How to File a Motion to Modify a Parenting Plan in Colorado

To file a motion to modify a parenting plan in Colorado, you submit JDF 1406 (the motion), JDF 1113 (your proposed new parenting plan), and JDF 1424 (the proposed order) to the district court that issued your original order, pay a $105 filing fee, and serve the other parent with copies. Before you file, make sure the change you’re asking for fits one of the legal standards the court uses, because a schedule tweak and a change in the child’s primary residence are judged very differently.

Match Your Request to the Right Legal Standard

Colorado courts apply different tests depending on how big the change is. A routine schedule adjustment that keeps the child living primarily where they already live gets the easier standard: you must show circumstances have changed since the last order and that the new arrangement would better serve the child’s best interests under C.R.S. 14-10-129.¹

A major modification that also shifts which parent the child lives with most of the time requires more. You must prove that new facts have come to light since the prior order, that the child’s circumstances have changed, and that the modification is necessary to serve the child’s best interests.¹

Decision-making responsibility is governed by a separate statute, C.R.S. 14-10-131. You again need changed circumstances and the child’s best interests, but the court will keep the existing arrangement unless one of several specific conditions is met: both parents agree, the child has been integrated into the other parent’s family with consent, a parenting time change has already made a decision-making change appropriate, one parent has consistently allowed the other to make decisions that were supposed to be shared, or keeping the current arrangement would endanger the child’s physical health or seriously impair their emotional development.²

The Forms You’ll File

If the other parent disagrees with the changes you want, your filing packet uses several official forms from the Colorado Judicial Branch:³

JDF 1406, the motion itself, where you explain the changes you want and why.
JDF 1113, a new proposed parenting plan laying out the schedule and arrangements you’re requesting.
JDF 1424, a proposed order for the judge to sign if the motion is granted.

Completing them requires your case number, both parents’ names, and the children’s information. The heart of the filing is the written explanation of what has changed since the last order. Be specific and factual. “My ex works a different schedule now” is a starting point. “My ex now works overnight shifts Tuesday through Thursday, meaning our eight-year-old is left with a rotating cast of babysitters on school nights” is the kind of detail that connects a change in circumstances to the child’s best interests.

If the schedule change you’re requesting would also affect child support, add a JDF 1111 Sworn Financial Statement and a new child support worksheet so the court has current income information.⁴

Where to File, What It Costs

File your completed forms with the district court that issued your original parenting order. You can file in person at the clerk’s office or electronically through the Colorado Courts E-Filing (CCE) system. The filing fee is $105 for any motion to modify filed more than 60 days after the original order.⁵

If you can’t afford the fee, file a JDF 205 Motion to Waive Fees. To qualify, your household income must be below 125% of the federal poverty line, or you must be enrolled in certain public benefits. One catch: if you receive a fee waiver, you currently cannot use the e-filing system and must file in person or by mail.⁶

CCE is available around the clock for domestic relations cases. You’ll register for a user ID and then “opt in” to your existing case, which can take up to two business days for the court to process. Each filing through CCE carries a $12 processing fee on top of the statutory filing fee. If the other parent also has a CCE account, the system automatically serves them when you file, though a $12 service fee applies.⁷

Serving the Other Parent

After filing, you must notify the other parent by delivering copies of your motion and supporting documents. Because a modification motion is a filing within an existing case rather than a brand-new lawsuit, the rules for serving subsequent documents apply. Under Rule 5 of the Colorado Rules of Civil Procedure, you can serve by mailing a copy to the other parent’s last known address, delivering it by hand, or using e-service if both parties are registered on CCE. Service by mail is complete when you drop it in the mailbox.

If you anticipate the other parent will deny receiving the documents, use certified mail or personal delivery by someone over 18 who isn’t involved in the case, so you have proof of service to show the court.

If Both Parents Agree

You can skip the contested motion entirely by filing a JDF 1423 Stipulation. Both parents sign it, submit it with a new parenting plan, and a judge reviews and signs it into a new order.⁸ This is the fastest and cheapest route when it’s available, and it avoids both mediation and a hearing.

When the Standard Filing Isn’t the Right Tool

Two situations have their own rules that override the ordinary modification process.

Immediate Danger

If your child faces imminent physical or emotional danger during the other parent’s parenting time, file a motion to restrict under C.R.S. 14-10-129(4). The court must hear and rule on it within 14 days of filing, and during that window any parenting time the other parent has must be supervised by an unrelated third party approved by the court or by a licensed mental health professional.¹ The word “imminent” matters. The danger must be happening now or about to happen. Documented abuse, severe neglect, active substance abuse that puts the child at risk, and exposure to domestic violence are the kinds of facts courts look for. Ongoing disagreements about parenting style are not.

Relocation

When a parent with primary custody wants to move somewhere that would substantially change the child’s geographic ties to the other parent, the relocating parent must give written notice to the other parent as soon as practicable, including the intended destination, the reason for the move, and a proposed revised parenting time plan.¹ The statute does not set a specific number of days. Waiting until the last minute hurts your credibility. Relocation hearings receive priority on the court’s docket.

The Two-Year Waiting Period

Once a motion for a major parenting time change (one that shifts the child’s primary residence) has been decided, you generally cannot file another one for two years, whether the prior motion was granted or denied. Two exceptions let you file sooner:¹

Endangerment: affidavits showing the child’s current living situation may endanger their physical health or seriously impair their emotional development.
Relocation: the parent with primary residence is planning to move in a way that would substantially change the child’s geographic ties to the other parent.

Under the endangerment exception, the court reviews your affidavits alone before deciding whether to hear the case. Vague concerns about parenting style won’t clear it. The court is looking for concrete facts pointing to actual harm or a real risk of harm.³ Decision-making modifications under 14-10-131 carry their own two-year bar with the same endangerment exception.²

What Happens After You File

Once served, the other parent has 21 days to file a written response with the court. The response will state whether they agree with, partially agree with, or oppose your proposed changes, and may include their own counter-proposal.

If the parents reach agreement at any point, they can submit a signed stipulation and avoid a hearing. When they can’t agree, the court will typically order mediation before scheduling a contested hearing. Mediation puts both parents in a room with a neutral mediator to try to work out a compromise. If mediation fails, the case proceeds to a hearing where a judge reviews evidence, hears testimony, and issues a final ruling.³

In contested cases, the court may also appoint a Child and Family Investigator (CFI) or, in cases involving complex psychological issues or serious allegations, a Parental Responsibilities Evaluator (PRE) to investigate and make recommendations. That investigation can take weeks on its own.⁹

Plan for the full process to take several months, especially in busy judicial districts. If your situation involves genuine urgency, the 14-day emergency motion is the faster route, but it requires that higher imminent-danger showing. For everything else, thorough preparation of your written explanation and your proposed parenting plan is what gives the court what it needs to rule in your favor.

1
Justia Law. Colorado Code Title 14-10-129 – Modification of Parenting Time
2
Justia Law. Colorado Code Title 14-10-131 – Modification of Custody Decree or Order Allocating Decision-Making Responsibility
3
Colorado Judicial Branch. Change Parenting Time
4
Colorado Judicial Branch. Sworn Financial Statement
5
Colorado Judicial Branch. List of Fees
6
Colorado Judicial Branch. Fee Waivers
7
Colorado Judicial Branch. E-Filing for Non-Attorneys
8
Colorado Judicial Branch. Stipulation Regarding Parenting Time Modification
9
Colorado Judicial Branch. Child and Family Investigators