Child custody in Aurora is legally called the allocation of parental responsibilities, or APR. It covers two main issues: parenting time and decision-making for your child’s education, health care, religion, and other major needs.
Aurora custody cases can also be more local than parents expect because the city spans Arapahoe, Adams, and Douglas counties. The right courthouse depends on where your child lives.
Our Aurora child custody attorneys help parents build clear parenting plans, protect their rights, and handle disputes over custody, modifications, relocation, and enforcement.
Call 720-548-4440 for a free consultation with a Denver metro child custody lawyer.
What Does Child Custody Mean in Colorado?
Child custody in Colorado is legally known as the allocation of parental responsibilities, often shortened to APR, and it splits into two related but separate decisions.
The first is parenting time, which sets the days, nights, holidays, and vacations each parent spends with the child. The second is decision-making responsibility, which controls the bigger choices in a child’s life.
Decision-making responsibility usually covers a handful of core areas, even though the court may break them apart and assign them differently:
- Education and school choices
- Medical, dental, and mental health care
- Religious upbringing
- Extracurricular activities when parents disagree
Parents may share these decisions jointly, or a judge may give one parent the final say on a specific topic when sharing has not worked. The labels matter less than how thoughtfully these two pieces get divided in your particular family.
Why Choose Our Aurora Child Custody Attorneys?
Our Aurora child custody attorneys combine real trial experience with day-to-day knowledge of how the Denver metro family courts actually run.
Andrew Bryant, the firm’s founder, worked as a Colorado prosecutor before building a practice focused on family law, and that background gives clients a steady hand whether the case settles quietly or ends up in front of a judge.
Family law gets personal fast, so we listen first and then build a plan around what you want for your kids. We handle the full range of parenting matters for Aurora families, from a first parenting plan to the harder moments years later, including:
- Initial parenting time and decision-making orders
- Custody cases for unmarried parents and paternity disputes
- Changes to an existing parenting plan when life shifts
- Disagreements over relocation and out-of-state moves
- Enforcement when the other parent ignores the order
Each of these follows its own path through the court, and matching the right approach to your specific facts often shapes the outcome more than anything else.
Child Custody Experience That Holds Up in Aurora Courts
Andrew Bryant has handled more than 150 contested family law hearings in Colorado and holds an AV Preeminent rating from Martindale-Hubbell, a peer-reviewed mark of skill and ethics.
That kind of trial background matters most in the moments when talks break down and a judge has to step in and decide.
A Metro Office Close to Your Courthouse
Our Greenwood Village office sits in Arapahoe County, only minutes from the courthouse that hears most Aurora custody cases.
We know how the local filing steps run, how the family law divisions move their dockets, and what each courtroom tends to expect from the parents in front of it.
Support for Aurora’s Military Families
Aurora sits next to Buckley Space Force Base, and military parenting raises questions that civilian families never have to ask.
Deployments, permanent change of station orders, and base housing all affect parenting time in ways that need to be written carefully into the plan. We offer military discounts and handle the parts of these cases that take real familiarity with military life.
Which Court Hears Your Aurora Custody Case?
Your Aurora custody case is usually heard in the county where your child lives, and Aurora spans three of them.
Most of the city falls in Arapahoe County, so those cases land at the Arapahoe County District Court in Centennial, while northern neighborhoods sit in Adams County and a small southern slice belongs to Douglas County.
That geographic split sets the courthouse, the judges, and a few local filing details that vary from county to county. The breakdown looks like this for Aurora families:
- Arapahoe County, 18th Judicial District, most of Aurora, with the courthouse in Centennial
- Adams County, 17th Judicial District, northern Aurora, with the courthouse in Brighton
- Douglas County, 23rd Judicial District, a small southern slice, with the courthouse in Castle Rock
Colorado created the 23rd Judicial District in 2025, so older online guides may still point Douglas County families to the wrong place. You may confirm your courthouse through the City of Aurora court directory before you file anything.
Not sure which courthouse covers your address? We map that out on the first call, so reach our family law team at 720-548-4440 to get clear on your next step.
How Do Colorado Courts Decide Parenting Time?
Colorado courts decide parenting time using the best interests of the child standard, with the child’s safety as the first consideration and the child’s physical, mental, and emotional needs close behind.
State law lists the factors a judge must weigh, which gives families a real framework rather than a guess about what a particular judge might prefer.
Under Colorado Revised Statute 14-10-124, judges weigh factors such as:
- The wishes of each parent for parenting time
- The wishes of the child, if mature enough to share them meaningfully
- The child’s relationship with parents, siblings, and other people who matter
- How settled the child is at home, in school, and in the community
- Each parent’s willingness to support the child’s bond with the other parent
A judge may not favor a parent based on sex and may not weigh conduct that does not affect the parent-child relationship. Courts also pay close attention to any history of domestic violence, child abuse, or substance issues, and the safety question stays at the center of every ruling.
What Goes Into an Aurora Parenting Plan?
