As a passionate advocate for fairness, I have witnessed firsthand the dire consequences that Colorado's current family court laws have on families of modest means. Wealth should not dictate the outcome of justice, especially in matters as sensitive and impactful as family law. 

Let us work together to modernize Colorado's family court laws and create a system where every family can stand on equal footing. Supporting families means promoting not only legal but also economic and emotional stability, which in the end benefits the entire community.

Please sign this petition to demand change and advocate for Family & Marriage Protection Act  in Colorado. 

Petition for the Introduction and Passage of the Family & Marriage Protection Act
A Comprehensive Suite of Bills to Modernize Colorado Revised Statutes (C.R.S.) Title 14, Guarantee Equal Parental Rights, Protect Consumer Wealth, Ensure Due Process, and Prevent the Systemic Financial Ruin of Colorado Families.

I. MASTER LEGISLATIVE FINDINGS OF FACT
WHEREAS, the State of Colorado recognizes that the family unit is the foundational building block of a stable, prosperous society, and the preservation of marriage, family stability, and the mutual financial independence of its citizens serves a compelling interest of the State; and

WHEREAS, the current adversarial legal framework surrounding marital dissolution under C.R.S. Title 14 structurally incentivizes prolonged litigation and predatory legal billing, resulting in the unjust depletion of family resources and the systemic financial ruin of Colorado's middle and working classes; and

WHEREAS, the historical application of subjective "equitable distribution" laws has frequently resulted in disproportionate debt burdens, the unjust forfeiture of protected premarital assets, and a lack of predictable, uniform justice under the law; and

WHEREAS, the forced liquidation of small businesses, the depletion of military and civilian retirement accounts, and litigation-induced foreclosures actively damage the state’s economy, harm local entrepreneurship, and strip families of their sole sources of generational wealth; and

WHEREAS, the current separation of child support enforcement and parenting time enforcement creates systemic inequities, and the application of standard "Income Shares" formulas inadvertently creates a profit motive, structurally incentivizing parents to engage in adversarial litigation and parental alienation to maximize custody "overnights"; and

WHEREAS, established developmental science and pediatric psychology affirm that children thrive best when granted equal, unhindered access to both fit parents, and that the loss of a parent through subjective custody rulings inflicts severe Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) and long-term psychological trauma; and

WHEREAS, the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution guarantees all citizens Equal Protection and Due Process under the law, preventing the State from depriving any person of property or liberty without strict, objective evidentiary standards; and

WHEREAS, the weaponization of family court proceedings through fabricated, uncorroborated, or strategically timed allegations of abuse severely undermines the integrity of the judicial system, deprives citizens of their constitutional rights via ex parte orders, and delays justice for true victims of domestic violence; and

WHEREAS, the practice of "fee-shifting" forces citizens to fund their own legal demise, resulting in a two-tiered, wealth-based justice system where wealthier litigants can weaponize uncapped attorney fees to force the financial attrition and legal surrender of vulnerable spouses;

NOW, THEREFORE, WE, THE UNDERSIGNED CITIZENS OF COLORADO, RESPECTFULLY PETITION the Colorado General Assembly, specifically the House Judiciary Committee and the Senate Judiciary Committee, to sponsor, introduce, and enact the Family & Marriage Protection Act.

II. THE OMNIBUS THREE-BILL REFORM PACKAGE
To comply with the Colorado Constitution’s Single-Subject Rule while enacting comprehensive, systemic reform, this initiative is structured as a cohesive suite of three distinct, targeted bills:

BILL 1: The Colorado Family Access, Support, and Protection Act (The Equal Parenting Bill)
Primary Policy Goal: Mitigate Childhood Trauma and De-escalate Custody Conflicts

·         Non-Rebuttable Statutory Presumption (C.R.S. § 14-10-124): Establishes a mandatory 50/50 shared physical and legal custody arrangement as the baseline for all fit parents, stripping the courts of subjective bias.

·         Strict Waiver Standard: The presumption of equal parenting time can only be waived upon the presentation of clear and convincing objective evidence, or a criminal conviction, of domestic violence or severe neglect.

·         Income Differential Support Matrix (C.R.S. § 14-10-115): Repeals the "Income Shares" model and overnight-counting thresholds. Replaces them with a flat 15% statutory rate applied strictly to the gross income difference (the delta) between the two equal households, removing the financial profit motive for custody disputes.

