Family Law & Divorce
Steady, strategic counsel for divorce, custody, and support matters in Longmont, Boulder County & the Front Range.
Charles E. Liken Jr., Esq. — On Colorado's Legal Front Lines Since 1995 · Government Investigator, Denver Human Services (1997–2003) · Licensed Colorado Attorney Since 2003 ~ 20+ Years in Private Practice · Colorado Deputy District Attorney (2018–2020) · Colorado Court-Appointed Child and Family Investigator
Protecting what matters most
Family cases are won with preparation and settled with judgment. Charles combines twenty-plus years of Colorado family practice with mediation experience and Child & Family Investigator training — so you get an advocate who knows how judges, mediators, and evaluators actually look at your case.
Ready when you are — talk it through with Charles.
Your choice: no-charge 20-minute phone call OR in-depth hour ($300) — both directly with Charles.
A mediator's toolkit, a litigator's readiness
As a mediator, Charles knows how to get to a durable agreement without scorched earth. As a prosecutor (2018–2020) and career investigator (700+ cases), he prepares every file as though it's going to trial — which is exactly what gives you leverage to settle it well.
Every family matter, A to Z
If it touches your family, we handle it — the complete list:
Going pro se? Keep the shield handy.
The free Pro Se self-help covers the how-to — and one call brings a Deputy DA (2018–2020) and 700-investigation veteran into your corner.
Everything you need to know about a CFI in your Colorado family case
When parents can’t agree on parenting time or decision-making — or when one side raises allegations the judge can’t referee from the bench — the court often appoints a Child & Family Investigator (CFI) under C.R.S. § 14-10-116.5 to investigate and recommend what’s in the children’s best interests. Here’s the part that matters for you: Charles serves as a court-appointed CFI himself. When your case has a CFI in it, your lawyer knows the investigation from the inside — because he conducts them.
1What exactly is a CFI — and when does a case get one?
A CFI is the court’s neutral investigator in a custody dispute — appointed under C.R.S. § 14-10-116.5, governed by Chief Justice Directive 04-08. Either parent can request one (or the judge appoints one on the court’s own motion), typically where parenting time, decision-making, relocation, or safety allegations are genuinely contested. The appointment order defines the exact questions the CFI must answer — the CFI cannot roam beyond it.
2What does the investigation actually look like?
Expect a brief, focused, non-intrusive investigation: interviews with both parents, age-appropriate conversations with the children, home visits, and calls to the people who actually see you parent — teachers, therapists, coaches, doctors — plus a review of records the appointment order covers. The CFI is a trained observer with a mandatory-reporter obligation: anything you say, text, or file can end up in the report.
3What comes out the other end?
A written report, filed with the court and served on both sides, with specific recommendations on the best-interests questions in the appointment order. If the order doesn’t set a deadline, the report is due at least 35 days before the hearing — which is your window to digest it, gather rebuttal evidence, and decide whether to settle on its terms or contest it.
4How much does a CFI cost, and who pays?
For private-pay appointments the fee is presumptively capped at $3,250 per appointment, plus up to $500 for testimony and preparation (CJD 04-08, amended effective August 7, 2024); the CFI must get advance court approval to exceed those caps, and discovery costs are excluded. The court allocates the cost between the parents — often by income — and parties who qualify as indigent may have the fee paid at state expense under CJD 04-05.
5CFI vs. PRE — which one does your case need?
The CFI (C.R.S. § 14-10-116.5) is the faster, cheaper, capped instrument. A Parental Responsibilities Evaluator (C.R.S. § 14-10-127) is a licensed mental-health professional who performs a deeper forensic evaluation — psychological testing, extensive collateral work — at a cost that routinely runs five figures with no presumptive cap. Which tool fits (or whether to ask for a PRE after a bad CFI report) is a strategy decision worth real advice.
6How much weight does the report really carry?
Formally, it’s a recommendation — the judge decides. Practically, a thorough CFI report frames the entire hearing: judges lean on a credible neutral’s work, and the side fighting the report carries the practical burden. That’s exactly why the investigation phase — not the hearing — is where most CFI cases are won or lost.
7The do’s and don’ts while a CFI is investigating
Do: tell the truth (CFIs verify), follow every court order to the letter, keep your home ready for a visit, respond promptly and civilly, give the CFI collaterals who have actually watched you parent, and stay child-focused in every answer. Don’t: coach the children (CFIs are trained to spot it, and it backfires like nothing else), trash the other parent, treat the CFI as your advocate, or put anything in a text or email you wouldn’t want quoted in the report.
8Disagree with the report — what now?
You are not stuck. The CFI can be deposed and cross-examined at the hearing; the report’s factual gaps can be attacked with your own evidence; in the right case you can move for a § 14-10-127 evaluation; and CJD 04-08 has a formal complaint process (start by requesting preliminary findings from the presiding judge — deadlines are short). What you cannot do is ignore it. The 35 days between report and hearing are the most important month of your case.
Take the first step. We'll take it from there.
No-charge 20-minute phone consultation, or an in-depth hour ($300) — both directly with Charles.