In all court judgments, Colorado courts uphold the state’s requirement to make decisions in the child’s best interests. This is never more crucial than when a parent’s mental health factors into a child custody decision.
Due to heightened awareness, mental health considerations play an increasing role in Denver child custody cases; however, a parent’s mental health problem does not necessarily prevent them from raising their child or participating in equal parenting time.
Parental Rights and the Child’s Welfare In Colorado Child Custody Cases
Under Colorado Rev. Stat. § 19-1-102(1), (1.5), the court considers the child’s best interests when determining both aspects of child custody—legal custody for decision making, and physical custody through a shared parenting-time schedule. Family courts in Colorado begin each case with the presumption that continued close contact with both parents is what’s in the child’s best interest. However, this is what’s known as a “rebuttable presumption.” In other words, one parent may rebut the court’s presumption that it’s in their child’s best interests to spend unsupervised custody time with the other parent because of the parent’s mental illness.
It’s crucial to understand that most mental health conditions do not exclude a parent from their parental rights, including the right to shared custody.
How Does a Parent’s Mental Health Issue Impact Their Parenting?
Many mental health conditions are manageable with treatment and medication. For instance, depression, anxiety, and bipolar disorder are fairly common mental health conditions. Many parents successfully manage these, and other mental health conditions, and continue to have loving, nurturing relationships with their children and provide a safe, stable home environment. When considering the implications of a parent’s mental health problem on child custody, the court considers factors such as the following:
- The type and severity of the mental health condition, and whether the parent is successfully managing their condition with therapy and/or medication
- How the condition impacts their parenting ability, including whether they provide a stable environment and meet the child’s physical and emotional needs
- Whether the parent has a support system, including supportive family members and qualified mental health professionals
- The parents’ history, including whether there is any record of abuse, neglect, or other circumstances that endangered the child
- Whether the mental illness consistently causes harmful behavior
- Whether there is a significant risk of harm, such as in cases of a parent with a criminal history or a serious, untreated mental health condition
The court would require compelling evidence that a parent’s mental health condition puts a child at risk before it would consider taking action to limit or restrict the parent’s shared parenting time or visitation rights in Colorado.
Possible Outcomes of Colorado Child Custody Cases When a Parent Has a Mental Health Disorder
Under C.R.S. 14-10-124, Colorado courts recognize that parents have the right to raise their children and the obligation to support them. The courts prefer for each parent to continue a close, loving, and supportive relationship with their child. However, if the evidence demonstrates that a parent’s mental health condition endangers the child’s physical or emotional well-being, the court may do the following:
- Grant one parent primary custody and the parent with the mental illness visitation rights, such as every other weekend visitation, and half of all school holidays
- Grant one parent primary custody and order supervised visitation for a parent with a mental health condition that endangers the child’s safety or emotional well-being
- Restrict the mentally ill parent from child custody and visitation
If a parent later receives appropriate care for their mental health disorder and begins appropriately managing their condition, they may request a modification of a child custody order that limits or restricts their right to shared custody of their child. The court carefully considers evidence for modification requests in child custody cases. Call our family attorney in Denver for a free case evaluation at (303) 451-0300.