The Colorado Custody Case Timeline: What Happens, and When, From Filing to Final Orders

Stage 1 · Filing the case

A custody case starts one of three ways. If you're married, parental responsibilities are decided inside your dissolution of marriage (divorce) or legal separation. If you're not married, one parent files a standalone Petition for Parental Responsibilities (Colorado form JDF 1031). And if parentage itself is in question, the case may begin as a paternity/parentage action that then allocates responsibilities.

Two threshold rules matter here. Colorado must have "home state" jurisdiction over the child, which usually means the child has lived in Colorado for the last six months. And the case is filed in the district court of the county where the child lives (venue can be transferred later if that changes).

What you file: the petition, a Case Information Sheet, a Summons (unless you file jointly as co-petitioners), and the filing fee or a fee waiver request. Our forms hub has the current JDF numbers, and our flat-fee quote covers drafting and e-filing if you'd rather not do it alone.

Stage 2 · Service and the response

If you filed alone, the other parent must be personally served with the petition and summons by someone over 18 who isn't a party (a sheriff or private process server is typical). Once served, that parent has 21 days to file a Response if served in Colorado (35 days if served outside Colorado or by publication). A parent who does nothing risks the case moving forward without their input, but courts are cautious about entering parenting orders by default, so the judge will usually still want a hearing.

Filing together as co-petitioners skips service entirely. If you and the other parent broadly agree, that single choice can take weeks off the calendar.

Stage 3 · Initial Status Conference and mandatory disclosures

Colorado Rule of Civil Procedure 16.2 puts every family case on a managed track. Two things happen on the same 42-day clock:

• The Initial Status Conference (ISC). A short first meeting with the judge or a family court facilitator, usually held within 42 days of filing. Nobody testifies. The court identifies the contested issues, sets deadlines, orders a parenting class if required in your district, and may refer you to mediation. Some counties handle the ISC by phone or video; others want you in the room. In many districts a parent who is represented can have the attorney attend without them.
• Mandatory financial disclosures. Each side exchanges a Sworn Financial Statement (JDF 1111) and supporting documents, generally within 42 days of service. Even in a case that is "only" about the children, these matter because child support is calculated in every APR case. Our child support calculator previews the guideline number.

Most districts also require each parent to complete a parenting education class early in the case. Get it done now; a missing certificate is a common reason a final hearing gets pushed.

Stage 4 · Temporary orders (if you need them)

A contested case can take months. If the two of you can't agree on where the child lives and when each parent sees them in the meantime, either side can ask for temporary orders. The court holds a shorter hearing, often limited to an hour or two, and enters an interim parenting schedule and, where appropriate, temporary child support. Temporary orders are not a preview of the final result, but in practice the schedule that's in place tends to shape what the judge sees as stable for the child, so this stage deserves real preparation.

Where there's a safety concern, the tools are different and faster: a civil protection order, or an emergency motion to restrict parenting time, which the court must address on an expedited basis when a child is alleged to be in imminent danger.

Stage 5 · Investigation: Child and Family Investigator or PRE

When parents dispute what's best for the child and the judge wants an independent view, the court can appoint a Child and Family Investigator under C.R.S. § 14-10-116.5, or order a more extensive Parental Responsibilities Evaluation (PRE) by a mental-health professional under § 14-10-127.

The Child and Family Investigator interviews both parents and the child, may visit each home, talks with collateral contacts such as teachers or therapists, and files a written report with recommendations. Under Chief Justice Directive 04-08, the Child and Family Investigator's report is due to the court and both sides at least 35 days before the hearing unless the judge sets a different date, and Child and Family Investigator fees are capped by that directive. A PRE is broader, typically includes psychological testing, and costs and takes considerably more.

This is the stage that most often stretches a case, because a thorough investigation can take two to four months from appointment to report. It's also where cases most often settle: once both parents have read a neutral professional's recommendations, the shape of a reasonable agreement usually becomes clear.

Attorney Liken has served as a court-appointed Child and Family Investigator in Colorado. If you're choosing a Child and Family Investigator from the court's roster, or you've received a report and need to understand what it means for your hearing, see our Child and Family Investigator Directory & Guide.

Stage 6 · Mediation and the parenting plan

Nearly every Colorado district requires parents to mediate before a contested hearing on parenting issues. A mediator (through the state's Office of Dispute Resolution or a private mediator) helps you work through the schedule, holidays, decision-making, exchanges, communication, and travel. Mediation is confidential; what's said there doesn't come into court.

If you reach agreement, you file a Parenting Plan (JDF 1113 is the standard form) and a proposed separation agreement or stipulation. The judge reviews it for the child's best interests and, if approved, enters it as the court's order, often without a hearing. A fully agreed APR case can be finished at this point, sometimes within three to four months of filing.

If you're in a divorce rather than a standalone APR case, one more clock applies: the court can't enter the final decree until 91 days or more after the court gets jurisdiction over the responding spouse, by service, by joining as co-petitioner, or by entering an appearance (C.R.S. § 14-10-106(1)(a)(III)). Standalone custody cases have no equivalent waiting period.

Stage 7 · The permanent orders hearing

Issues that don't settle go to a permanent orders hearing, a trial before the judge (Colorado family cases have no jury). Expect pre-hearing deadlines for witness and exhibit lists, a joint trial management certificate, and sometimes a pretrial readiness conference. Hearings are set for a half day or a full day in most cases; complex matters get more.

The judge decides parenting time and decision-making under the best-interests standard in C.R.S. § 14-10-124, weighing factors such as each parent's wishes, the child's adjustment to home and school, each parent's ability to encourage the child's relationship with the other, any history of domestic violence or abuse, and, for a child mature enough to express one, the child's own reasoned preference. The court may rule from the bench or issue a written order later, sometimes weeks later on a crowded docket.

How long until this hearing? It depends heavily on the county. Front Range districts frequently set contested permanent orders hearings six to twelve months after filing, and cases with a PRE or a heavy motion practice can run longer. Your ISC order will give you the first realistic estimate for your court.

Stage 8 · Living with the orders, and changing them

Final orders are final until a court changes them, and Colorado sets a deliberately high bar. Under C.R.S. § 14-10-129, most requests to modify parenting time turn on the child's best interests (§ 14-10-129(1)(a)(I)); a substantial change that also changes the parent with whom the child lives the majority of the time requires a showing that circumstances have changed and that the modification is necessary to serve the child's best interests (§ 14-10-129(2)). Under § 14-10-131(1), once a motion to modify decision-making has been filed (granted or not), no new one may be filed within two years after the court disposes of it, unless affidavits give reason to believe the current order may endanger the child's physical health or significantly impair the child's emotional development.

Two situations get their own rules and are worth reading about before you act: a parent who wants to relocate with the child, and a parent who needs to enforce an order the other parent isn't following. Both are covered in our post-decree modifications guide.