Having practiced exclusively family law for 18 years, Rosemary has a passion for helping families through one of the worst times of their lives. She is appropriately aggressive in representing her clients, and with that, she mentors young students looking to pursue family law.
“Part of my job is to help you understand law behind the chaos,” Ms. Rizk says.
Having participated in over 150 trials throughout his career, Mr. Finck describes his greatest litigation victory as one in which he was able to successfully defend a client in a termination of parental rights trial. He was able to convince the court that his client was a safe and protective parent deserving of being involved in all aspects of his child’s life.
“The divorce process can often seem needlessly complicated or drawn out to many clients. It is my responsibility to help explain the rules and framework that govern these actions and ensure that to the best of my ability the rights of the client are protected,” Mr. Finck says.
Is Colorado a community property state? That’s a question many people have as they enter the divorce process and wonder what will become of their most valuable belongings.
A recent case involving a Colorado woman arrested for falsely accusing her ex of abuse in order to benefit in their ongoing child custody case is another example of the importance of having a Denver fathers rights attorney on your side.
False allegations of abuse are increasingly being used as strategic weapons in child custody cases to take away dads rights in Denver, Colorado. Why? Because women know they can strip away the rights of fathers in Denver by filing for an order of protection – even with little evidence for a claim – that frequently turn into sole child custody orders.
Having a Denver dads rights lawyer will ensure your rights do not completely vanish in court whether you are fighting false allegations of abuse or protecting your financial means to remain involved in your children’s lives.
If you are concerned with your rights being protected, contact a Denver fathers rights lawyer at Cordell & Cordell. To schedule an appointment, please call 1-866-DADS-LAW.
In one of the rare victories for Colorado Springs fathers rights, a government program was instituted to help Colorado fathers connect with their estranged children.
The Promoting Responsible Fatherhood Initiative aims to boost fatherhood programs to provide more dads rights in Colorado Springs. The program provides parenting classes, therapy and job placement assistance for those whose fathers rights were violated because they could not afford child support payments.
Now, rather than ignoring Colorado Springs dads rights, agencies won’t just assume the father is out of the picture and instead will work toward ensuring the rights of fathers in Colorado Springs are protected.
Though agencies are making strides toward enforcing fathers rights in Colorado Springs, it is important to have a dads rights attorney on your side for any domestic litigation matter that could take your children from you.
If you are concerned with your rights being protected, contact a Colorado Springs, Colorado fathers rights lawyer at Cordell & Cordell. To schedule an appointment, please call 1-866-DADS-LAW.
Boulder, Colorado fathers rights attorneys frequently confront parental alienation in their cases. Parental alienation occurs when one parent tries to alienate the other in order to win a child’s attention, love or affection. This violates dads rights to continue his relationship with his child, and it can cause a lifetime of damage.
Here are a few examples:
• A dad is required by custodial-parent mom to provide his own toys and clothing for his child that he only sees eight days out of the month.
• A custodial-parent mother schedules a trip to an amusement park on the noncustodial parent’s visitation day (which violates the fathers rights in the visitation order).
• Custodial-parent mom insists that a child choose between his parents.
• Custodial-parent mom tells her son that the divorce was his dad’s fault.
These and many other forms of parental alienation are blatant violations of a dads rights in Boulder. Children caught in this tug-of-war tend to treat the alienated parent disrespectfully or may even refuse to see him.
If you feel that this is happening to you, begin keeping a log of the times you have observed the parental alienation, and call one of the dads rights attorneys in Boulder, Colorado at Cordell & Cordell at 1-866-DADS-LAW.
Colorado family law attorneys provide answers to frequently asked questions with regards to child custody in Colorado.
There are not set rules on who will automatically get custody of the children. There are statutory factors that the court must consider in awarding any decision regarding minor children.
Colorado does not have joint custody or sole custody. Colorado uses the term parental responsibility – which can either be joint or primary. If you equally share in overnight visitation with the minor child, you have joint parental responsibility. If a parent has less then 90 overnight visitations with the minor child, the other parent is considered to have primary parental responsibility.
Colorado also divides residential responsibility from decision-making responsibility. Sole decision-making responsibility occurs when a parent is able to make all major decisions (education, religious, extracurricular, and medical) regarding the minor child without consulting with the other parent. Joint decision-making responsibility occurs when the parents have to share the responsibility of those decisions.
Child support is determined based on gross monthly income and other expenses. Who has the majority of time with the child, while a factor, is not determinative of the support obligation.
No. Child support payment or lack thereof is completely independent of a parent’s right to see his/her child.
In Colorado, there is not set age limit on when a child can decide which parent to live with. The court will consider the child’s wishes to the extent that the child is sufficiently mature to express reasoned and independent preferences as to the parenting time schedule.
