The Child's Voice in Proceedings

A note before we begin: Everything here is for general informational purposes only and is not legal advice. For advice about your specific situation, consult a qualified Colorado attorney.

Your Situation

You're in the middle of a Colorado case about your children — how parenting time and decision-making will be allocated — and you're wondering how, and whether, your child's own voice reaches the judge. Maybe your child has strong feelings about where they live. Maybe you worry the other parent is pressuring them, or that something harmful is being hidden. This is one of the hardest parts of a family case, because it sits right at the intersection of wanting to honor your child's feelings and wanting to protect them from being put in the middle.

Here's the core thing to understand: in Colorado family cases, children generally do not testify in open court. Instead, their experiences and preferences reach the judge through other channels — a neutral investigator's written report, a judge's private interview, or an attorney appointed to represent the child. This guide will walk you through those channels, what the law says about how much weight a child's wishes carry, and what you can actually do to make sure your child's perspective is heard the right way.

What the Law Requires

Colorado law treats the child's voice as something to be heard — but filtered through protective structures, not through the child taking the witness stand.

A child's wishes are one of the factors the court must weigh when deciding parenting time, but only when the child is sufficiently mature to express reasoned and independent preferences. There is no magic age at which a child's preference takes over; maturity is assessed case by case, and a child's wishes are one factor among many, never the sole deciding factor.

The law provides several formal routes for the child's voice:

• A neutral investigator's report. When the court appoints a Child and Family Investigator, the law requires that the child's wishes, if the child expressed any, be disclosed in that investigator's written report. If the child presents information about abuse, that information must be included in the report regardless of who raised it.
• A private interview with the judge. On a party's motion, the court may interview the child in chambers to learn the child's wishes. The judge may let attorneys attend, must make a record of the interview, and must explain why the request was granted or denied. Importantly, a parent is not entitled to cross-examine the child during this interview.
• A legal representative for the child. The court can appoint an attorney — in divorce and custody cases this is a Child's Legal Representative (CLR) — to represent the child's best interests. This person must find out and consider the child's wishes but is not required to simply adopt them; they advocate for the child's best interests. Under the law sometimes called "Julie's Law," this representative cannot be called as a witness.

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In Colorado, a child's wishes reach the judge through a report, a private in-chambers interview, or an appointed representative — never by the child testifying in open court.

A few other protections matter. If the child is 15 or older, an evaluator generally needs the child's own consent before pulling records from the child's past providers, unless the court finds the child lacks capacity to consent. The court can also close the hearing to the public or seal the record of a child's interview, report, or testimony if that's needed to protect the child's welfare.

Safety deserves special emphasis. When there are allegations of domestic violence, child abuse or neglect, or child sexual abuse — including an allegation the child raises — the court must give that paramount consideration in deciding whether to interview the child. And when such allegations have been made, the court must give strong consideration to a child's stated preference, as long as that preference is consistent with the child's safety.

What Courts Typically Do

In practice, Colorado judges rely heavily on the neutral investigator's report and, where appointed, the child's representative, rather than on hearing directly from the child. A judge is not bound by an investigator's recommendations — the court must consider the full report and any testimony before adopting anything — but these reports carry significant weight.

An in-chambers interview is discretionary, not guaranteed. Courts have declined to interview a child when they already know the child's wishes through prior interviews, filed reports, and hearing testimony — and that has been upheld as a reasonable exercise of discretion. When a judge does interview a child privately, that interview must be recorded on the record. Courts also tend to weigh what a child says in an interview cautiously, precisely because it wasn't tested by cross-examination.

On the question of age and weight: there's no fixed threshold where a teenager's preference controls. In practice, the more mature and reasoned a child's view, the more weight it tends to receive — but it remains one factor among the full best-interests picture, which includes the child's relationships, adjustment to home and school, and each parent's involvement. A thoughtful note from practice: teenagers can appropriately be part of planning conversations, but courts recognize that placing the final decision on a child's shoulders creates damaging loyalty conflicts. The decision stays with the parents and the court.

One more practical point worth knowing: a child's treating therapist can be designated as a witness to testify about their observations of the child, and that therapist is not restricted by the rules governing neutral investigators.

