When domestic violence becomes part of a divorce or custody case, it can be difficult to know what the court will do next or how the allegation may affect your children.
A Colorado Springs domestic violence lawyer at The Law Office of Andrew Bryant can help you understand the family law issues involved, including parenting time, decision-making, protection orders, and divorce.
We represent parents across Colorado Springs and El Paso County, whether you are seeking protection for yourself and your children or responding to an allegation.
Because our firm practices both family law and criminal defense, we can also coordinate both sides of the case when an arrest, protection order, divorce, or custody dispute overlaps.
Call (719) 634-7353 for a free consultation with our Colorado Springs domestic violence lawyers.
Why Does It Help to Have One Firm Handle Both Family and Criminal Cases?
When domestic violence comes up in a family, two separate court systems often get involved. A criminal case can begin with an arrest, while a divorce or custody case may already be open, or may follow soon after, in a different courtroom with different rules.
Many family law firms do not handle criminal matters, which leaves clients coordinating two lawyers who may never speak to each other.
Our attorneys work in both practices, so the strategy in one case accounts for what is happening in the other, from the first court date through final orders.
Andrew Bryant founded the firm in Colorado Springs, and criminal work was where it started, with a family law practice built alongside it. Today the firm serves families from two locations: South Cascade Avenue in Colorado Springs, and Greenwood Village for clients in the Denver metro.
Who Can a Colorado Springs Domestic Violence Lawyer Help?
This page explains the process for every parent involved. If you are seeking protection for yourself and your children, it covers what the court can order and how to ask for it.
If you have been accused, it covers what the allegation means for your parenting time and how to respond without making things worse.
How Does Domestic Violence Affect Child Custody in Colorado?
When evidence of domestic violence is presented in a custody case, the court must decide whether it occurred before allocating parenting time or decision-making responsibility.
Under C.R.S. 14-10-124, when a claim is made or the court has reason to believe abuse occurred, the judge first decides whether domestic violence happened, using a preponderance-of-the-evidence standard, and gives paramount consideration to the safety of the child and the abused party.
What Counts as Domestic Violence in a Colorado Custody Case?
Colorado law defines domestic violence broadly in family cases. It can include physical assault or threats of bodily harm, property damage, stalking, sexual assault, coercive control, economic abuse, human trafficking, and threats or harm involving an animal.
The conduct can be directed at the other parent or another family or household member, including a child. The law also makes clear that conduct can qualify as domestic violence even if it does not result in a criminal charge.
Actions taken by a parent to protect themselves, a child, another family or household member, property, or an animal from harm or the risk of harm do not count as domestic violence.
Decision-Making Responsibility
If the court finds that a parent committed domestic violence, joint decision-making is generally not in the child’s interests when the other parent objects.
The court can still order joint decision-making if credible evidence shows the parents can make decisions together in a way that is safe for the abused parent and the child.
Parenting Time Conditions
A domestic violence finding does not automatically end a parent’s time with the child, but it allows the court to build safety into the parenting plan. The statute lists conditions the court may order, including:
- Limits on contact between the parents to what the court finds safe
- Child exchanges in a protected setting the court chooses
- Supervised parenting time
- Restrictions on overnight parenting time
- A ban on alcohol or controlled substances during, and for 24 hours before, parenting time
- Keeping a child’s or parent’s address confidential
- Child support paid through the state registry so the parents do not need to make contact
The judge must explain on the record any restriction on parenting time and the specific findings behind it. That gives both parents a clear picture of what the court found and, in many cases, what would need to change before the restriction could be revisited.
Evidence the Family Court Considers
The family court does not rely on the parents’ accounts alone. The statute allows the judge to consider domestic violence information from several sources, including:
- Reports from a child and family investigator or a parental responsibilities evaluator
- Reports from a legal representative appointed for the child
- Testimony from therapists for a parent or child
- Information from the department of human services and parenting time supervisors
- Testimony from school personnel and other witnesses who know the family
What Happens to Parenting Time After a Domestic Violence Arrest?
When police have probable cause to believe domestic violence occurred, Colorado’s mandatory arrest law requires an arrest, and the criminal case moves quickly.
