As your child(ren) age and your family progress, the original parenting agreement may not be relevant. There are a lot of
Any party may bring a Motion to Modify Parenting Time. Typically, if the request is NOT a request to restrict a parent’s parenting time, then it will be decided under the standard of the best interest of the child. If there is an allegation that the child(ren) is in imminent danger in the care of the other party, there would be a different standard and process. This is not address in this page, but please see RESTRICTING PARENTING TIME.
A Motion to Modify parenting time must be verified and filed with the court. Once the court receives it, it will need to be served on the other parent by you. The other parent will then have 21 days to respond. If a response is filed, the court will then issue a Case Management Order. This is an outline of how the court will deal with your issue. Read all documents provided by the court very careful and make notes of all deadlines. If you miss a deadline you could jeopardize your case and it could even result in a dismissal of the Motion.
It should be noted; if both parties agree with the Motion, this should be included in the Motion to Modify the Parenting Time. The court may grant to request if the other party does not object. This could save you time and money. You may consider asking the other party what their position is on your motion before you file it.
More than likely you and the other parent will be ordered to attend mediation. This is to attempt to resolve the issues short of a court hearing. Each person runs the risk of loosing if the judge gets to make the decision. It’s always best to be prepared to attend the mediation. Clearly and concisely be ready to present your side and have what you want to accomplish clearly defined for the mediator.
If an agreement cannot be reached, you will need to ensure that a hearing date is secured with the court. The court will typically allow you a hearing for 1 hours, 2 hours, 4 hours, or an entire day for your hearing. It will depend on the complexity of the issues involved and the number of witnesses that you may have.
If you believe that a CFI (Child Family Investigatory) is necessary for the court to resolve the issue you must ask the court to appoint a CFI. This cost may be charged to you or you and the other party may be ordered to split the cost. A CFI is two thousand dollars by statute.
Should you need help filing a Motion to Modify Parenting Time or have another parenting allocation question, please feel free to call us directly at (303) 747-4686. We also offer free information on various family law issues. To be informed of our next informational session or series, please call us (303) 747-4686 or provide an email. Please not, we respect your privacy and NEVER sell or provide your information to third parties.