the ruling in Thornburn.
Evergreen Attorneys Ready to Fight In Motions To Restrict
Only the top Colorado divorce attorneys are intimately familiar with the issues surrounding motions to restrict parenting time. At Newland Legal, we pride ourselves on staying up to date on cutting-edge strategies to help our clients and their families. That includes asking for motions to restrict parenting time and fighting against them for our clients.
When you are faced with the tough decision of filing for divorce in Summit County or Jefferson County, you need a lawyer that knows the mountain community and is not intimated by complex Colorado divorce issues. This is even more true when it comes to your family. We know that your children come first and there is nothing scarier than having them taken away from you.
Do you have a complicated divorce or need to fight in a case involving a motion to restrict parenting time in Colorado? Contact the experienced lawyers at Newland Legal today if you need to talk with a lawyer ready to fight for your family today. You can reach us by telephone at (303) 948-1489 or by email to zach@newlandlegal.com.
