domestic relations
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Colorado justices suggest father entitled to appeal of custody decision
Members of the Colorado Supreme Court signaled strongly on Tuesday that a father deserved some avenue for challenging a temporary child custody order that no lower court believed it could review due to the unusual circumstances of the case. Because the appeal involved a child welfare matter, neither the underlying filings describing the case nor…
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Appeals judge asks Colorado Supreme Court to once again clarify magistrate rules
A member of Colorado’s second-highest court urged the state Supreme Court last week to revise confusing language in the rules governing magistrates, less than two weeks after an attempted cleanup of the rules took effect. Magistrates are judicial employees who are not judges but who handle aspects of cases in the trial courts. Litigants may consent…
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Colorado Supreme Court struggles with rubric for significant reductions in parenting time
The Colorado Supreme Court attempted to identify on Wednesday the circumstances under which judges may reduce the number of days a parent spends with their child post-divorce without it rising to the level of a “restriction” that requires more rigorous justification under the law. During oral arguments, some members expressed discomfort with a recent Court…
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Appeals court clarifies framework for parents’ First Amendment rights in child-naming disputes
Colorado’s second-highest court overturned a Jefferson County judge’s order last week in a long-running dispute about whether two ex-spouses must call their child by his first name or middle name outside the home. In doing so, a three-judge Court of Appeals panel clarified that the standard for restricting a parent’s free speech rights is a…
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Colorado justices approve changes to rules governing magistrates’ decisions
The Colorado Supreme Court recently approved a set of revisions to the rules governing magistrates, which judges have long recognized as confusing. Although the justices adopted the package in early September, they later changed how the rules take effect. Originally, the revisions would have been effective for new cases starting on Jan. 2, 2026. After…
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Colorado Supreme Court addresses ‘weaponization’ of paraprofessional program by loosening rules
The Colorado Supreme Court recently revised the rules governing the state’s relatively new legal paraprofessional program after hearing complaints that procedural barriers were preventing adequate representation of clients and generating unnecessary courtroom disputes. Last year, the court hosted a groundbreaking inauguration of a new category of legal workers: licensed legal paraprofessionals. Fifty-nine LLPs took the oath…
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Appeals judge urges Colorado Supreme Court to analyze alimony obligations after spouses’ remarriage
A member of Colorado’s second-highest court urged the state Supreme Court on Thursday to address a question that has produced inconsistent answers over five decades: When divorcing spouses agree that one must pay the other alimony, do they need to explicitly mention what will happen if the receiving spouse gets remarried? The purpose of alimony,…
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Colorado justices take comments on new family law rules, hear concerns about ‘informal’ proceedings
The Colorado Supreme Court received generally supportive comments last month from the legal community on a sweeping set of new rules specific to family law cases, but also heard concerns about a proposal to move unrepresented litigants into “informal” trials where different rules apply. During a May 13 public hearing, the justices heard from multiple…
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Appeals court finds Denver judge relied on unsupported facts to restrict man’s parenting time
Colorado’s second-highest court concluded last week that a Denver judge made “clearly erroneous” findings about a father’s sobriety and his request for parenting time when she imposed strict conditions on visitations with his children. Following a virtual April 2024 hearing in which both parents were without a lawyer, then-District Court Judge Jennifer Torrington issued an…
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‘Not gonna pro bono our way out of this problem’: Justice Melissa Hart speaks about solving access to justice
Justice Melissa Hart and some of Colorado’s leading pro bono advocates spoke last month about the initiatives currently in place to provide legal assistance to unrepresented litigants, and delivered the message that more volunteer hours simply will not aid everyone who requires help. “We are not gonna pro bono our way out of this problem.…