Family Law Attorney in Denver CO

Not all parents who have children are married and need a divorce or a family law attorney. Some people just need to make decisions regarding their children. In Denver, Colorado, a court action dealing just with the children is called an Allocation of Parental Responsibilities. In an Allocation of Parental Responsibilities (APR) action, the parents will make the same decisions regarding their children that are made in a divorce. The decisions the parents will need to make include parenting time (also known as child custody or visitation), decision-making and child support.

An APR action in Denver or any area can be just as complicated as any divorce. Parents can end up in heated disputes over what the best parenting time arrangement may be, how parenting time would work if one parent should desire to live with the children outside of Colorado, whether the parties can make various decisions jointly for the children and what child support should be. In fact, arguing over children can result in more heated disputes than dividing property or determining alimony, which are decided in divorces.

The courts make decisions regarding parenting time for the children based on the best interests of the children. The best interest factors include numerous things such as what the parents’ desires are as well as an ability of each parent to place the children’s needs ahead of his own and encourage relationship between the children and the other parent. Not knowing the laws regarding the best interest factors that the court uses, or not knowing how to adequately present evidence in court can result in decisions that may not be in the best interest of the children. Unfortunately, it can be difficult and costly to unwind poor agreements or orders of the court.

Byram Law understands that not all parties can afford a family law attorney to represent them through their entire dispute. Having at least some representation may help a party make better decisions regarding their children or may give them information on how to properly put on a case in court. Elle tries to work with clients’ varied budgets to give them at least some legal advice even if the client cannot afford a lawyer for their entire case. This is what is called “limited representation” or “unbundled legal representation.” In this type of representation, a client may hire Elle to assist with just one aspect of the dispute such as just helping with parenting time decisions but not assisting with child support. Elle may also offer just a legal consultation/coaching or merely drafting documents for a client, but not appearing in court to present arguments.