Making decisions about your children’s health, schooling, and overall care can be difficult when parents are separated or divorced and at odds with each other in Wheat Ridge, Golden, and Arvada. Normally, these would be decisions you would discuss with your partner and come to a mutual decision together. However, when parents are no longer partners, discussions and decision making can sometimes be tricky. I recently read an article about a mother who was found in contempt of court and put in jail as a punitive measure for not following a court order. The father of the children had wanted his kids to get vaccinated and the mother did not. The two could not agree, so they took the issue to the family law courts to have a judge make a ruling. When the judge ruled in favor of the father and for the vaccinations, the mother was given a certain time frame in which she was required to comply. She did not, and was sent to jail.
Jefferson County Parental Decision Making and Allocation of Parental Responsibilities
In Jefferson County and across Colorado, co-parenting is the ideal – meaning both parents make decisions together. Like in the case above, if there is a decision where the two parties simply cannot agree, then different avenues like mediation may be explored. If still, parents are unable to come to a decision, then the parties may request a hearing where the judge gets the final decision. During a divorce or when child custody is originally decided, you may be able to allocate certain decision making responsibilities to a certain parent. For example, you may have it written into your parenting plan that the father of the child or children will make the medical decisions, while the mother will make decisions about education. In an especially contemptuous situation, it may be helpful to try and divvy the responsibilities up in this way, to avoid conflict later down the line. An experienced family law attorney will be able to discuss all these options with you.
Contempt of Court: The Risk of Not Obeying a Judge’s Order in Mountain View
If you decide to allow a Jefferson County judge to make the final ruling, then you must accept what the judge decides. It is a binding order that you and your former spouse must abide by.
If you are getting divorced or having issues with child custody, contact the Pearman Law Firm at 303-991-7600 for a initial phone consultation to discuss your options.
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