Generally speaking, no. Third parties do not have visitation rights to the minor children unless an independent action to gain those rights is started.
A parenting plan is the plan that parents submit to the Court allocating parenting time with the minor child, holiday visitation, etc. It is a requirement as both parties need to know what terms are in place for visitation, decision making, tax exemptions, etc.
Yes, it should always be integrated.
Your final parenting time decisions will be determined by the court during Permanent Orders. It is possible to have Temporary Orders that allocate parenting time provisions, or the parties can agree to a parenting schedule.
A parenting plan, including a parenting schedule, can be modified at any point whenever such an action would be in the best interest of the minor child. However, a substantial modification of parenting time can only be filed if it is shown that the child’s present environment may endanger the child’s physical health.
If you cannot mutually agree on a parenting schedule, the court will have to determine a schedule that it deems is in the best interest of the minor child.
There are many factors that are used to determine a parenting visitation. It is recommended that you stay child focused and constantly ask the question, “Why is this in the best interest of my child?”
Visitation is parenting time. It is when one parent gets to “visit” with the minor children.
Yes, if the court finds that supervised or no visitation is necessary because a party is a danger either physically or emotionally to the minor child, it can be ordered.
Yes, however you will need to abide by the Rules of Evidence in introducing the proposed evidence.
No, but in some cases their services are highly helpful.
Usually no. In fact, it is discouraged to have children involved in court proceedings.
Colorado has a Uniform Child Abduction Prevention Act (UCAPA). It was put into place to try and protect the child and parent from the situation where one parent abducts a child unlawfully and refuses to return. The UCAPA gives the courts the authority to restrict parenting time if certain factors are met, issue warrants for arrests of an offending party, and ties in with the Hague Convention to secure the return of abducted children.
Clients going through a Colorado divorce face an array of challenges that threaten to upend their lives. Cordell & Cordell’s Colorado divorce lawyers focus on representing clients during the divorce process, which gives them a better understanding of how the state’s laws affect them and their families.
We have created a library of resources to help you better understand Colorado’s divorce process, including parent’s rights, child custody issues, and distribution of property.
If you reside in Colorado, you should contact a Colorado divorce lawyer for legal advice. While you can file your own divorce, we do not recommend it, especially if you have minor children and property or you own a business. The process to file for a dissolution of marriage (divorce) in Colorado includes:
Related Article: What to Know When Filing for Divorce
In Colorado, you must have been a resident of the state for 91 days prior to filing for divorce. You can file on the 92nd day. However, if you have minor children, the children must have lived in Colorado for at least 182 days before you can file for divorce.
In addition to residency requirements, you must file in the correct county, known as venue. If you and your spouse live in the same county, file in that county. If you are separated and your spouse lives in another county, for a divorce without children, you can file for divorce in either the county where you or your spouse (the respondent) resides. If your divorce involves children and you and your spouse are separated, you must file for divorce in the county where your children reside.
Related Article: What Is The Residency Requirement For Filing For Divorce?
Colorado is considered a “no-fault” state. This means that you do not need the consent of your spouse to obtain a divorce, nor are the reasons why you want a divorce considered in granting the divorce. In Colorado, the courts can enter a divorce decree (referred to as a decree of dissolution) upon showing that:
Related Article: The No-Fault/Fault-Based Divorce Debate
Colorado is an equitable distribution state, which means property is equitably – not equally – divided between the spouses. Depending on the circumstances in acquiring property, it can be deemed marital property or non-marital property. In most cases, property you acquired during the marriage is marital property. However, in some cases, property you acquired prior to the marriage can become marital property.
If you can’t come to an agreement on property division, the court will divide the property for you. The court will evaluate several factors in deciding how to divide property, including but not limited to, each party’s contribution to the marital estate, length of the marriage, property value, economic circumstances of the parties, and the value of non-marital property, such as gifts, inheritances, and other property the court deems non-marital.
Related Article: Divorce Tips For Men: What To Do With The House?
Colorado now uses the term “parental responsibilities” for the two types of child custody: Legal custody and physical custody. The parent who has legal custody has decision-making responsibility. The other term you will see is “parenting time,” which is a combination of legal and physical custody. In the event the court does not award shared custody or you and your spouse do not agree to a shared custody arrangement, this term also includes a parenting time schedule for the non-custodial parent.
In custody cases, the court will order joint decision-making responsibility except in cases where child abuse or neglect is involved or when it is otherwise not in the best interests of the children. In cases involving domestic violence, the court routinely will award the domestic violence victim sole decision making. Otherwise, the court can give each parent authority over certain issues or give both parents joint authority on all issues, such as the child’s education, religious upbringing, and optional medical care. However, if the child has a medical emergency, the parent exercising parenting time can obtain the necessary medical treatment without violating the order.
