Child’s Best Interests

Child’s Best Interests

Colorado law requires that all decisions regarding children be made consistent with the child’s best interests

If your Colorado case involves children – whether it’s a divorce or an allocation of parental responsibilities case (where the children’s parents were never married) – you’ll probably hear the phrase “best interests” repeated over and over. This is because the law requires that all decisions regarding children be made consistent with their “best interests.” “Best interests” is a legal term of art that guides decisions made by Colorado Judges, which means that Colorado lawyers are always considering how to shape “best interests” arguments in a way that will convince the Judge.  We see this as the key factor in many Boulder Child Custody Cases.

What is in the child’s best interests in Colorado Family Law Case?

What’s in a child’s “best interests” varies depending on the facts, and it’s not uncommon for reasonable people to disagree as to what’s in a child’s “best interests” and what isn’t.  As Boulder Divorce Attorneys, we see this issue all of the time. Extreme examples are usually easy to resolve: most people can agree that it’s in a child’s “best interests” to eat a healthy diet. The difficulty comes in the details: what is a “healthy diet” and what isn’t? Parents often disagree on fine points like this, and they must either work together to reach a compromise, or submit their disagreement to a Judge or Arbitrator to resolve.