Note – this post is about Colorado efiling for court documents, so if you came here looking for information on filing your tax return, sorry. Colorado attorneys have long had the ability to file documents electronically (aka “efiling”) with the Court in certain cases. It has been a real timesaver, because it means paralegals can start new cases or file into existing cases from the comfort of their desks rather than having to make a physical run to the courthouse. I can’t recall exactly when e-filing started in Colorado, but it was in about 2006 or so. Prior to that, law firms would have to sen ..read more

As a family law firm, it is rare that we report on criminal cases, but People v Zoller is one of those times where criminal law and family law intersect. Specifically, to what extent does a mandatory protection order (MPO) issued by a judge in a criminal case override a defendant parent’s constitutional right to contact with his child? In Zoller, the father was charged criminally with domestic violence for seriously beating his wife in front of their young child. Pursuant to C.R.S. 18-1-1001, the judge in the criminal case issued a mandatory protection order preventing him from “contacting dir ..read more

I’m not normally one to follow celebrity gossip, but a recent news article did capture my attention as it is related to family law. Television host Jeannie Mai has asked the judge presiding over her divorce from rapper Jeezy not to enforce their prenup. Her reasoning? She did not have enough time for a prenuptial agreement the couple signed. This is a facially legitimate challenge. As we explain in our article on Attacking & Enforcing Prenuptial Agreements, it is okay for a prenup to be completely one-sided in favor of one spouse (except on spousal maintenance). Indeed, protecting a richer ..read more

How to resolve conflicts when parents with joint decision-making cannot agree has become a hotly-litigated area of family law in recent years, with much of the litigation focusing on the choice of the child’s school, and on child immunizations. The Colorado Court of Appeals recently decided the E.E.L.-T. case, which concerned whether a child should receive a Covid-19 vaccine. Vaccines for children after a divorce are an increasingly contentious parenting issue, even before the Covid-19 vaccine, and we have an entire Child Vaccines & Child Custody article in the Colorado Family Law Guide, l ..read more

Yes. And thank you for reading the world’s shortest blog post, with a question answered in just one 3-letter word. But being a lawyer, the answer does require more explanation. OK, more seriously, the process for a pregnant spouse to obtain a divorce in Colorado may be more cumbersome, but there is no prohibition. Recently, Missouri has received some press for prohibiting divorce when one spouse is pregnant. And a few Missouri lawmakers have introduced a bipartisan bill to change the law to explicitly allow a divorce with a pregnant spouse. In Colorado, there is no prohibition on a pregnant sp ..read more

We are delighted to announce that our awesome family law attorney, Jesse Feinsod, has received two different recognitions for 2023-24. And both of them are legit- the sort which attorneys are proud to earn, not some vanity “award” available to anyone willing to pay a few hundred bucks. First up is the Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch award for Colorado Springs family law. The prestigious Best Lawyers organization has been rating lawyers for years – not selected in a smoke-filled back room, but instead the lawyers recognized by Best Lawyers are rated by their fellow lawyers, and the ones doing the r ..read more

Claims Appeals Board Holds CRDP is Divisible Last year, we wrote about a decision from the Department of Defense Claims Appeals Board (CAB) holding that a portion of a Chapter 61 disability retired pay is divisible and should be awarded to a former spouse. That post has a more detailed explanation of disability retirement, and especially of Concurrent Retirement and Disability Pay (CRDP). Or see our VA disability & CRDP article in the Military Divorce Guide for a more in-depth look at those concepts. In that decision, named Redacted, the CAB reasoned the following: The disability retired ..read more

Carl Graham Top Attorney Again in 2024 I appear to have been derelict in updating my awards. When I received notice that Colorado Springs Magazine has again selected me as a top attorney for 2024, I looked for last year’s post so I could simply update that, but realize I never publicized the top attorney award for 2023. Or the 2022 award. Or, apparently, for 2021 (can’t seem to find the link for that year). Well, despite appearances to the contrary, I am truly honored to again be selected by member of the El Paso County Bar Association as a top attorney in Colorado Springs. This is not a mere ..read more

In a recent unpublished decision, the Colorado Court of Appeals held that a trial court cannot summarily deny grandparent intervention in a child custody case to seek grandparent family time without explanation. Trial Court – Father Has Sole Decision-Making In Brown, the parties agreed at dissolution that the father had sole decision and was the primary parent, while the mother had supervised visitation only. Six years later, the maternal grandmother filed a motion to intervene, seeking grandparent visitation and an evidentiary hearing, pursuant to Colorado’s grandparent visitation statute, no ..read more

Graham.Law is thrilled to announce that our senior associate, Tahli Delgado, has been recognized by the prestigious Best Lawyers as one of their Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch for family law in Colorado Springs. These are lawyers recognized for their excellence by their peers who are themselves recognized as the best lawyers around. Receiving a Best Lawyers award means something – this is not a bogus vanity “award” where anyone with a bar card can pay for inclusion, nor did Tahli pay anything for this honor. Best Lawyers is one of a shortlist of very, very few legitimate awards which truly mean s ..read more