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How to Modify Child Custody in Colorado

Reviewed by DocDraft Legal Team · Colorado · Last updated October 7, 2026

Colorado's two year rule is the most misquoted number in state custody practice, because the clock does not start at your decree. Modifying child custody here means asking the district court that issued your existing order to change it because something significant has changed since then. Colorado statutes allocate parental responsibilities, split into decision-making responsibility and parenting time, and this page uses those words from here on. Two separate two year restrictions sit in article 10, and both are repeat motion clocks. C.R.S. 14-10-129(1.5) blocks a subsequent motion for two years after disposition of a prior motion that sought to substantially change parenting time and change which parent the child lives with a majority of the time, whether or not that prior motion was granted. C.R.S. 14-10-131(1) does the same for decision-making responsibility. Neither touches a first motion, and neither reaches a parenting time change that leaves the majority residence alone, because 14-10-129(1)(a)(I) lets a judge modify parenting time whenever that serves the child's best interests. Relocation travels its own track inside the same section. The moving parent must serve the other party written notice as soon as practicable, naming the destination, the reason, and a proposed revised parenting time plan. No day count and no mileage figure appear anywhere in article 10; the trigger is a move that substantially changes the geographical ties between the child and the other party. You file JDF 1406 for parenting time or JDF 1415 for decision-making, each of which carries the affidavit C.R.S. 14-10-132 requires, and pay $105 under C.R.S. 13-32-101(2). Attorney review of your filing is available through DocDraft.

Find out where you stand in Colorado

What is prompting the change to your custody order?

DocDraft provides document preparation, not legal advice.

How do I modify a child custody order in Colorado?

File JDF 1406 to change parenting time, or JDF 1415 to change decision-making responsibility, in the district court that holds your case, under the original case number. Both forms build in the affidavit C.R.S. 14-10-132 requires. The docket fee is $105 under C.R.S. 13-32-101(2).

Is there a two year waiting period to modify custody in Colorado?

Not after your decree. C.R.S. 14-10-129(1.5) and C.R.S. 14-10-131(1) each restrict only a subsequent motion, for two years after disposition of a prior motion, and each bites whether or not that earlier motion was granted. A first motion meets no time bar at all.

How much notice must a Colorado parent give before relocating with a child?

Colorado fixes no number of days. C.R.S. 14-10-129(1)(a)(II) requires written notice as soon as practicable, stating the intent to relocate, the location, the reason, and a proposed revised parenting time plan. The trigger is a move that substantially changes geographical ties, not a mileage figure.

Which court changes a custody order in Colorado?

The district court where the case was filed, under C.R.S. 14-10-123(1), keeping your original case number. Judicial Branch forms print District Court and Denver Juvenile Court together in the caption, because a Denver matter can sit in the juvenile court instead of the district court.

Colorado custody modification at a glance

Changing child custody in Colorado means asking the district court that issued your order to change it because circumstances have moved on since then. Colorado law calls the subject parental responsibilities, divided into decision-making responsibility and parenting time. What makes Colorado distinctive is where its clock starts. The two year restrictions in C.R.S. 14-10-129(1.5) and C.R.S. 14-10-131(1) run from disposition of a prior motion, not from your decree, so a parent who has never filed before is not waiting on anything. The 14-10-129(1.5) restriction is also scoped: it reaches only a substantial parenting time change that also changes which parent the child lives with a majority of the time. Relocation gets a separate route, with written notice as soon as practicable, no mileage threshold, and a hearing that takes priority on the court's docket.

A relocation that unlocks a Colorado motion fourteen months early

Picture a Colorado parent whose motion to become the majority residential parent was denied fourteen months ago, who now learns the other parent is taking the child to Grand Junction. On its face C.R.S. 14-10-129(1.5) blocks a new motion until two years after that denial. The relocation changes the position. The same subsection lifts the restriction where the court decides, on affidavits, that the majority residence parent intends to relocate to a residence that substantially changes the geographical ties between the child and the other party. So the parent completes JDF 1406, swears the affidavit to the relocation facts, and pays the $105 docket fee. Because 14-10-129(1)(a)(II) gives a relocation hearing priority on the docket, the matter is set sooner than an ordinary schedule dispute. Attorney review of your filing is available through DocDraft.

Relevant Laws

C.R.S. 14-10-129 (modification of parenting time, the two year restriction, and relocation)

Subsection (1)(a)(I) permits modification of parenting time whenever that serves the child's best interests. Subsection (1)(a)(II) sets the written relocation notice duty, owed as soon as practicable, and gives the hearing docket priority. Subsection (1.5) restricts a subsequent motion for two years after disposition of a prior motion. Subsection (2) carries the stricter test where the majority residence changes, with nine relocation factors at (2)(c).

C.R.S. 14-10-131 (modification of custody or decision-making responsibility)

Subsection (1) restricts a subsequent motion for two years after disposition of a prior motion, whether or not that motion was granted, unless affidavits give reason to believe continuation of the prior decree may endanger the child. Subsection (2) requires a change in circumstances plus necessity, and retention of the existing allocation unless one of five listed situations applies.

C.R.S. 14-10-132 (affidavit practice and the adequate cause screen)

Requires the moving party to submit an affidavit of supporting facts with the moving papers and serve it on the other parties, who may file opposing affidavits. Directs that the court shall deny the motion unless it finds adequate cause for hearing established by the affidavits, in which case it sets a show cause hearing.

C.R.S. 13-32-101(2) (the $105 post-decree motion docket fee)

Assesses a fee of one hundred five dollars at the time of filing a motion to modify, amend, or alter a decree or final or permanent order in a title 14 proceeding, where that decree or order has been entered and more than sixty days have passed. The sixty days is a condition on the fee, not a waiting period.

