At What Age Can a Child Refuse Visitation in Colorado?

Colorado law sets no specific age at which a child can refuse visitation, and even a 17-year-old cannot override a parenting time order on their own. The order binds the parents, not the child, and it stays in force until the child is emancipated — which in Colorado generally means age 19, not 18.¹ What does change with age is how much weight a judge gives the child’s preferences when deciding or modifying that order.

How Much Weight a Child’s Preference Actually Carries

Under Colorado Revised Statutes § 14-10-124, a child’s wishes are one factor in the “best interests of the child” analysis. The statute tells courts to consider those wishes when the child “is sufficiently mature to express reasoned and independent preferences.”² Two words there carry most of the load: reasoned and independent.

Reasoned means the preference is grounded in something concrete. A 16-year-old who explains that the current schedule conflicts with a job, classes, and extracurriculars will usually be heard. An 8-year-old who prefers the parent with looser rules will not get the same deference.

Independent means the opinion is genuinely the child’s own. Judges and evaluators are alert to coached answers, parroted adult grievances, and reasoning that lines up suspiciously well with one parent’s talking points. A preference that reads as absorbed from a parent carries much less weight than one that comes from the child’s own experience.

Preference is never the whole case. The statute also directs the court to weigh how well the child has adjusted to home and school, the mental and physical health of everyone involved, each parent’s willingness to encourage the child’s relationship with the other parent, and the parents’ own wishes, among other things.² No single factor controls.

When Parenting Time Orders End in Colorado

A common assumption is that custody ends at 18. In Colorado it does not. Parenting time orders remain enforceable until the child turns 19, or until the end of the month following high school graduation if the child is still enrolled at 19.¹ Earlier emancipation is possible through a court order, marriage, civil union, or entry into active military duty.

Until one of those happens, the order stands. A 17-year-old who refuses to go, and a parent who stops making the child available, are both operating against a live court order.

Risks of Letting Your Child Skip Visits

The instinct not to force a resistant teenager into a car is understandable. The legal problem is that the order obligates you, the parent, to make the child available. If the other parent files a motion alleging noncompliance under § 14-10-129.5, the court must evaluate the claim within 35 days and decide how to respond.³

If the court finds a violation, available remedies include:

Make-up parenting time of the same type and duration, within six months of the violation, or within one year for holidays that can’t be replicated sooner.
Mandatory parenting classes or family counseling, paid for by the noncomplying parent.
A bond posted by the violating parent to guarantee future compliance.
Modification of the parenting plan.
Contempt of court in serious or repeated cases, which can carry fines, the other parent’s attorney’s fees, and potentially jail time.

The court can also order mediation before holding a hearing, giving parents a chance to resolve the issue short of a full proceeding.³ The underlying point: a child’s refusal does not, by itself, excuse a parent from the order.

The Right Way to Change the Schedule

If your child’s resistance is persistent and rooted in something real, the correct response is a motion to modify parenting time. The standard depends on the size of the change you’re asking for.

For adjustments that don’t fundamentally reshape the schedule or change which parent the child primarily lives with, the court applies a best interests analysis.⁴ Shifting a teenager’s weekend time to accommodate a job generally fits here.

For changes that substantially alter parenting time and also change which parent the child lives with most of the time, the bar is higher. You need to show changed circumstances since the last order and that the modification serves the child’s best interests.⁴ A teenager who has consistently and articulately refused to follow the current schedule for credible reasons can be part of that showing, though the preference alone is rarely enough.

After a major modification is filed and resolved, a two-year waiting period applies before another one of that kind can be brought. Exceptions exist for situations where the child’s current environment endangers physical health or emotional development, and for certain relocation situations.⁴ Minor schedule adjustments aren’t subject to that two-year bar.

How the Court Would Hear From Your Child

Judges rarely put a child on the stand to pick between parents. Colorado uses less adversarial methods instead.

Child and Family Investigator

Under § 14-10-116.5, the court can appoint a Child and Family Investigator (CFI) — a neutral attorney, licensed mental health professional, or other qualified person from an eligibility roster. The CFI interviews the child, both parents, and often teachers or therapists, then submits a report. The CFI must disclose the child’s expressed wishes, but the recommendation reflects the child’s best interests and doesn’t have to match what the child wants.⁵ Privately paid CFI fees are capped at $3,250, with additional fees allowed for testimony or extra work.⁶

Parental Responsibilities Evaluator

For deeper psychological analysis, the court can appoint a Parental Responsibilities Evaluator (PRE), who must be a licensed mental health professional. A PRE evaluation can include psychological testing of family members along with interviews and observations.⁷ PRE work takes longer and costs more than a CFI investigation, and there is no comparable statutory fee cap.

In-Camera Interview

Under § 14-10-126, a judge can speak privately with the child in chambers. The court may permit the parents’ attorneys to attend, and a record of the conversation is made and placed in the case file.⁸ This lets the judge gauge the child’s maturity and reasoning firsthand without a courtroom setting.

If You Think the Other Parent Is Driving the Refusal

Not every refusal starts with the child. When one parent badmouths the other, creates guilt around visits, or quietly rewards resistance, courts treat that as a serious concern rather than a reflection of the child’s own preferences. The best interests statute specifically weighs each parent’s ability to encourage a loving relationship with the other parent, with a carve-out for protective actions taken to shield a child from witnessing domestic violence or being a victim of abuse.²

If you suspect this pattern, document it and raise it through the court. CFIs and PREs are trained to distinguish authentic feelings from absorbed parental narratives. When alienation is found, courts can order family counseling or parenting classes, modify custody in favor of the alienated parent, or in severe cases hold the alienating parent in contempt.³ Withholding your own parenting time in retaliation, or deciding to ignore the order unilaterally, tends to backfire even when the underlying concerns are legitimate.

1
Colorado Judicial Branch. End Child Support
2
Justia Law. Colorado Revised Statutes Section 14-10-124 – Best Interests of the Child
3
FindLaw. Colorado Revised Statutes Title 14 Section 14-10-129.5 – Disputes Concerning Parenting Time
4
Justia Law. Colorado Revised Statutes Section 14-10-129 – Modification of Parenting Time
5
Justia Law. Colorado Revised Statutes Section 14-10-116.5 – Child and Family Investigators
6
Colorado Judicial Branch. Options for Court Appointed Parenting Professionals
7
Justia Law. Colorado Revised Statutes Section 14-10-127 – Evaluation and Reports
8
Justia Law. Colorado Revised Statutes Section 14-10-126 – Interviews