Custody and the News

It was reported that James Cook, a dad who advocated for father's rights, recently passed away. Listen to a story about him here, where he is referred to as the father of joint custody, courtesy of National Public Radio. (The audio link runs 3:22 minutes.)

So, what about Colorado law? The first thing to know is that the law that applies in divorce cases no longer uses the term "custody." Custody has been replaced by two terms, representing distinct concepts, "allocation of parental responsibilities" and "parenting time." The new terms reflect the two concepts of law that previously constituted the one term "custody."

Allocation of parental responsibilities is decision-making on major issues for the child. That is, who will have the legal right to make major decisions. Will they be shared, or not. Major decisions typically are those regarding health, education, religion, and others.

Parenting time is simply a visitation schedule, and with whom the child will be, and when. It, of course, encompasses the idea of where the child will primarily reside, and when the non-primary residential parent will spend time with the child. These are the two issues, and terms, that will be used and applied in your divorce or custody case.

Colorado law has indeed changed over the years, thanks to James Cook and others, and is now more receptive to each parent sharing decision-making responsibility, and sharing parenting time with their children. In other words, joint custody.