Can You Lose Custody for Not Co-Parenting in Colorado?

Yes. Failing to co-parent can cost you custody in Colorado. Colorado family courts make custody decisions based on the best interests of the child under C.R.S. § 14-10-124, and a parent’s willingness to support the child’s relationship with the other parent is one of the factors courts explicitly consider. A parent who consistently undermines co-parenting, interferes with the other parent’s time, or harasses the other parent creates a record that judges use to modify custody arrangements. 

Baker Law Group, PLLC helps Colorado parents protect their custody rights and address co-parenting violations through Denver, Colorado Springs, and Fort Collins family courts.

This page explains what co-parenting failures can affect custody, how a parent can lose a custody battle, what qualifies as harassment by a co-parent, and what voids a custody agreement in Colorado.

What Colorado Courts Expect From Co-Parents

Under C.R.S. § 14-10-124, when determining parental responsibilities, courts consider ‘the ability of the parties to encourage the sharing of love, affection, and contact between the child and the other party.‘ This is not a suggestion. It is a statutory factor that judges weigh when making and modifying custody decisions.

Co-parenting obligations in Colorado include: (1) following the parenting time schedule set by the court order, (2) communicating with the other parent about the child’s needs, (3) not speaking negatively about the other parent in front of the child, (4) facilitating the child’s contact with the other parent during their scheduled time, and (5) notifying the other parent of medical emergencies, school events, and significant decisions affecting the child.

A parent who consistently fails in these areas is creating evidence that a court can use to reduce their parenting time or transfer primary parental responsibility to the other parent.

Can You Lose Custody for Not Co-Parenting?

Yes, and Colorado courts have done exactly that in cases where one parent’s behavior makes shared parenting unworkable or harmful to the child. The most common co-parenting failures that lead to custody modification in Colorado include the following.

Parental alienation. Parental alienation occurs when one parent deliberately works to damage the child’s relationship with the other parent. This includes making false allegations to the child about the other parent, coaching the child to refuse visitation, withholding the child from court-ordered parenting time, or creating fear or anxiety in the child around contact with the other parent. Colorado courts take parental alienation seriously and have modified custody arrangements, including awarding primary custody to the alienated parent, when evidence of sustained alienation is presented.

Withholding parenting time. Refusing to follow the court-ordered parenting time schedule without a legitimate safety reason is a violation of the court order and grounds for modification. A parent who repeatedly denies the other parent their scheduled time can face contempt of court in addition to custody modification.

Interference with communication. Blocking phone calls, texts, or video calls between the child and the other parent during their parenting time is a form of interference that courts document and weigh in custody proceedings.

Consistently relocating or moving the child. Attempting to move the child out of Colorado or to a location that substantially interferes with the other parent’s parenting time without court approval violates the custody order and can result in immediate court action.

Failure to communicate about the child’s needs. A parent who refuses to share information about the child’s medical care, school performance, or other significant matters forces the other parent out of the child’s life in ways that courts recognize and address.

For a full breakdown of what behavior Colorado courts consider when evaluating whether a parent is unfit, how to prove a parent is unfit covers the specific evidence and legal standard that applies.

How a Parent Can Lose a Custody Battle in Colorado

Either parent can lose a custody battle through the same categories of conduct.

A parent loses a custody battle in Colorado when the evidence shows that the child’s best interests are better served by a different arrangement. The most common reasons Colorado courts reduce or eliminate a parent’s parental responsibilities include the following.

Domestic violence. Under C.R.S. § 14-10-124(1.6)(a), if a court determines by a preponderance of the evidence that a party has committed domestic violence, the court shall consider the safety and well-being of the child and the abused party as the primary concern. The court must impose conditions on parenting time that ensure the safety of the child and abused party. Those conditions may include supervised parenting time, exchanges in a protected setting, restrictions on overnight parenting time, restrictions on alcohol or controlled substance use during parenting time, and orders keeping the addresses of the child or any party confidential.

Substance abuse. A parent who struggles with active addiction and whose substance use affects their ability to care for the child safely can lose parenting time entirely or be limited to supervised visitation.

Mental health instability. Untreated mental health conditions that affect a parent’s ability to provide a safe and stable environment can support a modification of custody. Courts look at the impact on the child, not the diagnosis alone.

Neglect or abuse. Any credible evidence that a parent has neglected or abused the child is grounds for immediate action by the court, including emergency modification of parenting time.

Consistent failure to co-parent. As discussed above, a pattern of alienating behavior, withholding parenting time, or undermining the child’s relationship with the other parent is itself grounds for custody modification independent of any other factor.

What to expect during a child custody hearing explains how these factors are presented and evaluated at a custody modification hearing, which is the proceeding where this evidence is weighed.

