Family Law

We handle all types of family law cases, such as Divorce, Legal Separation, Declaration of Invalidity (annulment), Adoption, Paternity, Child Support, Custody (now called Allocation of Parental Responsibility), Visitation (now called Parenting Time), Post Decree Disputes, Restraining Orders, Dependency and Neglect, Social Services.

DIVORCE AND LEGAL SEPARATION:

Divorce and Legal Separation cases proceed through the court with the same procedures and forms. The main difference on the forms is that a different box is checked for a Legal Separation case. There is a significant difference between the cases legally. In a Divorce, the marriage is dissolved. In a Legal Separation, the parties remain legally married but separated. The assets and debts are divided just as though the parties were divorced, and orders are entered allocating parental responsibilities regarding the children. But, with a Legal Separation, there is still an easy way to convert to a divorce: six months after the Decree of Legal Separation is entered, either party may convert the case to a divorce by simply filing a request with the court. The conversion will happen without a hearing.

DECLARATION OF INVALIDITY:

We can assist you in obtaining a Declaration of Invalidity, which is commonly called and annulment. There are very limited and specific circumstances which allow for a declaration of invalidity: (1) The district court shall enter its decree declaring the invalidity of a marriage entered into under the following very specific circumstances:

(a) A party lacked capacity to consent to the marriage at the time the marriage was solemnized, either because of mental incapacity or infirmity or because of the influence of alcohol, drugs, or other incapacitating substances.

(b) A party lacked the physical capacity to consummate the marriage by sexual intercourse, and the other party did not at the time the marriage was solemnized know of the incapacity.

(c) A party was under the age as provided by law and did not have the consent of his parents or guardian or judicial approval as provided by law.

(d) One party entered into the marriage in reliance upon a fraudulent act or representation of the other party, which fraudulent act or representation goes to the essence of the marriage.

(e) One or both parties entered into the marriage under duress exercised by the other party or a third party, whether or not such other party knew of such exercise of duress.

(f) One or both parties entered into the marriage as a jest or dare.

(g) The marriage is prohibited by law, including the following:

(I) A marriage entered into prior to the dissolution of an earlier marriage of one of the parties;

(II) A marriage between an ancestor and a descendant or between a brother and a sister, whether the relationship is by the half or the whole blood;

(III) A marriage between an uncle and a niece or between an aunt and a nephew, whether the relationship is by the half or the whole blood, except as to marriages permitted by the established customs of aboriginal cultures;

(IV) A marriage which was void by the law of the place where such marriage was contracted.

ADOPTION

We handle step-parent adoptions, kinship adoptions, and custodial adoptions. For step-parent adoptions, the child has to have been abandoned by the biological parent for a year or more (no contact or no support) and the child may be available for adoption. For kinship adoptions, the child has to have been in the physical custody of a relative (grandparent, brother, sister, half-sibling, aunt, uncle, or first cousin) for a year and then the child may be available for adoption. For custodial adoptions, the prospective adoptive parents have to have legal custody (by a court order) for one year or more and the child may be available for adoption. If you, or someone you know, are going to place a baby for adoption and want to place the child directly with a family that the pregnant mother chooses, a custodial adoption is a great way to avoid the astronomical costs of going through an adoption agency. And this is a great way to prevent abortions –we feel so strongly about this that we will handle the case for a very low fee. We can assist in getting the prospective adoptive family legal custody and then after the year passes, assist with the custodial adoption. Please talk to one of our attorneys to get more details on these kinds of adoptions.

PATERNITY and ALLOCATION OF PARENTAL RESPONSIBILITIES

If an unmarried couple has a child or children, but later the couple breaks up, there are at least a couple of simple ways to deal with the children: Paternity or Allocation of Parental Responsibilities. If a Paternity case is filed, this is a request of the court to declare who the biological father (or mother) is, order decision making authority (formerly “custody”), parenting time (formerly “visitation”), where the child resides, the tax exemption, and child support. The parties are both parents. If the alleged father is not sure, he can request a paternity test to verify that he is the actual father. One benefit of filing a Paternity case is that the court permits retroactive collection of support and birth expenses.

Allocation of Parental Responsibilities (“APR”) was formerly called custody. The persons who can file an APR case are:

(a) By a parent:

(I) By filing a petition for dissolution or legal separation; or

(II) By filing a petition seeking the allocation of parental responsibilities with respect to a child in the county where the child is permanently resident or where the child is found; or

(b) By a person other than a parent, by filing a petition seeking the allocation of parental responsibilities for the child in the county where the child is permanently resident or where the child is found, but only if the child is not in the physical care of one of the child's parents;

(c) By a person other than a parent who has had the physical care of a child for a period of six months or more, if such action is commenced within six months of the termination of such physical care; or

(d) By a parent or person other than a parent who has been granted custody of a child or who has been allocated parental responsibilities through a juvenile court order entered pursuant to section 19-1-104(6), C.R.S., by filing a certified copy of the juvenile court order in the county where the child is permanently resident. Such order shall be treated in the district court as any other decree issued in a proceeding concerning the allocation of parental responsibilities.

The final result of an APR case will be that the court will determine decisionmaking authority, parenting time, where the child primarily resides, tax exemptions, and child support.

MODIFICATION OF PARENTING TIME

If the court has already issued a parenting time order, we can assist you in getting this changed. Some reasons for a needed change may be your work schedule has changed, you have moved to a new residence, you want to move out-of-state, or the child is in a situation that endangers his or her physical health or significantly impairs the child’s emotional development.

MODIFICATION OF CHILD SUPPORT

There are many reasons you can file a motion to modify child support. Some common examples are that your or the other party’s income has changed (up or down), or if you have lost your job, or if the child begins living mainly with the other, non-custodial parent, or if the child emancipates. It is very important to file a motion right away if you need a modification because the child support order typically cannot be changed retroactively. Therefore, if you lose your job and wait for four months to request a reduction, you will not get a reduction in support until there the court rules (possibly months later) and the court will not reduce or abate the child support until the date you actually filed your motion to reduce child support with the court (NOT when you lost your job).

PROTECTION ORDERS

If you are in physical or emotional danger or are being harassed, we can help you obtain relief by filing a request for a temporary and permanent protection order (formerly called a “restraining order”). This may keep the person from calling, driving by, threatening, or otherwise contacting you.

DEPENDENCY OR NEGLECT/ SOCIAL SERVICES

If you have been contacted by the Department of Social Services for any reason, such as alleged abuse or neglect, we can help defend you. Call us BEFORE you talk to the Case Workers. There may be both civil and criminal implications in these cases so you NEED legal representation before you make statements.

ERRORS AND MISTAKES

If you handled your own case, of if had an attorney who forgot some things or made some mistakes, we may be able to help you repair the problems. Call us for a confidential consultation.