1st Jun 25 6:58 am
Jamie“Custodial interference” is a broad term that many parents struggling to navigate the complexities of parenting time arrangements may find difficult to understand and apply. What constitutes “interference” with another parent’s scheduled parenting time? At what point will Colorado courts consider interference worthy of intervention? These can be important questions, but often the parameters that define custodial interference are set partly by the terms of the custody order in a particular case. Court responses to allegations of custodial interference and requests for court enforcement of parenting schedules can be similarly nuanced. For these reasons, concerned parents may find it helpful to discuss the particulars of their own custody disputes with an experienced family attorney. Call (720) 593-6442 in the Denver area to schedule a consultation with a member of the child custody team at Colorado Divorce Law Group today.
According to the Legal Information Institute (LII) managed by Cornell Law School, custodial interference is a general term that can refer to a range of deviations from court-ordered custody arrangements, typically when the behavior infringes on – or, as the name suggests, interferes with – one parent’s exercise of his or her custodial rights as defined by court order. While any party external to either parent’s household could theoretically engage in conduct that disrupted that parent’s time with their child, the distinguishing feature of custodial interference is not the bothersomeness of the behavior but the fact that the behavior violates a custody order. For this reason, “custodial interference” generally applies only when the interfering party is covered by the court order, which in practice almost always means that custodial interference will be one parent’s disruption of the other’s parenting time.
Like custody itself, “custodial interference” is a general term that can cover a broad swath of scenarios, which are often given separate, more limited definitions under state laws. These differentiations help to account for the fact that instances falling under the broad rubric of custodial interference can vary dramatically in their scope and severity; LII explains that the term can cover situations ranging from parental kidnapping to excessive attempts to contact a child when the child in question is with his or her other parent.
The relationship between custodial interference and the court order with which it breaks also means that the specific details of the individual custody order will to some extent define the conduct that constitutes custodial interference in an individual case. These may vary widely.
Some, not all, parenting agreements will stipulate how often and for how long either parent can call their child during the other parent’s scheduled parenting time. Others specify what is known as a “right of first refusal,” which generally means that, whenever either parent is going to be unable to spend time with their children during their scheduled parenting time (usually beyond a limit stated in the order, such as “more than eight hours” or “overnight”), then before the parent who will be missing time seeks third-party childcare, he or she is obligated to offer the other parent the chance to keep the child or children in their care for that period instead. Still others spell out situations in which both parents agree that it will be appropriate to temporarily deviate from the normal custody schedule, such as severe illness in either household or a planned vacation. In each of these cases, parental behavior will generally be considered custodial interference only if it violates some aspect of the written order as entered in the court record.
Often temporary adjustments are subject to the approval of the other parent, and in many co-parenting relationships it is possible for both parties to extend the other some flexibility in such matters as the duration of a child’s evening phone call with their other parent, or moving the usual time for picking up or dropping off a child by a few hours in either direction. In other situations, however – especially in high-conflict divorces, or when either party has a history of abusing the other’s flexibility – it can be crucial to stick to the letter of the court’s custody order.
As many concerned parents might expect from the broad range of activities potentially covered, “custodial interference” may result in a commensurately wide array of possible consequences for the offending party. In some instances, a frustrated parent may be able to address even fairly disruptive behavior on the part of their co-parent by filing a Motion to Enforce Parenting Time with the court overseeing their case (typically, this will be the same court that issued the original custody order).
In the majority of instances, not rising to the level of criminal conduct, disputes concerning parenting time will be heard and addressed according to the terms set out in C.R.S. § 14-10-129.5. Options at the disposal of the Colorado Judicial Branch in these cases include:
There are a few other possibilities that may apply, depending on the circumstances of the case, including “any other order” the court deems to be in the best interest of the child. An experienced child custody lawyer with Colorado Divorce Law Group may be able to advise you on how courts in the Denver area typically handle cases with factors similar to your own.
While most issues that would qualify as “custodial interference” under the broad definition offered by LII can typically be addressed in the same civil court that heard the original family case, Violation of Custody Order under C.R.S. § 18-3-304 is a criminal offense in Colorado. Roughly equivalent to the actions sometimes placed under the more general description of “parental kidnapping” in common parlance, violations of C.R.S. § 18-3-304 may be charged as Class 5 felonies in Colorado, or Class 4 if the offending party takes the child out of the country. A conviction under this statute could therefore entail the penalties commonly associated with other Class 5 felonies under Colorado’s Criminal Code.
Unlike most other issues that arise in co-parenting disputes, custodial interference under C.R.S. § 18-3-304 requires a formal charge by a Colorado state prosecutor, and confer on the defendant all the usual due process protections otherwise afforded to defendants in criminal cases. For obvious reasons, Colorado courts generally prefer to handle any custody issues before they reach this degree of severity, so if you are struggling with enforcement of the court order regarding parenting time in your case, you may want to discuss your concerns with a family attorney in your area.
If your co-parent is regularly violating the terms of your custody order, you may have wondered whether their actions qualify as custodial interference. Generally speaking, any custody violation by either parent may be considered custodial interference, but Colorado courts are inclined to take into consideration whether the deviations from the established plan regarding parenting time have been “substantial and continuing,” under C.R.S. § 14-10-129.5, in determining how such variances should be handled. If you have concerns about your co-parent’s behavior and its adverse effects on your parenting time, you may find it helpful to discuss your situation with a child custody lawyer who has experience with how the local courts handle parenting time disputes similar to yours. In Littleton or the greater Denver area, parents can call (720) 593-6442 to schedule a consultation with Colorado Divorce Law Group.
