Parenting Coordinators

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

Your Situation

If you're reading this, you're probably living with ongoing conflict that keeps spilling back into court — disputes about how the parenting plan actually works day to day, who's picking up when, how decisions get made, and endless friction with the other parent. A parenting coordinator (often called a "PC") is a neutral professional a court can bring in to help high-conflict parents implement a parenting plan that already exists. The idea is to give you a faster, less expensive way to work through recurring disagreements than running back to a judge every time.

This matters because the parenting coordinator role is narrow and specific — and it's easy to misunderstand what one can and can't do. A parenting coordinator helps you implement and build structure around an existing plan. A PC generally cannot impose binding decisions on things you and the other parent can't agree on. That's a different role entirely (a "decision-maker"), with its own rules. Knowing the difference protects you from expecting an outcome the PC has no power to deliver.

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This guide will help you understand what a parenting coordinator actually does, when a court can appoint one, how the costs and confidentiality rules work, and how a PC differs from a decision-maker.

What the Law Requires

Colorado law lets a court appoint a parenting coordinator after an order on parental responsibilities has been entered — on its own motion, on one party's motion, or by agreement of the parties — with notice to the parties. The coordinator must be neutral, appropriately trained and qualified, and acceptable to the court. The PC's job is to help you implement the parenting plan: building structured, agreed-upon guidelines, developing communication strategies, helping both of you honestly identify the sources of conflict and each person's contribution to it, and suggesting resources to improve parenting and communication.

If you and the other parent don't agree to the appointment, the law requires the court to make three specific findings first: that you failed to adequately implement the parenting plan, that mediation was either inappropriate or was tried and didn't work, and that appointing a PC is in the children's best interests.

Several hard limits apply:

• A PC cannot make binding decisions. The law says a parenting coordinator's role does not extend to resolving disputes the parents can't resolve on their own. A PC may make nonbinding recommendations when you're stuck, but can't force an outcome.
• A PC can't wear two hats. Someone serving as an evaluator or as the child's legal representative in your case cannot also be your parenting coordinator. A child and family investigator (CFI) may serve as PC in the same case only if both of you agree — but once appointed PC, that person can't later be made CFI.
• Disclosure within seven days. Within seven days of appointment, the PC must disclose any familial, financial, or social relationship with the child, either party, the attorneys, or the judge. You then have seven days to object. If no one objects in time, the appointment is confirmed by default; if you do object, the court either appoints someone else or confirms the appointment.
• Time limit. The appointment can't exceed two years without your agreement. If the order doesn't state a term, it defaults to two years.
• You pay, not the state. The court apportions the PC's fees between the parties based on financial resources and equitable circumstances. These fees are treated as being in the nature of child support.
• Confidentiality. A PC generally cannot be subpoenaed to testify or produce records about statements, conduct, or decisions made during the appointment, with only narrow exceptions. Don't assume you can use your PC as a witness at a later hearing.
• Domestic violence. A mere claim of abuse doesn't automatically bar appointing a PC — but where there's been a finding of domestic violence, child abuse or neglect, or sexual assault, the court is prohibited from appointing a parenting coordinator for the sole purpose of making mutual decision-making work. The court must also weigh how any evidence of domestic violence affects your ability to engage in the coordination process.

A parenting coordinator is different from a decision-maker, who does have binding authority to resolve disputes about parenting time, child support, and specific parental decisions, and whose decisions take effect immediately until vacated or modified. One person can hold both roles. If your case involves arbitrated child issues, be aware the trial court keeps the power to decide those issues anew at either party's request.

What Courts Typically Do

In practice, courts use the standard appointment orders for these neutrals, and both parties receive a written order setting out deadlines, fees, and the coordinator's duties. Courts typically treat parenting coordination as one of several problem-solving options — faster and usually less expensive than full litigation — and it's particularly suited to cases with continuing conflict or disputes expected to recur as children grow.

Courts generally honor the two-year cap but may extend, modify, or terminate the appointment if both parties agree, and can terminate for good cause at any time. Courts also allow the PC to withdraw at any time. On fees, courts typically pre-approve the PC's rates as reasonable in the order, and apportion the retainer and ongoing fees between the parties in proportion to their resources.

Be honest with yourself about what a PC can realistically achieve. Because a PC can't impose binding outcomes, the value is in structure, communication tools, and reducing the number of fights that require a judge — not in getting someone to rule in your favor.

