Grandparents Rights Attorney in Denver

What Colorado Law Says About Grandparents’ Rights

Grandparents’ rights in Colorado are governed by C.R.S. § 14-10-124.4, which was updated in 2023 to rename grandparent visitation as grandparent family time and to expand the court’s tools in contested cases. The law gives qualifying grandparents the right to petition a Colorado district court for scheduled family time with a grandchild, but it doesn’t apply in every situation.

A grandparent has legal standing to file only when a prior custody or parenting time case already exists for the grandchild. Three circumstances qualify:

• The grandchild’s parents’ marriage has been dissolved, legally separated, or annulled
• Legal custody of or parental responsibilities for the grandchild have been given to a party other than the child’s parent, or the child has been placed outside the parent’s home (not including children placed for adoption or whose adoption has been finalized)
• The grandchild’s parent who is the grandparent’s own child has died

When the child’s family is intact and no court has intervened in custody or parenting arrangements, Colorado courts have no basis to grant family time to grandparents, regardless of how close the relationship has been. Great-grandparents are also covered under the same statute and may petition under the same three circumstances.

Family Time vs. Allocation of Parental Responsibilities

Grandparent family time is a scheduled contact arrangement. It doesn’t give a grandparent any decision-making authority over the child’s education, health care, or upbringing. Allocation of parental responsibilities, Colorado’s term for what most people call custody, is a separate and higher-threshold process. To pursue it, a grandparent must have provided actual physical care of the grandchild for at least six months and must file within six months of that care ending.

Why Denver Grandparents Work with VanLandingham Law, LLC

Grandparents’ rights cases require building a detailed evidentiary record to overcome Colorado’s legal presumption that a fit parent’s decision about grandparent contact is in the child’s best interests. That presumption, rooted in the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Troxel v. Granville, can only be overcome by clear and convincing evidence, a demanding standard that makes preparation matter from the start.

Before founding VanLandingham Law, LLC in 2017, Joe VanLandingham handled complex litigation at an AMLAW 100 firm. That background in building and presenting evidence in high-stakes proceedings carries directly into how he prepares grandparents’ rights cases. He has been recognized by Super Lawyers and is admitted to practice before the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit.

At VanLandingham Law, LLC, there are no handoffs to junior associates. Joe VanLandingham works directly with each client from the initial consultation through resolution, so the attorney who understands your family’s story is the same one preparing your petition and, if needed, arguing your case in court.