Your case is over, and you did not receive your desired outcome. Now what? Should you appeal? Judges and courts are not perfect. They make mistakes just like the rest of us. One way to change an undesired outcome is to file an appeal. But before embarking on the appellate journey, you will want to consider the merits, risks, and other implications of appealing. To help guide that process, consider asking yourself the following five questions: 1. Is there a valid legal basis to appeal? Even if you are disappointed in the outcome of your case, most appellate courts will not change the result unl ..read more

Can I Relocate Out of State with My Children When There is No Court Order? When deciding whether to move out of state, a parent is allowed to do so if there are currently not any court orders related to an Allocation of Parental Responsibilities (or Parenting Plan) within the state of Colorado. That said, discussing the relocation with the other parent is always a great way to start, as the child’s “home state” is very important. Generally, a child’s “home state” refers to the state in which the child was living for at least six (6) months prior to any filings with the court. For instance, if ..read more

If you are here, it likely means you have been unable to visit with your precious grandchildren or a parent concerned about a grandparent trying to see your children against your wishes. Grandparent’s rights do exist in Colorado but are limited. Grandparents’ rights include both a potential right to “visitation” and a potential right to “custody.” The courts in Colorado appreciate that a grandparents involvement with their grandchildren is important and necessary, so long as the child’s best interests are being obtained. However, whether a grandparent has the right to visitation with their gra ..read more

When going through a divorce, it’s easy to focus on the major assets such as the house, cars, or retirement funds. But other assets, often hidden in plain sight, need equal consideration. This article sheds light on ten commonly overlooked assets that should be accounted for during the asset division process.   1. The Family Pet Pets are often an integral part of our daily lives, but they can easily be overlooked when dividing assets in a divorce. In Colorado, pets are treated as assets, much like any other property. During the separation process, the pet may stay with the spouse who rema ..read more

The Colorado legislature recently amended the child support statute, with changes taking effect July 1, 2023. This article provides an overview of the changes and a deeper dive into the changes that may affect parents paying and receiving child support in Colorado.   Overview of the New Law:   Parties to child support order hearings must be given notice of ways that child support orders may affect parties’ rights and obligations.   The calculation of gross income in situations where a party pays or receives maintenance (alimony) has changed to account for changes in federal t ..read more

Almost every day there is a news headline about divorcing celebrities.  Typically the celebrities are fighting over finances, children or both, in court and in social media.  The divorce wars can go on for years. While celebrities are a privileged few, divorce wars occur all too commonly in courts throughout the country. Sparring spouses rarely receive everything they want in a divorce court, and they will spend large amounts of money fighting. Are you considering, or involved in a pending divorce?  You don’t have to be part of the divorce wars.  There is another option.&n ..read more

Extramarital affairs create feelings of betrayal that can result in very complex, conflicted and expensive divorce proceedings. If one spouse has been unfaithful, the trust between the partners is destroyed, and this impacts every aspect of the settlement negotiations, investigations, and the court proceedings. Getting divorced is an emotional time for anyone; both partners may feel a sense of loss, depression, and anger towards one another, but add an affair into the mix and logic and rationality sometimes disappear. Spouses assume sexual exclusivity to one another and infidelity is ..read more

If you have a child support order in Colorado, it is important to be aware of the recent changes to the state’s child support statute. This is the time of year when people receive their updated income information for filing their taxes such as their W2, K1, or other tax forms. Under the updated law, you may have a mandatory obligation to disclose updated financial information to your ex-spouse annually, as part of a mandatory “annual exchange of information” to determine whether child support needs to be updated or modified. The annual exchange of information is a mandatory requirement in Colo ..read more

What is Parental Alienation? Parental alienation is a term used to describe a process by which one parent tries to cause the child to reject, fear, or avoid contact with the other parent. Read on to learn about how to fight back. The term “parental alienation” comes from the term “parental alienation syndrome” coined by child psychiatrist Richard Garner in 1985. Gardner described it as “a disturbance in which children are obsessed with deprecation and criticism of a parent — denigration that is unjustified and/or exaggerated” because of one parent’s conscious, subconscious, or unconscious beha ..read more

If you are here, it is because you and your soon-to-be ex are (unlike most divorcing couples) on good terms. Now you are trying to figure out if you should hire a lawyer because you are getting along and want to keep things as friendly as possible. The short answer is yes, you should hire an attorney. Before you close this page to look for self-help guides, I encourage you to read why having a lawyer is essential, even in friendly divorces, and how their help can often keep things amicable. Even though there is a public misconception that once lawyers are involved, the fighting begins, that is ..read more