Step by Step: What to Do

1. Confirm whether a PC fits your situation. A parenting coordinator helps implement an existing parenting plan — temporary, permanent, or post-decree. If you don't yet have a plan, a PC isn't the right tool for creating one.

2. Seek the appointment. You can agree with the other parent to request a PC, or ask the court to appoint one. If the other parent doesn't agree, be prepared to show the court that the plan hasn't been adequately implemented, that mediation was inappropriate or unsuccessful, and that a PC serves the children's best interests. If paperwork is involved, the guided wizard on this site will prepare and pre-fill the correct forms for you rather than leaving you to hunt them down.

3. Review the disclosure carefully. When the PC files their disclosure within seven days, read it closely. If there's a relationship that concerns you, file your objection within seven days — miss that window and the appointment is confirmed by default.

4. Make contact by the deadline. The order sets a specific number of days by which each party must contact the PC to schedule a first meeting. Don't be the one who fails to reach out — non-cooperation can be raised against you.

5. Deliver the documents. The designated party's counsel (or you, if self-represented) must get all relevant court orders and parenting documents to the PC — typically within 14 days of the order.

6. Sign the releases. The PC will likely need you to sign releases of confidential information. If you refuse or the releases aren't enough, the PC can ask the court to compel disclosure.

7. Handle the money promptly. Pay your apportioned share of the retainer directly to the PC by the date in the order. The PC generally can't begin work until the full retainer is paid, and non-payment can trigger an immediate court hearing with serious consequences. If you dispute the fees, file a written objection within 14 days of the order or you waive it.

8. Use the process as intended. Work with the PC to build structured guidelines and communication strategies. If you reach an agreement through the PC, it can be filed with the court and, if approved, becomes a binding court order — so review anything you sign carefully.

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Calendar the seven-day objection deadline and the retainer payment date the moment you receive the appointment order — both carry consequences if you miss them.

What Research Shows Can Help

The items available here are primarily legal and procedural rather than research findings, so there's limited social-science material to draw on. What the broader guidance does suggest is practical: building a dispute-resolution method into your parenting plan ahead of time — such as a dispute-resolution clause or access to a parenting coordinator — reduces court involvement and conflict when problems later arise. Colorado's own legislative findings recognize that resolving post-dissolution disputes amicably and fairly serves everyone's interests, and that a core purpose of the law is to reduce the harm the dissolution process can cause to children and parent-child relationships.

The honest takeaway: agreeing in advance on how you'll resolve future disagreements tends to prevent a lot of downstream conflict, and a parenting coordinator can teach the communication skills that make that possible.

What to Do Today

• Locate your current parenting plan and the order allocating parental responsibilities — the PC's authority is tied to the specific plan already in place.
• If an appointment order already exists, calendar the deadlines right now: the seven-day objection window after disclosure, the deadline to contact the PC, and the retainer due date.
• Review any PC disclosure you've received for relationships that concern you, so you don't miss the objection deadline.
• Start the guided wizard if you need to request a parenting coordinator or respond to an appointment — it will prepare and pre-fill the correct Colorado forms for you.
• Gather the documents the PC will need: all court orders on parenting time, decision-making, and child support.

Related Issues to Be Aware Of

• High-conflict communication: A big part of a PC's job is developing communication guidelines, and your parenting plan can set the methods and frequency for how you and the other parent communicate about the child. Basic obligations — like keeping each other informed of address and phone changes and sharing health-care provider contacts — are built into the standard plan, and failing to meet them can become a plan-violation issue.

• Decision-making disputes: This is where the PC's limits matter most. A PC can't impose a binding decision when you and the other parent disagree — that's a decision-maker's role. If there's been a finding of domestic violence or qualifying abuse, courts won't order mutual decision-making over objection without specific safety findings, and a PC can't be appointed just to force joint decision-making to work.

• Parental alienation: If alienation is part of your conflict, be aware that how a court frames a motion (enforcement versus modification) affects the standard applied, and that the law flags the tangled interaction between abuse claims and alienation claims. A PC's communication work may help, but a PC can't resolve these deeper legal questions.

• Missed or modified parenting time: When parenting time is denied, there are separate remedies — including makeup time of the same type and duration — that run through the court, not the PC. Knowing which standard applies to a proposed change (best-interest versus endangerment) can turn on the nature of and reasons for the change.