Denver Divorce Lawyer Blog

The Chaille Law Firm is looking forward to putting together an informational meeting for Colorado families looking to adopt a child from Nicaragua, Honduras, or Ukraine.

The Nicaragua and Honduras adoption programs are similar in process. The Ukraine adoptions start out by being a "host" of a child. The informational meeting will provide details on each program.

If you are interested, please visit my site and fill out your information on the Contact Us page.

August is Colorado's month to register children for school. It is a good time to review your Parenting Plan and decision making to see which parent, or if both parents, are to decide which school the children should attend and who is to register the children.

If one parent has "sole decision making" regarding the education of the children, then it is usually that parent who is expected to decide which school the children should attend, and then register the children. When the parents share joint decision making, the parents should discuss the children's school options, and then make a joint decision where the children should attend school and who should register the children.

Whether the parents have either sole or joint decision making, the parent who registers the children should list both of the parents' addresses for the children's contact information for emergencies and school mailings and announcements.

If your agreement is unclear regarding choice of schools, decision making, school registration, or payment for school expenses, you may need to contact a Denver Attorney to assist you in drafting an agreement regarding future decisions.

If you are located in Colorado and looking into adopting a child, I offer my assistance in initiating domestic and international adoptions.

When you are adopting a domestic child, there are several options. You may attempt to "Foster to Adopt" through the state. Or, you may choose to adopt privately, which means that you find the birth mother and adopt her child. The other option is that you go through an agency/program adoption, where the agency helps you locate and match you with a birth mother.

If you are looking into adoption through a private or agency/program adoption, please contact me for a consultation.

The 2009 Federal Adoption Credit or Exclusion has increased to $12,150 this year.

Don't forget to claim this on your taxes for credit on qualified expenses paid to adopt an eligible child. Qualified expenses include expenses directly related to the legal adoption of a qualified child, including adoption fees, court costs, attorney fees, and traveling expenses such as airfare, meals and lodging. The qualified expense credit is now set at $12,150. Also, under an employer-provided adoption assistance program, the amount to be excluded from an employee's gross income for qualified adoption expenses incurred is now set at $12,150. The IRS also set the income eligibility phase-out income at $182,180 to $222,180; incomes over $222,180 are ineligible for the credit and exclusion.

Talk to your accountant or read more from the IRS to learn if you qualify and how to claim your credit or exclusion.

If you are interested in adopting a child, please contact the Chaille Law Firm.

Happy Father's Day to the estimated 64.3 million fathers out there. I found this information with the US Census Bureau and felt I had to share it.

According to the Bureau for 2008: A special greeting must be made to the 1.8 million single fathers, of whom about 51% are divorced, 25% have never been married, 19% are separated from their child's mother and 5% have been widowed.

Of fathers who have children younger than 6 years old (based on the 2006 numbers):

53% of the fathers eat breakfast with their children.
71% of the fathers each dinner with their children.
On average, children go on 15 or more outings with their father in one month.
66% of children are praised three or more times a day by their fathers.
6 is the average number of times children ages 3 to 5 are read to by their fathers in one week.

Keep up the good work dads! Enjoy your special day, but enjoy your children everyday!

I hope you enjoyed a great day with your children. When drafting a parenting plan, don't forget to include Father's Day as parenting time with dad, which supersedes the regular parenting time.

To discuss Colorado parenting time or other parenting issues, contact me.

When you are filling out your Parenting Plan, don't forget to draft an agreement regarding additional parenting time for vacations.

Vacation parenting time supersedes the regular parenting time and is often for an extended, uninterrupted period during the children's summer vacation. Often, the period will be for 2 weeks, or for 2 periods of 1 week each.

Both parents may have vacation time and usually designate a day to inform the other parent of their vacation plans. For example, the plan may say that the parents will inform each other of their vacation plans no later than the first day of May of each year. If the parents both want the same dates, then on even years the father has priority and mother must reset her dates, and on odd years the mother has priority and father must reset his dates.

For help drafting a parenting plan, or for more information on what other topics should be in a parenting plan, please call a Colorado Family Law Attorney.

If one parent has been accused or has admitted using and abusing drugs and/or alcohol, then you may wish to add contingent agreements in your parenting plan that include drug and alcohol testing.

The agreement may designate a certain duration, the frequency, the location of a drug and alcohol testing facility, and who is responsible to pay for the testing. Also, the agreement may reflect the conditions that occur when a drug and alcohol test is not passed.

Sometimes the Court will order such conditions as part of the parenting plan. However, the parties may agree to such testing as well.

If you would like to know more about having your parenting plan include a drug and alcohol testing prerequisite, please contact a Colorado Attorney.

