Colorado Parenting Plan: What to Include and How to File

A Colorado parenting plan is the written agreement that sets your child's parenting time schedule, says who makes major decisions, and, in many cases, addresses child support. You can write it together with the other parent or draft it yourself and propose it. Either way, the court reviews it against your child's best interests before it becomes an order. This guide walks through what the plan must cover, how to fill in the details a generic form leaves blank, how to submit it, and how to change it later.

• A Colorado parenting plan covers the parenting time schedule, how major decisions are made, and support, according to the Colorado Judicial Branch.
• Colorado courts decide parenting time and decision-making by the child's best interests, with safety given paramount consideration. There is no automatic 50/50 rule.
• The details decide whether a plan works: exchange times and places, holidays versus vacations, illness, make-up time and how you communicate.
• If you cannot agree, the court may order mediation before it sets a hearing.
• Changing an order later takes specific forms, and there is a two-year waiting period in most cases.

• What a Colorado parenting plan is
• Is Colorado a 50/50 custody state?
• How Colorado judges the best interests of the child
• What to put in your Colorado parenting plan
• Using a Colorado parenting plan template
• How to submit your parenting plan
• If one parent drafts it alone
• Changing a Colorado parenting plan later
• Our perspective
• Draft your plan in one workspace
• FAQ
• Sources

Colorado's courts use the phrase "allocation of parental responsibilities" where many states say "custody." The parenting plan is the document that makes that allocation concrete. The Colorado Judicial Branch explains that a plan can assign parental responsibility, create a parenting time schedule, outline how important decisions will be made, and set child support.

The Judicial Legal Help Center breaks the content into two buckets. The first is the schedule: regular monthly, holiday and vacation time. The second is decision-making: who decides about education, medical care and the child's general welfare.

If you searched for a "Colorado custody agreement," this is the document you mean. Parents often use the words interchangeably, but in a Colorado case the filed paper is the parenting plan, and the court's order incorporates it.

Parenting time vs. decision-making

Keep these two ideas apart, because plans fail when parents blur them.

• Parenting time is the schedule: which days and nights the child is with each parent, including holidays and vacations.
• Decision-making responsibility is who has the authority to choose a school, approve a medical treatment or decide on major questions. A plan can give one parent final say in some areas, split areas between parents, or require joint decisions.

A parent can have a large share of the parenting time and still share decisions equally, or the reverse. Write each one on purpose.

No. Colorado does not start from a fixed split. Under C.R.S. § 14-10-124, the court allocates parenting time and decision-making according to the child's best interests. The same statute says the court cannot restrict a parent's parenting time unless, after a hearing, it finds that the time would endanger the child's physical health or significantly impair the child's emotional development, and it must state the specific facts behind that finding.

In practice that means two things for you:

1. Equal time is a legitimate choice when it fits your child and your logistics, and many parents pick it. It is not guaranteed and it is not forbidden.
2. A parent's time is not trimmed on a hunch. A restriction needs findings, so a plan that proposes meaningful time for both parents rests on solid legal ground.

If equal time is on your list, compare the options before you commit. Our guide to choosing between equal-time schedules covers 2-2-3, 2-2-5-5 and week-on/week-off, and we explain how the 3-4-4-3 schedule works separately.

The statute lists what a court weighs. It gives paramount consideration to the child's safety, and it considers factors including:

• the parents' wishes;
• the wishes of a child who is sufficiently mature;
• the child's relationships and adjustment to home, school and community;
• the mental and physical health of everyone involved;
• each parent's ability to encourage the child's love, affection and contact with the other parent.

All of this is in C.R.S. § 14-10-124(1.5)(a). The last factor is the one parents overlook. A plan that reads as cooperative, with generous communication and no gatekeeping language, supports your case more than one that tries to squeeze the other parent out.

