The age of sexual consent in Colorado is 17. Colorado law does not criminalize consensual sex if both parties are 17 years of age or older. The Colorado Court of Appeals recently found that moving a custodial parent from Colorado to Korea was an important step that triggered the easing of the burden of proof, finding that it was in the best interests of the child to give primary custody to the father in Hawaii, rather than letting the child stay with the mother and move to Korea. In re: Marriage of Aguero (Colo.App. 2020) (unpublished decision). The mother made a logical argument that, since the move would not affect the father`s ability to take parental leave, the trial court erred in applying the « best interests » standard instead of endangerment. There is a legal outcome called emancipation. There are ways to emancipate oneself automatically – through marriage or military service – but the most common occurs when a minor asks a court to grant the minor all legal rights to care for himself and assume responsibility for adults. Parents who have support obligations may wonder when this obligation ends. In Colorado, the norm is to terminate court-ordered child support once the child is emancipated. This is when the child is legally recognized as an adult. In most cases, this happens when the child turns 19.
However, there are a few things to consider with regard to maintenance obligations. In Re: Marriage of Morgan, 2018 COA 116, the mother wanted to move to California after the divorce was finalized and made that intention clear to parenting experts and testified at the ongoing hearing. The trial court refused to move after hearing conflicting parental experts, but ordered the mother to have the same parental leave. If a parent wants to move the children to a new location as part of the initial custody decision, the judge must agree to where each party wants to live and then make appropriate parental leave decisions that are in the best interests of the children. Spahmer v. Gullette, 113 p.3d 158 (Colo. 2005). If the other parent does not agree to the move, they apply for a move, and the matter must be heard. According to C.R.S. 14-10-129(1)(a)(II) « Priority is given to a court hearing on a change in parental leave due to an intention to move. » In the author`s experience, the courts will make room in their routing slips for relocation hearings, but this may still take 2-4 months instead of 4-8 months, so the parent who wants to move still has to plan ahead. The scope of the tribunal`s findings was an indication that it took into account legal factors and: « The court relies on the factors themselves, the history of parental leave, missed parental leave, the best interests of the child, etc. The court notes that almost the entire [mother`s] family moved to Texas and that the reason for their move is family and not malicious or to limit the time the father has with the child.
The law has long recognized that parents should not be geographically connected. And just as the non-custodial parent is free to move at will, the parent could previously travel with the children with little difficulty, even against the opposition of the other parent. You can leave the house without your parents or guardians` permission. Or they may ask you to leave. But it`s important to think carefully before deciding to move and leave the house. The most common and complicated form of resettlement is a request under the decree to remove the children – in such cases, the court has previously ordered a parenting plan based on both parents living in the same general area, and subsequently one of the parents wants to move with the children. Colorado custody attorneys have long debated this issue — is it appropriate to ask a parent in court whether that parent will move or stay in Colorado if the move is denied? The answer is « no, » according to a 2018 Court of Appeal decision. Method 1 of 2: Refuse your family as a minor.
If you are a teenager, the legal way to deny your family is to « emancipate » yourself from them. This means that you are legally treated as an adult who has the right to make your own decisions, and that your parents are no longer your guardians. While permission to visit the out-of-state is relatively easy to obtain, it`s extraordinarily unusual to get away from Colorado while a case is pending, and it`s the hardest permit to get. Graham.Law has only seen it a few times when there are extraordinary circumstances. In practice, courts may offer a third option: refuse the move and order a parenting plan based on the parent`s move, but also order a different schedule as long as the parent remains in Colorado. In fact, the court says, « Parents, if you move, the children stay with the other parent, and you only have vacation parenting. But if you stay, you will elevate both equally. Given this dilemma, many parents may choose not to move, but as we`ll see below, this is not an appropriate topic to ask the court.
Moving doesn`t just mean leaving the state – any move that significantly changes the geographic ties between the child and the other party requires the consent of the other party or permission from the court. Theoretically, this means that the court effectively claims that the parent who wants to move has already moved and decides where the children should live. A court cannot « refuse » permission to move and require the parent to stay with the children. The judge`s options are limited to allowing the children to move or refusing permission, in which case they remain with the other parent. Maturity. For it to be legal to move at age 17 (or 16), a court must usually confirm that the child is mature enough to be alone. Financial independence. In general, children must prove that they can take care of themselves in order to emancipate themselves. For example, even moving from one suburb to another in the same metropolitan area could separate parents for up to 45 minutes or more. If both parents stay overnight on school nights, it would either result in (1) a long commute twice a day for the children when they are with a parent, or (2) one parent would lose the night at school.
A child is emancipated when he or she reaches the « age of majority ». The purpose of creating an « age of majority » was to create an age where people are generally financially and legally responsible for themselves. The problem was that the mother was asked in court if she would still move if the move was refused, and she admitted that she would not. In the eyes of the trial court, this made their intention ambiguous. The Court of Appeal reversed that decision, holding that, according to Spahmer, the trial court is bound to respect a parent`s clearly stated intention, rather than considering whether the parent would « leave » the children by moving without them. If the child is emancipated, the non-custodial parent is no longer responsible for paying maintenance to the other party.