Divorce is rarely an easy process, but the emotional and legal challenges of divorce escalate when divorcing spouses have a child with special needs. Colorado’s divorce court decisions must meet the state’s standard of a child’s best interest. Under Colorado Revised Statute §14-10-124, the state describes this standard in the following way:
“…In most circumstances, it is in the best interest of all parties to encourage frequent and continuing contact between each parent and the minor children of the marriage after the parents have separated or dissolved their marriage.”
When a child has special medical, educational, and/or emotional needs, meeting this standard requires special considerations. Call our proven child custody lawyer in Denver for a free case review.
Typical post-divorce parenting plans include a child custody schedule. The parent with the greater number of overnight custody days becomes the primary custodial parent, and the other parent has visitation rights. Under the best interests of the child standard, the court considers near equal custody, facilitating continuing close contact with both parents as in the child’s best interests, unless one parent proves otherwise. However, meeting this standard becomes more challenging when a child has special needs that make transporting and transitioning them regularly between two households difficult for one or more of the following reasons:
In addition, the court carefully considers each parent’s history of daily interaction and caregiving of the child to prevent an unnecessary disruption of the child’s physical and emotional care continuity. Depending on the individual circumstances of the case, the court may consider fewer transitions between households to be in the child’s best interests rather than equally shared physical custody between both parents.
A child’s custody schedule and special needs also impact child support calculations in Colorado.
Child custody decisions in Colorado fall into two categories: physical custody and legal custody. Physical custody decisions in Colorado divorces refer to where the child resides and with which parent. Typically, this is a shared parenting time plan crafted by the parents as part of their settlement agreement or by a judge in contested custody cases.
Legal custody refers to which parent has the ultimate authority to make important decisions for the child regarding their medical care, education, religion, and extracurricular activities. Legal custody may be shared between both parents, or one parent may have sole legal authority over the child. This decision requires special consideration during a child custody decision for a child with special needs. Before deciding on legal custody, a judge will consider the parents’ ability to communicate and compromise effectively, and whether or not they disagree on their approaches to their child’s care.
Child custody cases during a Colorado divorce are often the most emotionally challenging aspects of divorce. They are also legally complex when parents cannot arrive at a mutually agreed-upon parenting schedule that meets the state’s standard of a child’s best interest. When a child has special needs, it often means that meeting their best interests looks different than it does in typical child custody cases. Contact Ciancio Ciancio Brown, P.C. for legal representation by a family attorney in Denver with experience in meeting these additional challenges.