Colorado Judicial Branch: JDF 1406 and its instructions, JDF 1406 i

The statewide Motion and Affidavit to Change or Restrict Parenting Time, revised May 29, 2025, with the instruction set revised April 27, 2026. Item 4 asks for the date of the current order and item 5 asks separately whether a request to change parenting time has been filed in the last two years, which is where the restriction is keyed.

Regional Variances

Colorado custody modification levers at a glance

Restriction on when you may file

Two separate two year restrictions, and both are repeat motion clocks. C.R.S. 14-10-129(1.5) and 14-10-131(1) each bar only a subsequent motion, running from disposition of the prior motion and applying even where it was denied. There is no post-decree waiting period: a first motion may be filed at once.

What the two year restriction does and does not reach

The 14-10-129(1.5) clock covers only a substantial modification of parenting time that also changes the party with whom the child resides a majority of the time. A schedule change leaving the majority residence alone is outside it. The 14-10-131(1) clock covers a custody decree or decision-making allocation.

Escapes from the restriction

Under 14-10-129(1.5) the court may lift it on affidavits showing the child's present environment may endanger physical health or significantly impair emotional development, or that the majority residence parent intends to relocate. Under 14-10-131(1) there is one escape, and it asks whether continuation of the prior decree may endanger.

Standard to change the order

Three standards. Parenting time generally: best interests alone under 14-10-129(1)(a)(I). A majority residence change: facts arisen since or unknown at the prior decree, a change in circumstances, and necessity under 14-10-129(2), with the prior schedule retained unless one of four situations applies. Decision-making: the parallel test in 14-10-131(2).

Relocation notice and trigger

No fixed day count. C.R.S. 14-10-129(1)(a)(II) requires written notice as soon as practicable, stating the intent to relocate, the location, the reason, and a proposed revised parenting time plan. The trigger is a residence that substantially changes the geographical ties between the child and the other party. Article 10 contains no mileage figure.

Court

The district court, under C.R.S. 14-10-123(1), filed into the existing case number. The Colorado rules of civil procedure apply to proceedings under article 10 by C.R.S. 14-10-105(1). Judicial Branch domestic relations forms caption both District Court and Denver Juvenile Court.

Forms and filing fee

Statewide JDF forms: JDF 1406 for parenting time, JDF 1415 for decision-making responsibility, JDF 1407 to relocate children, JDF 1423 for an agreed parenting time change, JDF 1113 Parenting Plan, JDF 205 for a fee waiver. The docket fee is $105 under C.R.S. 13-32-101(2), and a response is $146.

Procedural screens and the child's wishes

C.R.S. 14-10-132 makes the court deny the motion absent adequate cause from the affidavits. A second screen at 14-10-129(2.5)(a) gives the court thirty five days to review a verified motion from a parent whose time was restricted. No preference age exists; 14-10-124(1.5)(a)(II) asks whether the child is sufficiently mature to express reasoned and independent preferences.

Suggested Compliance Checklist

Pull the date your last motion was decided

Before you draft anything days after starting

The two year restrictions in C.R.S. 14-10-129(1.5) and 14-10-131(1) run from disposition of a prior motion, not from your decree, and apply even if that motion was denied. Get the docket date the court ruled. If you have never filed a modification motion, no restriction applies.

Identify which route your request belongs to

Before you draft anything days after starting

Decide whether you want a parenting time schedule change, a change to which parent the child lives with a majority of the time, or a change to decision-making responsibility. The three run on different standards in 14-10-129(1)(a)(I), 14-10-129(2) and 14-10-131(2), and only the latter two carry a restriction.

Serve the relocation notice if a move is involved

As soon as practicable, and before filing where possible days after starting

C.R.S. 14-10-129(1)(a)(II) requires written notice to the other party covering the intent to relocate, the location where you intend to reside, the reason, and a proposed revised parenting time plan. JDF 1400 states this applies to a move inside or outside Colorado. All four items belong in the notice.

Build the affidavit facts before you fill the form

Before you file days after starting

C.R.S. 14-10-132 has the court deny your motion unless the affidavits establish adequate cause for a hearing. Collect dated records: school reports, work rosters, messages, medical notes. Specific facts with dates clear that screen; general dissatisfaction does not. Attorney review of your filing is available through DocDraft.

Complete the statewide JDF motion

Once your facts are assembled days after starting

Fill out JDF 1406 for parenting time, JDF 1415 for decision-making responsibility, or JDF 1407 to relocate children. Answer item 5 on JDF 1406 honestly about any request filed in the last two years. Attach JDF 1113, the Parenting Plan, and sign the verification at the end.

File with the district court clerk and pay or waive the fee

Promptly after signing days after starting

File into the original case number with the district court that issued your order, in person or through the state e-filing system. C.R.S. 13-32-101(2) assesses $105 where more than sixty days have passed since the decree or final order. Use JDF 205 and JDF 206 to request a waiver.

Serve the other parent with the motion and affidavit

At filing, per the certificate of service on the form days after starting

C.R.S. 14-10-132 requires notice together with a copy of your affidavit to the other parties, who may file opposing affidavits. Complete the certificate of service on the JDF form, and send a copy to the Child Support Enforcement Unit if it is involved in your case.

Keep following the current order until a judge signs a new one

Through to your hearing days after starting

A unilateral departure from your parenting plan is an enforcement problem, not a modification, and C.R.S. 14-10-129.5 gives the other parent a verified motion route for noncompliance. Bring your documents and a specific written schedule proposal to the hearing.

Frequently Asked Questions

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