The Colorado Bar Association's parent guide adds practical filters. It says a schedule should account for the children's ages, developmental and emotional needs, each parent's work schedule, the level of conflict, the distance between homes, siblings, school locations, activities and health. Its core message is that a good plan balances the parents' and the children's calendars and keeps both parents meaningfully involved, rather than picking whatever is convenient for the adults.

A plan that only says "alternating weekends and half the summer" invites arguments. Use this list as your outline.

1. The regular schedule

Choose a rhythm that matches your child's age and your commute. Young children generally do better with shorter gaps between parents; school-age children can handle longer blocks. Write the schedule in days and times, not impressions. "Every other Friday at school dismissal until Monday at school drop-off" leaves nothing to interpret.

If you are still weighing options, our article on choosing a parenting time schedule that fits your child walks through the trade-offs, and the free custody schedule templates let you see a 50/50 calendar laid out before you commit.

2. Holidays, vacations and school breaks

Decide which wins when a holiday and a regular weekend collide. The Judicial Branch's issues checklist specifically lists holiday-versus-vacation priority as something to settle. Then cover:

• how holidays rotate, by odd and even years or by splitting the day;
• how much notice a parent must give before booking a trip;
• whether travel itineraries and contact details are shared;
• how winter and summer breaks divide.

Breaks are also where childcare gaps open up when both parents work. Decide up front who arranges and pays for school holiday childcare, and whether the other parent gets first right to the time before you hire anyone.

3. Exchanges and transportation

Exchanges are where many conflicts begin. The Colorado Judicial Branch checklist recommends addressing exchange communication, locations, weather, waiting time, unforeseen circumstances, who may transport, and whether the receiving or dropping-off parent is responsible for getting the child there.

A practical version looks like this:

• Exchanges happen at school or daycare when possible, which reduces face-to-face contact.
• When school is not in session, the exchange is at a named neutral location.
• A parent running more than a set number of minutes late sends a text. After a stated waiting period, the exchange is rescheduled or the missed time is handled under a make-up clause.
• Only listed adults, such as a parent's spouse or a grandparent, may do pick-ups.

4. Illness, changes and make-up time

The same checklist covers child illness, changes and cancellations, make-up time and communication methods. Spell out what happens when your child has a fever on exchange day, how much notice a parent owes when cancelling, and whether cancelled time is made up or lost. Without a rule, each missed weekend becomes its own dispute.

5. Major decisions

Name the categories: education, non-emergency medical and mental health care, religion, and significant activities. For each, say whether it is joint or one parent's call, and how you will resolve a deadlock, for example a set response window and then mediation. Emergencies should always allow either parent to act and notify the other right away.

6. Communication

Pick a channel and a tone standard. A single written channel makes later review much easier, whether that is for a mediator, an attorney or a judge. Our piece on words to remove from your documentation explains why neutral, factual messages serve you better than charged ones.

7. Modern details

Plans written years ago rarely mention phones, location sharing or social media. If you want rules about what each parent posts, see our guide to the social-media clause.

A template is a starting point, not a finished plan. Colorado's court system publishes the form that the court actually accepts, and the statewide guide to parental responsibility, JDF 1030, points parents to a single JDF 1113 Parenting Plan that both parents sign together. Start there for the required structure, then tailor each section.

What a template cannot know, and you must supply:

| Detail | Why a template can't answer it | |---|---| | Exact exchange times and locations | They depend on your schools, jobs and driving distance | | Holiday rotation | Your family's traditions and travel plans differ | | Child's age-based transitions | A plan for a toddler needs a built-in step-up as the child grows | | Decision-making split | Each parent's strengths, availability and history differ | | Communication method | Your level of conflict decides how formal it must be |

The most common mistake is accepting blanks and defaults. We make the case in more depth in why you should not accept a template parenting plan: a vague plan is cheap to sign and expensive to live with.

The process, as the Judicial Branch describes it in JDF 1030, runs like this:

1. Fill out the forms required for your kind of case, such as a parental responsibilities or custody case.
2. Include the parenting plan, one JDF 1113 document that both parents sign.
3. File with the court clerk or online.
4. If you agree, the court reviews the plan and, if it is in the child's best interests, adopts it.
5. If you disagree on any part, the court may order mediation before scheduling a hearing on the remaining issues.