A Denver child custody lawyer at Baker Law Group, PLLC handles custody modification proceedings across the Denver metro area and can evaluate whether the other parent’s conduct meets the threshold for modification under Colorado law.

What Is Considered Harassment by a Co-Parent in Colorado?

Co-parent harassment exists on a spectrum from annoying to criminal depending on the severity and pattern of the conduct. Understanding where specific behavior falls on that spectrum determines what legal remedies are available.

Communication harassment. Sending excessive texts, emails, or calls that go beyond legitimate co-parenting communication can constitute harassment. Courts look at the frequency, content, and purpose of the communications. Repeated messages at late hours, communications containing threats or insults, and messages that serve no legitimate co-parenting purpose all document a pattern of harassment.

Showing up uninvited. Appearing at the other parent’s home, workplace, or the child’s school during the other parent’s parenting time without permission or a legitimate reason is a form of harassment that courts take seriously.

Making false allegations. Filing repeated false reports with child protective services or making unfounded allegations in court proceedings to interfere with the other parent’s custody is a recognized form of co-parent harassment and can result in sanctions against the filing parent.

Threats and intimidation. Any communication that threatens physical harm, financial harm, or legal action without a legitimate basis crosses from communication into harassment territory and may support a civil harassment restraining order or criminal charges depending on the content.

Using the child as a messenger. Sending hostile or manipulative messages through the child, asking the child to report on the other parent’s activities, or putting the child in the middle of adult disputes is a recognized form of co-parent harassment that affects the child directly and reflects poorly on the harassing parent in court.

When co-parent harassment rises to the level of a credible threat of harm, a Colorado court can issue a civil protection order that restricts the harassing parent’s contact with the other parent. This is a separate proceeding from custody modification but the two frequently occur together.

What Voids a Custody Agreement in Colorado?

In most cases, Colorado courts do not void custody agreements outright. Instead, they modify them when the legal standard for modification is met. The governing statute is C.R.S. § 14-10-131, which sets out the specific circumstances under which a court can change an existing custody arrangement.

Fraud or misrepresentation. If a custody agreement was obtained through fraud, such as one parent concealing material information about their circumstances or the child’s situation, the agreement can be challenged and potentially voided by a court under general contract law principles. This is one of the limited circumstances where outright voiding rather than modification may be available.

Duress. An agreement signed under duress, meaning one parent was coerced or threatened into signing, is not enforceable under general contract law. Courts can void agreements where evidence of duress is established.

Substantial change in circumstances. Under C.R.S. § 14-10-131(2), a court may modify a custody decree when facts have arisen since the prior decree, or were unknown to the court at the time of the prior decree, that show a change in circumstances of the child or the child’s custodian, and that modification is necessary to serve the best interests of the child. Common changes include one parent relocating, a significant change in the child’s needs, a parent’s substance abuse relapse, or a new safety concern involving the child.

Non-compliance by one party. A custody agreement that one party consistently violates does not become void, but the violations give the other party grounds to seek court enforcement and modification. Consistent non-compliance can result in the original agreement being replaced with a court order that imposes stronger enforcement mechanisms.

The child’s changed circumstances or preferences. As a child grows older, their preferences about parenting time carry increasing weight in Colorado proceedings. Under C.R.S. § 14-10-131(2), the child’s changed circumstances are a recognized basis for modification when the change is substantial and modification serves the child’s best interests.

Important limitation. Under C.R.S. § 14-10-131(1), if a motion for modification has already been filed, whether or not it was granted, no subsequent motion may be filed within two years of that disposition. The only exception is when a court finds, based on affidavits, that continuing the prior decree may endanger the child’s physical health or significantly impair the child’s emotional development.

For a detailed explanation of how custody orders are modified in Colorado without going through a full appeal process, whether you can modify a child custody order without an appeal explains the standard and the process for seeking modification at the trial court level.

Co-Parenting Failures Have Consequences. Do Not Wait to Address Them.

Whether you are the parent whose co-parenting is being challenged or the parent dealing with a co-parenting failure by the other party, the time to act is before the pattern becomes entrenched. Courts look at history. A parent who documents violations and seeks legal relief promptly is in a stronger position than one who waited months hoping the situation would improve.

Baker Law Group, PLLC helps Colorado parents address co-parenting failures, document violations, and pursue custody modifications through Colorado family courts. Our attorneys give you a direct assessment of whether the conduct you are dealing with meets the legal threshold for modification and what evidence you need to support your case.

For Colorado Springs parents dealing with co-parenting violations, a Colorado Springs child custody lawyer at Baker Law Group, PLLC handles custody modification proceedings through El Paso County District Court. For Fort Collins and Larimer County parents, a Fort Collins child custody attorney at Baker Law Group handles these matters throughout Northern Colorado.

Contact Baker Law Group, PLLC today to schedule a confidential consultation with a Colorado child custody attorney and find out exactly what your options are.