Step by Step: What to Do

1. Get clear on what you actually want. Do you want the child's preferences investigated and reported? Do you want an attorney advocating for the child's interests? Do you suspect the other parent is turning the child against you? Different goals point to different requests.

2. Consider asking for a neutral investigator. If you want the child's wishes and overall situation professionally assessed and reported to the court, a Child and Family Investigator is the common route. Learn more about what investigators and evaluators do and how they're appointed.

3. Consider asking for a Child's Legal Representative (CLR). In a divorce or custody case, this is the mechanism for giving your child an independent legal voice. Either parent — or the court on its own — can request it, but note the court must authorize the filing before the motion is submitted, and the CLR's fees become an obligation the court will allocate (and can shift partly to the State if a party is found indigent). The guided wizard on this site will prepare and pre-fill the paperwork for requesting a CLR, so you don't have to hunt down the right form or figure out the fields yourself.

4. If you want the judge to hear from the child directly, file a motion for an in-chambers interview. The wizard can prepare this request too. Remember the judge has discretion to grant or deny it, and must explain the decision.

5. Surface any safety concerns clearly and early. If there are allegations of domestic violence or abuse — especially if your child has disclosed something — make sure those allegations are properly raised, because the law requires the court to give them paramount consideration.

6. If a GAL or representative is appointed, follow the no-discussion rule. Appointment orders typically prohibit both parents from discussing the case with the children. If your child has questions, direct them to their representative — not because it's a technicality, but because violating this can be seen as trying to influence the child and can hurt you with the court.

7. Line up the right witnesses. If your child's therapist has relevant observations, that person may be able to testify. This is different from the child testifying, and different from the child's legal representative (who can't be called as a witness).

What Research Shows Can Help

The items here speak less in terms of formal research studies and more in terms of what professionals observe works for children — but the guidance is consistent and worth taking to heart.

Children of different ages communicate their needs differently: infants show you through behavior and milestones, while teenagers can articulate preferences directly. Skilled investigators use age-appropriate, non-suggestive interview techniques and stay alert to the fact that a child's stated view can shift over time or reflect fear, intimidation, or manipulation rather than the child's true feelings.

For adolescents specifically, the healthiest approach is to include them in planning conversations without handing them the decision. Respecting a teenager's growing autonomy is good; making them choose between parents creates loyalty conflicts that harm them. Both homes and both parent relationships continue to matter to a child's wellbeing.

What to Do Today

• Write down your child's actual situation and what you believe they want — ages, maturity, any specific things they've said, and any safety concerns. This becomes the backbone of whatever request you make.
• Decide which channel fits: a neutral investigator's report, a Child's Legal Representative, or a request for the judge to interview your child. You can read up on each above.
• Start the guided wizard to prepare the motion that matches your goal — it will fill in the correct Colorado forms for you.
• If there are any safety or abuse concerns, note them specifically now so they're ready to raise — the law requires the court to treat them as paramount.
• Stop discussing the case with your child and keep doing so if any representative is appointed; redirect their questions appropriately.

Related Issues to Be Aware Of

• Expert witnesses and evaluators: The Child and Family Investigator is often the main way your child's wishes and circumstances reach the court. Understanding how one is appointed, what they can and can't do, and that the judge is not bound by their recommendations will help you use this tool well.

• Creating the parenting plan: Your child's voice is one input into the larger best-interests analysis the court uses to set parenting time and decision-making. Knowing the full list of factors — relationships, adjustment to home and school, each parent's past involvement — helps you see where the child's preference fits in.

• Parental alienation: If you believe the other parent is turning your child against you, this is exactly the kind of situation where asking for a child's representative or special advocate can help the court assess the child independently. Be aware that where abuse is also alleged, Colorado's own legislative findings note the delicate and sometimes dangerous interplay between alienation claims and abuse claims.

• Decision-making disputes: A child's representative can be appointed to address decision-making as well as parenting time. And note that where domestic violence or qualifying abuse has been found, the court will not order mutual decision-making over the objection of the other party or the child's representative without specific safety findings.

• Relocation: If a move is on the table, your child's wishes and ties to home, school, and community become part of a priority-docketed best-interests analysis — another context where how the child's voice is gathered and weighed really matters.