By Attorney Charles E. Liken Jr., Colorado court-appointed Child & Family Investigator. Life moves — orders don't, until a court changes them. The post-decree guide to modifying parenting time, child support, and maintenance the right way.
Charles E. Liken Jr., Esq. — On the Legal Front Lines · Government Investigator, Denver Human Services · Licensed Colorado Attorney ~ 20+ Years in Private Practice · Colorado Deputy District Attorney · Colorado Court-Appointed Child and Family Investigator
Every order has its own modification standard. Knowing which bar you have to clear — before you file — is most of the strategy.
Support is modifiable when changed circumstances are substantial and continuing — presumptively, when the new guideline calculation moves the number at least 10%. New job, new schedule, new child: run the math.
Where LLF comes in: We run the worksheet both ways before filing so you know whether the motion pays for itself — and we file fast, because changes only reach back to the filing date.
Ordinary schedule adjustments track the child's best interests as circumstances change — new school, new work shift, a teen's changed life. Courts expect plans to evolve.
Where LLF comes in: We package schedule changes as practical solutions with specifics — calendars, school data, logistics — not complaints about the other house.
Restricting a parent's time requires endangerment. Changing the child's primary residence over objection faces heightened standards — and repeat motions inside two years face extra limits.
Where LLF comes in: Whether you're seeking the change or fighting it, we build (or dismantle) the record the statute actually requires — this is not a do-it-yourself motion.
Maintenance changes on a substantial and continuing change in circumstances — retirement, disability, real income shifts. But contractual non-modifiable maintenance means exactly what it says.
Where LLF comes in: We read your separation agreement first; the answer is often written there. Then we time the motion to the real change, not the argument about it.
“We agreed to change it between ourselves” is the most expensive sentence in post-decree law. Informal changes leave arrears accruing and violations technically stacking — even when both of you meant well.
Where LLF comes in: We turn working informal arrangements into stipulated orders — usually without a hearing — so the deal you're living is the deal on paper.
Ready when you are — talk it through with Attorney Liken.
Your choice: no-charge 20-minute phone call OR in-depth hour ($300) — both directly with Attorney Liken.
Support can be modified whenever a substantial and continuing change exists (generally a 10% guideline shift). Schedule changes track best interests as circumstances change, but motions to change the primary residence face heightened standards and two-year refiling limits.
No. Until a court adopts the change, the original order controls — arrears keep accruing at the ordered amount even if both parents agreed otherwise in texts or conversation.
Durable real-world shifts: significant income changes, relocation, remarriage affecting expenses, disability, a child's changed needs — not temporary blips or strategic career downgrades.
Yes. If the separation agreement made maintenance contractual and non-modifiable, courts cannot change the amount or term regardless of later hardship — which is why that clause deserves real thought at settlement.
Modification motions are forward-looking: support changes generally apply from the filing date, never before it. If the change is real, waiting is the one strategy guaranteed to lose money.
Courts read filing patterns. A parent who returns with a new motion every few months reads as the problem; a parent who documents patiently and files once, with evidence, reads as credible. We help you be the second one.
True endangerment — abuse, dangerous instability, abduction risk — supports emergency restriction motions on days' notice, not months. If children are at risk, call us and the right authorities today.
Twenty minutes with the team now beats twenty billable hours untangling it later.