The key point is that mediation is the usual next step, not a failure. Parents who arrive with a draft, a list of agreed items and a short list of open ones tend to get through it faster. Our guide to parenting plan mediation covers five steps and the clauses that cut conflict.

You do not need the other parent's cooperation to put a complete proposal on paper. Drafting first lets you frame the conversation: you bring a full, child-focused plan instead of reacting to theirs. Keep the draft balanced, because the court will weigh whether you support the child's relationship with the other parent. A generous, specific proposal is also easier to sign than a stripped-down one.

Kids grow, jobs change and families move. The Judicial Branch's change parenting time page sets out the forms:

• JDF 1406 if the other parent disagrees with the change.
• JDF 1423 if both parents agree.
• JDF 1424 for the order.
• JDF 1113 for the revised parenting plan.

You file with the court that issued the original order, pay the filing fee or request a waiver, and mail a copy to the other parent unless both of you signed a stipulation. The court may require a hearing or mediation. The page also notes that you generally must wait at least two years before the next change in custody orders, unless the child's health or emotional development is in danger or the child's main residence is changing.

Because modifying is slower than getting it right the first time, build a review point into your plan, such as a check-in when the child starts middle school.

We built CoParent Navigator because we kept seeing the same pattern: parents do not usually go to court over the big question. They go over a missing sentence. Who waits at the exchange, what counts as "reasonable notice," which parent books the summer camp. The plan feels finished until the first disagreement shows what it left out.

Our view is that a parenting plan works like a business contract between two people who must keep working together for years. It should be specific, written for the worst day and not the best, and free of language that reads as an attack. We also believe one parent should be able to draft a thorough plan alone, with no waiting on the other side and no long hourly meetings, then hand a clean proposal to the other parent, a mediator or an attorney. Documentation matters too: a record of what actually happened, in neutral words, is worth more than any label you put on the other parent.

— Heather

If you want to build a state-specific plan without starting from a blank page, CoParent Navigator's custodial plan builder gives you a library of research-backed clauses, a way to evaluate the plan you have drafted, mediation preparation tools and a secure space to keep communication and documents together. Attorneys and mediators can see how it supports client work on the attorneys page.

Do I need a lawyer to write a Colorado parenting plan?

The court forms are written so parents can complete them without an attorney, and the Judicial Branch provides guides for self-represented parties. A lawyer can still help if safety concerns, relocation or a high-conflict history are involved. Many parents draft the plan themselves and have an attorney review it before signing.

What happens if we cannot agree on the plan?

The court may order you to attend mediation before it schedules a hearing on the remaining issues, according to JDF 1030. If mediation does not resolve everything, a judge decides the open points using the child's best interests.

Can the court limit a parent's time?

Only after a hearing and specific findings. Under C.R.S. § 14-10-124, the court must find that the time would endanger the child's physical health or significantly impair emotional development, and it must list the facts that support it.

Can we change the plan after the court approves it?

Yes. You file the modification forms with the court that issued the order. Expect a wait of at least two years between custody changes unless the child's health or emotional development is in danger or the child's main residence is changing, as the Judicial Branch explains.

• Start or Respond to a Case, Colorado Judicial Branch
• Custody Issues & Law, Judicial Legal Help Center
• C.R.S. Section 14-10-124
• Memorandum of Understanding Issues Checklist, Colorado Judicial Branch
• JDF 1030, Guide to Parental Responsibility
• Change Parenting Time, Colorado Judicial Branch
• Your Parenting Plan, Colorado Bar Association
• School Holiday Childcare

• Modify a Parenting Plan: Start With Official State Forms
• Parenting Plan Examples: Real Clauses and Schedules
• Evaluate Your Parenting Plan

Informational only, not legal advice. Review filing, approval and enforceability requirements with a qualified professional in your jurisdiction.