Parenting Time at Start of Divorce
Jason Freeman, Denver family law attorney
When a couple with children initiates the divorce process, a common issue is parenting time. If one parent moves out of the marital home, there may not be an opportunity to secure parenting time for a couple months, or the soonest time a Temporary Orders hearing is available on the Court’s docket. Many parents are able to work with each other to ensure that their children are able to spend time with both parents. However, it’s not all that uncommon for one parent to restrict the others parenting time during the initial stages of a dissolution proceeding, when there are no Court Orders available to enforce parenting time.
Sometimes the primary parent has concerns for the health and well being of the children while they are in the care of the other parent. In some circumstances, these concerns may be founded. In other circumstances, it may merely be a ploy to alienate the other parent, take control, or attempt to gain an advantage in litigation.
The Court will generally not see one parent’s lack of parenting time as an emergency, per se. Just because a parent has moved out and is not getting parenting time, this does not typically equate to the Court conducting an emergency hearing that week. It is a process that takes time.
When I represent a parent who is not able to exercise parenting time with a child in these beginning stages, I have two main goals. The first is to get a hearing as soon as possible. If the other party’s allegations are serious enough, that may result in supervised parenting time for the other parent until issues can be sorted out. However, that is better than no time with a child, who needs to know that the other parent is still going to be a part of his or her life. The other goal is to consistently request parenting time from the other party during this period in an effort to make arrangements for at least some parenting time, until a hearing can be held and the Court enters an enforceable parenting time schedule.
If this conflict arises, it is invariably the most difficult aspect of a dissolution proceeding for the isolated parent. It requires patience, and hope for a light at the end of the tunnel.
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