Happy Mother's Day to the estimated 82.8 million mothers today. This information is provided by the US Census Bureau of 2006-2008.

10.4 million mothers are single parents who have children who are 18 years old or younger. 5.6 million of mothers are "stay at home mothers." And 80% have been first-time mothers who worked all the way up to one month or less just before giving birth. 55% of first-time mothers returned to work by the sixth month after giving birth; 83% of mothers returned to work within a year after having their baby.

Of mothers who have children younger than 6 years old, 54% eat breakfast and 79% eat dinner with their children everyday.

Congratulations to all mothers! Enjoy your day and enjoy your children everyday.

When drafting a Colorado parenting plan, don't forget to include holidays, including Mother's Day. Designate every Mother's Day as parenting time for the children to be with mom. If you'd like to discuss parenting time or other children's issues, please contact me.

Did you know that you can get a child support order without going through the Colorado Courts? If you need an initial child support order, to modify an existing child support amount, enforce an existing order, or establish paternity you may consider contacting Colorado's Child Support Enforcement ("CSE") office, or you may contact a Colorado Attorney.

You'll need to pay $20.00 to initiate a case with CSE, and an annual amount of $25 to have child support payments paid through the Family Support Registry ("FSR"), unless the fee is waived. Spousal Support (a.k.a.: Alimony and Maintenance) can also be paid through FSR. There are many advantages to having payments made through FSR because they keep track of all payments or missing payments so that you are ensured you know how much you are paid or owed.

If you have an Order through the Court, you, or your Attorney can request that child support payments are paid through FSR. If you would like an attorney to assist you in setting up child support, contact a Family Law Attorney.

Colorado Maintenance is what we now call alimony, support, or spousal support. The "threshold requirements" to qualify for maintenance are:

1. After division of property, there is insufficient property to care for his/her reasonable needs; and
2. Inability of one spouse to support him/herself through appropriate employment and the ability of other spouse to pay support.

Colorado Maintenance is based on the specifics of each case and the discretion of the Judge. The facts that the Judge will consider are:

1. The financial and non-financial contribution of each party to the marriage;
2. The age and health of the parties;
3. The duration of the marriage;
4. The specific sources of income and the standard of living of the parties during the marriage;

Other considerations with Colorado Maintenance are that it ends upon death/remarriage unless stated otherwise in the final orders. Similarly, if maintenance is to end upon cohabitation, rather than remarriage, the agreement must specify this.

Colorado does not have a statutory calculation for Permanent Maintenance. However, if the parties joint income is less than $75,000/year, Colorado does have a Temporary Maintenance Calcuation. For the calculation and to learn more about Colorado Maintenance, see C.R.S. 14-10-114 or contact a Denver Divorce Attorney.

Mediation is a great alternative to resolving your family issues in the Courtroom forum. So often family issues are settled "on the courthouse steps," after long delays, high adversity, game playing, and enormous costs. Costs of drawing cases out and taking the case to Court include monetary expenses, extensive time and energy, hard feelings, and the deterioration of communication and relationships. Also, these battles often become the norm and a vicious cycle of future conflicts begins.

The Courtroom can solve many conflicts and result in a binding Order, but Mediation can achieve the same results in a more positive environment and without some of the same detrimental effects that come from Courtroom battles.

Mediation provides a forum that is confidential and safe for the parties to freely exchange their ideas. Because the parties usually voluntarily attend mediation and discuss their issues and offer compromises, mediation is most often viewed as being fair and effective. Also, because the parties are involved in the formation of mutual agreements, they are more likely to uphold the agreement in the future and have improved communication and understanding in their relationship with one another.

Mediation is a great way to resolve family law disputes. If you are interested in mediating a family law topic, please contact a Denver Mediator.

Pro Se parties (parties who represent themselves, without the help from an attorney) may seek legal advice and request assistance in drafting legal pleadings or motions from attorneys. Colorado attorneys may assist in drafting pleadings without entering an appearance or becoming the attorney of record on a case. This allows parties to keep their pro se status and keep legal fees to a minimum.

Chapter 2, Rule 11(b) of the Colorado Rules of Civil Procedure (and in accordance with the Colorado Rules of Professional Conduct 1.2) allows attorneys to assist in the drafting of pleadings. This attorney-client relationship is sometimes referred to as "limited representation" or "unbundled legal services."

Colorado attorneys can help in the preparation and drafting of legal documents, and will not be entered as the party's attorney of record. Attorneys will have to include their name, address, telephone number and attorney registration number on the pleadings, which informs the court that the pleading is factual, filed in good faith and not filed for an improper purpose.

If you are interested in a limited representation or unbundled legal services, you may contact my Colorado Law Office.