Courts also prefer that both parents have parenting time. If a parent has fewer than 90 overnight visits with a child, that parent is referred to as the non-custodial parent and the other parent is considered to have primary parental responsibility. If both parents have relatively equal overnights, you have joint parental responsibility. However, only one parent is considered as the custodial parent for issues such as school enrollment.
With joint decision making, both parents have the right to full and complete access to information about their children, including mental, medical, school, and dental records, unless the court orders otherwise.
If you agree on parenting time and parental rights, you should set forth with specificity the agreed upon custody and parenting time arrangement in a parenting plan so the court can include it in an order. Coming to an agreement regarding the minor children can save time and money, including the expense of a trial, assuming you agree on all other aspects of the divorce. Keep in mind that you and your spouse know your children and family dynamic better than anyone else. It is highly recommended that you and your spouse resolve custody and parenting time related issues as opposed to leaving these decisions up to the judge.
Related Article: What To Know About Child Custody
Colorado uses two methods to determine child support. If the overnights with either parent amounts to less than 93 overnights per year, then the child support is calculated using the State’s Worksheet A, which is considered the Sole Custody Arrangement worksheet. The second method is used if the parents have shared parenting time at which point the child support is calculated using Worksheet B. The steps to determine child support include:
On the child support worksheet for shared parental responsibility, you must also figure out the number of overnights with each parent and the support obligation for time with the other parent to determine the monthly child support contribution by each parent. A Colorado child support lawyer can help determine child support based on your parenting plan and the State of Colorado’s child support guidelines.
Related Article: What Does Child Support Actually Cover?
Colorado state laws allow for spousal maintenance for the lower earning spouse, regardless of gender. Spousal support in Colorado is at the discretion of the court, though there are factors to help determine monthly spousal support payments.
Should you choose to waive spousal maintenance payments at the time of your divorce, you can’t return to court to ask for spousal support later. This is known as an irrevocable waiver, which means that regardless of your financial circumstances after the divorce, you are forever precluded from returning to court and asking the judge to award you spousal maintenance. Either spouse can ask for temporary maintenance during the pendency of the divorce proceedings. The court can order spousal support in the final divorce decree. If spousal support is awarded, the order will set forth the amount of spousal support as well as the length of time the paying spouse is required to pay spousal support.
Permanent support does not mean the court orders a spouse to pay forever – the court sets a duration for maintenance. Some of the factors a court must consider when determining an order for spousal maintenance include:
Related Article: Will I Have To Pay Alimony?
When you choose a family lawyer at Cordell & Cordell for family legal services, you are partnering with attorneys who understand the challenges clients face in family law matters. Our attorneys are dedicated to using our experience to provide personalized representation.
“Superb legal advice. [My attorney] proactively communicated with me not only the status of my case, but helped to map out a winning strategy.” — Jonathan U.
“[My attorney] is the very definition of perfection! She always made me feel like I was her only client.” — Jeffrey M.
Contact Cordell & Cordell for a consultation to receive guidance in protecting your rights in family law cases under Colorado law.
Greenwood Village divorce attorney Josiah Silverstein has a passion for helping people, especially families. As a father of two, he understands how important it is to maintain the father-child bond both during and after the divorce process.
“Divorcing a spouse does not and should not mean the end of a client’s relationship with their children,” Mr. Silverstein said.
Mr. Silverstein believes that listening carefully to the client is one of the most important traits that a family law attorney can possess.
“Attorneys act as the voice of their clients throughout a case,” he said. “To be the most effective communicator and litigator, an attorney must first know the client’s case inside and out. Carefully listening to the client is the most effective way to gain this knowledge.”
The divorce process can be difficult and emotional. No matter the length of the marriage, the number of children involved, or the assets to be divided, passions in divorces typically run deep.
“While I cannot promise that we will be able to achieve everything that a client would like to get out of a divorce, I can promise that I will be a committed attorney who will leave nothing on the table,” Mr. Silverstein said.
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Colorado Springs divorce attorney Kevin J. Stoner enjoys helping people navigate what is typically one of the most difficult and challenging periods of their lives.
“I believe I am a good listener and have a strong sense of empathy for what clients are going through when they come to see me,” Mr. Stoner said. “I believe I am also a hard worker, good litigator, and negotiator.”
Divorce is not easy even in the best of circumstances. Mr. Stoner understands the importance of keeping the lines of communication open throughout the process.
He also realizes that the facts surrounding each and every divorce are different and each case requires a unique approach.
“What is right for another person or family might not be right for you,” he said.
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