At the arrested person’s first court appearance, the criminal court enters a mandatory protection order under C.R.S. 18-1-1001, and in domestic violence cases the court can add no-contact terms that cover a child who is a victim or witness.
Why the Criminal Order Controls
A parenting plan entered in family court does not override a mandatory protection order. If the two orders conflict, the restrained parent must follow the criminal order until the criminal court changes it, which means a scheduled weekend of parenting time may not be allowed at all.
The defendant, and in domestic violence cases the prosecutor, can ask the criminal court to modify the order, for example to allow contact limited to child exchanges or communication about the children.
Only a judge can approve that change; the protected parent cannot waive the order by agreement, according to the mandatory protection order form itself.
First Steps for Either Parent
The first days after an arrest shape what both courts see later. Whichever side you are on, these steps help:
- Read every order carefully and follow it exactly, including any no-contact terms
- Keep copies of all orders, along with proof of when they were served
- Save texts, emails, voicemails, and photos, and do not delete anything
- Write down dates, times, and witnesses while the details are fresh
- Avoid discussing the incident with the other parent, on social media, or in messages
- Talk with a family law attorney before you agree to any change in parenting time
How Can a Protection Order Affect Your Parenting Plan?
A civil protection order can change parenting arrangements before a divorce or custody case reaches a decision. Under C.R.S. 13-14-105, the court that issues a civil order can award temporary care and control of a child for up to one year and set conditions on the other parent’s time.
Those temporary terms give way once a family court enters its own order on the same subject. You can read more about how protection orders work in El Paso County, including emergency, temporary, and permanent orders.
When Orders Conflict
When orders from different courts overlap, Colorado law puts safety first.
Under C.R.S. 13-14-104.5, an order that prevents assaults or threats takes precedence over one dealing with property, and judges are directed to clarify conflicting orders, so every party should tell each court about the other case.
Anyone asking for a protection order also has a legal duty to disclose any earlier protection or restraining orders on the same subject.
The family court then works through the allocation of parental responsibilities with those safety orders in view.
How Does Domestic Violence Affect a Colorado Divorce?
Colorado is a no-fault divorce state, so abuse does not change how the court divides property as a form of punishment.
It can still shape nearly everything else in a Colorado Springs divorce, from where each spouse lives during the case to the parenting plan and how the spouses communicate.
Automatic Protections When a Divorce Is Filed
Once a divorce petition is filed and served, an automatic temporary injunction applies to both spouses. It bars both of them from hiding or transferring marital property and from taking the children out of Colorado without consent or a court order, and either spouse can ask the court for additional temporary orders.
Mediation When Abuse Is Alleged
Most Colorado divorces go through mediation, but abuse changes that.
Under C.R.S. 13-22-311, a court may not send a case to mediation when one party says they were physically or psychologically abused by the other and is unwilling to mediate for that reason, at any point in the case and even if the parties mediated before.
For a step-by-step look at planning a safe exit and filing, see our guide to divorcing when domestic violence is involved.
What Happens if Domestic Violence Allegations Are False or Retaliatory?
Courts take every allegation seriously, and they also know that some allegations arise in the middle of a contested custody fight. The family court decides whether domestic violence happened based on evidence, and the parent making the claim does not win simply by making it.
If You Have Been Accused
Respond through evidence and the court process, never through contact the orders forbid. Messages, timelines, witnesses, and records that show what actually happened carry far more weight than denials, and knowingly false reports to police are a crime in Colorado.
Keep the focus on your own parenting. The court may not consider conduct that does not affect a parent’s relationship with the child, so records of school involvement, medical care, and day-to-day caregiving often matter more than arguments about the other parent.
If You Are Afraid No One Will Believe You
Colorado law protects a parent who acts to keep a child safe. When the court finds that a parent was protecting a child from witnessing or suffering domestic violence, those protective actions cannot be counted against that parent’s willingness to support the child’s relationship with the other parent.
What Happens When Criminal and Family Cases Are Pending at the Same Time?