An Aurora parenting plan is the written document that lays out parenting time and decision-making for your child, and Colorado courts require one in every case involving children.
The plan becomes an enforceable court order the moment a judge signs it, which is why the details matter long after the ink dries.
A strong plan covers more than which nights each parent gets, since the calendar is rarely where parents end up fighting later. The plans that hold up tend to anticipate the friction points that show up months or years down the road.
Most parenting plans in Colorado address details like these:
- A calendar for regular weekly time, holidays, school breaks, and summers
- Pickup and drop-off locations, times, and who handles transportation
- How major decisions get shared, split, or escalated when parents disagree
- Communication rules between parents and between each parent and the child
- A first step for resolving future disputes before either parent runs back to court
Vague plans tend to breed conflict, and Aurora courts see the results often, so the clearer the plan reads on day one, the less room there is for arguments later.
Can an Aurora Custody Order Change Later?
Yes, an Aurora custody order may be changed after a judge signs it, though Colorado courts do not allow either parent to reopen the case on demand.
The law sets specific standards before a court will revisit parenting time or decision-making, and the parent asking for the change carries the burden of showing the request fits the rules.
When Parenting Time May Change
A court may adjust parenting time when the change fits the child’s best interests, and that question gets answered against the same factors the judge weighed the first time around.
A shift in work hours, a child’s evolving needs, or genuine safety concerns may all support a request, while minor disagreements about how the other parent handles small daily decisions rarely meet the bar.
Moving Away From Aurora With Your Child
Relocation cases get a closer review in Colorado than almost any other change to a parenting plan.
A parent who wants to move with the child must give written notice and show the move serves the child’s best interests, and the other parent has the right to object and ask the court to step in before any bags are packed.
Ask Andrew Bryant Law About Aurora Custody
How much does an Aurora child custody lawyer cost?
Aurora child custody lawyer fees vary with the facts of your case and how cooperative the other parent is willing to be.
A matter that both parents settle through a parenting plan costs far less than one that runs through evaluators and contested hearings.
We talk fees openly during your first meeting so you know exactly what to expect, and we offer military discounts for families connected to Buckley.
How long does a custody case take in Colorado?
A Colorado custody case often runs a few months from filing to final orders, though contested matters routinely take longer.
Cases move faster when parents agree on a parenting plan early and slower when there are disputes over parenting time, a child and family investigator, or expert testimony. The county and the court’s current caseload also affect the pace of your case.
Do I have to go to court for custody in Aurora?
Many Aurora custody cases settle without a trial, so you may not have to walk into a courtroom at all. Parents who agree on a parenting plan may submit it for a judge to approve, and mediation resolves many of the disputes that remain.
A contested hearing only happens when parents cannot agree, at which point a judge listens to the evidence and decides the open issues.
FAQ for Aurora Child Custody Attorneys
Does Colorado favor mothers in custody cases?
No, Colorado law does not favor mothers in custody cases or give either parent a built-in advantage.
A judge may not weigh a parent’s sex when deciding parenting time or decision-making, since the statute requires the court to focus on the best interests of the child. Both parents start on equal legal footing from the day the case is filed.
At what age can a child choose which parent to live with in Colorado?
No fixed age in Colorado lets a child choose which parent to live with on their own. A judge may consider a child’s wishes once the child is mature enough to share them meaningfully, but that preference counts as one factor among many.
The court still weighs the full best-interests picture before deciding parenting time.
Can grandparents ask for parenting time in Colorado?
Yes, grandparents may ask for parenting time in Colorado in limited situations, usually after a divorce, the death of a parent, or a similar break in the family structure.
A judge weighs the child’s best interests and gives serious weight to the parents’ own wishes, since fit parents have a constitutional right to direct their child’s upbringing. These cases face a higher legal bar than parent cases do.
What is a child and family investigator in a Colorado custody case?
A child and family investigator, often called a CFI, is a neutral person a court appoints to look at a family and make recommendations about parenting.
The CFI meets with both parents and the children, reviews documents, and files a written report with the judge.
A judge is not required to follow the report, but most courts give it real weight when making the final order.
Do unmarried parents have custody rights in Colorado?
Yes, unmarried parents in Colorado hold the same custody rights as married parents once legal parentage is established.
A father may need to establish paternity first, either through a voluntary acknowledgment at the hospital or through a court order, before the family court can address parenting time.
After that, the same best-interests rules apply to every part of the parenting plan.
Talk to Aurora Child Custody Attorneys Who Know These Courts
The parents who do best in custody cases are rarely the loudest ones in the room. They are the parents who plan early, document carefully, and walk into court ready to talk about their child rather than their ex.
A clear head and a clear strategy tend to carry more weight with a Colorado judge than anger ever does, even on the days when the anger feels completely earned.
Our Aurora child custody attorneys help you build that kind of case well before the first hearing date hits your calendar. Call 720-548-4440 to start with a free consultation and get a real sense of where your case stands.