A criminal case and a family case can move on different schedules, apply different standards, and reach different results about the same incident. Knowing how they differ helps you avoid mistakes in one that hurt you in the other.
| Question | Criminal Case | Family Court Case |
|---|---|---|
| Who brings it? | The district attorney | One of the parents |
| What must be shown? | Guilt beyond a reasonable doubt | Domestic violence by a preponderance of the evidence |
| What is the focus? | Whether a crime was committed | The child’s safety and needs |
| What orders can result? | A mandatory protection order, sentencing terms, treatment | Parenting time limits, decision-making, evaluations, treatment |
| Where is it heard in El Paso County? | County or district court, depending on the charge | District court in the 4th Judicial District |
Coordinating the Two Cases
Because the family court uses a lower standard of proof, a parent can face parenting restrictions even if the criminal case is dismissed. Statements made in one case can also be used in the other, so testimony, declarations, and even conversations with evaluators should be planned with both cases in mind.
Timing matters too. A plea, a dismissal, or a delay in the criminal case can change what happens at a temporary orders hearing, which is why our attorneys look at both calendars together. When both courts order domestic violence evaluations or treatment, it is worth asking whether one program can satisfy both orders.
Why Families Choose The Law Office of Andrew Bryant
Domestic violence cases need careful, honest advice, because the stakes include your safety, your children, and sometimes your freedom. Here is what we bring to these cases:
- One firm that practices both family law and criminal law, so both cases follow one strategy
- Leadership from Andrew Bryant, who began his career as a prosecutor with the El Paso County District Attorney’s Office
- Realistic advice about what the court is likely to do, including the hard parts
- Preparation for protection order hearings, temporary orders, and contested custody hearings
- Attention to safety planning when a client is seeking protection
Voted one of the top law offices and law firms in Colorado Springs by The Gazette for nearly a decade.
We never promise a particular result, because outcomes depend on the facts and the court. Call (719) 634-7353 to talk with our team.
FAQs for a Colorado Springs Domestic Violence Lawyer
These answers cover questions parents often ask when domestic violence becomes part of a family case.
Does a domestic violence finding mean a parent loses custody in Colorado?
No, not automatically. The Colorado Court of Appeals held in In re Marriage of Bertsch, 97 P.3d 219 (Colo. App. 2004), that the statute limits joint decision-making but does not automatically bar a parent with a domestic violence history from individual decision-making responsibility. The court weighs the finding with the other factors and can attach safety conditions instead of ending contact.
Can leaving home because of abuse hurt me in a custody case?
No. Colorado law says that if a parent is absent or leaves home because of an act or threat of domestic violence by the other parent, the absence cannot be used as a factor in deciding the child’s interests. Keep records of when and why you left, because the court will want to understand the circumstances.
What is coercive control in a Colorado custody case?
Coercive control is a pattern of threatening, humiliating, or intimidating behavior used to harm, punish, or frighten someone, as defined in the custody statute. Examples include isolating a person from family, monitoring their phone or finances, and threatening to report them to authorities, and an accusation of coercive control by a child requires the court to explain on the record any decision to allow unsupervised parenting time.
Can the protected parent drop a mandatory protection order?
No. In a criminal case, only the judge can change or end a mandatory protection order, and the order stays in place even if the protected parent wants contact. If the defendant or prosecutor asks to modify the order, the protected parent receives notice of the hearing and can share their views through the prosecutor or victim advocate.
Can a family court order a domestic violence evaluation?
Yes. When the court finds domestic violence by a preponderance of the evidence, it can order that parent to complete a domestic violence evaluation and any treatment the evaluation recommends.
The court can require progress reports before or during parenting time and can order that parent to pay for the evaluation and treatment.
Get Help From a Colorado Springs Domestic Violence Lawyer Today
Whether you are protecting your children or answering an allegation, the decisions you make in the first weeks carry into every hearing that follows. Our team will explain both court processes, tell you honestly what to expect, and help you plan your next step.
Contact us for a free consultation at (719) 634-7353.
Results depend on the specific facts of each case. This page provides general information, not legal advice. If you are in immediate danger, call 911.