·         Administrative Enforcement & Parental Alienation (C.R.S. § 14-10-129.5): Empowers Child Support Services (CSS) to administratively verify access denials. Documented parental alienation triggers an expedited judicial referral for a mandatory 180-day physical custody forfeiture by the offending parent.

·         Visitation Support Hotline (C.R.S. § 26-13-107): Establishes a toll-free Colorado Access and Visitation Hotline to provide pro se parents with free legal information and expedited enforcement forms.

BILL 2: The Family Asset Protection & Parity Act (The Wealth Preservation Bill)
Primary Policy Goal: Preserve Middle-Class Wealth and Ensure Post-Dissolution Financial Independence

·         Absolute Premarital Shielding: Exempts all real property, liquid assets, retirement accounts (civilian and military), and business interests acquired prior to the date of marriage from judicial division. Tracing of original premarital principal prevents loss of protection due to commingling.

·         Strict Mathematical Asset Parity: Mandates an exact 50/50 division of all post-marital assets and liabilities, stripping judges of subjective "equitable distribution" power.

·         Abolition of Alimony: Permanently abolishes the legal constructs of alimony, spousal maintenance, palimony, and rehabilitative support, requiring mutual post-dissolution workforce participation.

·         Mandatory Reconciliation Window: Imposes a mandatory 180-day cooling-off period before a dissolution petition can be formally docketed, requiring at least twelve (12) sessions of certified professional marriage counseling or mediation (waived only for documented domestic violence).

BILL 3: The Family Law Consumer Protection & Due Process Act (The Legal Reform Bill)
Primary Policy Goal: Defend Constitutional Rights and End Predatory Billing

·         Anti-Predatory Attorney Fee Caps: Establishes strict statutory billing limits on family law attorneys practicing in Colorado, capped at a maximum of $19,000 (70 billable hours) per dissolution:

 

·         Abolition of Fee-Shifting: Permanently abolishes court-ordered fee-shifting. Each party is solely responsible for their own legal representation out of their guaranteed 50% share of the marital estate.

·         Heightened Evidentiary Standards: Requires allegations of abuse introduced in domestic proceedings to meet the "clear and convincing evidence" standard. Ex parte Temporary Restraining Orders (TROs) that sever parental access or strip property cannot be granted solely on uncorroborated, unilateral testimony; independent objective corroboration (e.g., police reports, medical records) is strictly required.

·         Mandatory Perjury Penalties: Mandates the immediate forfeiture of legal fees and mandatory criminal referrals to the District Attorney for any litigant found to have submitted fabricated, exaggerated, or strategically timed claims of abuse to gain tactical advantages.

 
III. THE CRITICAL NEED FOR REFORM IN COLORADO
1. Dismantling Wealth-Based Justice and Protecting Civil Rights
Under current Colorado law, justice in family courts is a commodity determined by the size of a litigant's bank account. Wealthy litigants routinely utilize uncapped billable hours and endless discovery disputes to force the financial attrition and legal surrender of vulnerable, less-funded spouses. This "legal abuse" forces working families to liquidate their homes and life savings, often dropping them below the poverty line. By capping fees and abolishing fee-shifting, this Act levels the playing field and guarantees that constitutional rights cannot be purchased or stripped through financial bullying.

2. Protecting Housing Stability and Consumer Wealth
Colorado is facing a severe housing stability crisis. Current family court proceedings act as a direct pipeline to foreclosure and housing insecurity, forcing middle-class families to refinance or sell their primary residences to satisfy exorbitant attorney retainers. By replacing subjective judicial discretion with predictable mathematical parity and enforcing consumer-protective fee caps, this Act preserves Colorado's housing stock and allows divorcing citizens to retain their housing equity, reducing the number of families forced into the rental market or onto state-funded housing assistance.

3. Protecting Military Readiness and Combatting Veteran Suicide
Active-duty service members stationed in Colorado (including Buckley Space Force Base, Fort Carson, and Peterson Space Force Base) face a severe "legal ambush" on the homefront:

·         Deployment Penalization: State judges routinely use active-duty deployments, TDYs, and training schedules as "proof of instability" to strip service members of custody.

·         Pension Vulnerability: Subjective property division allows judges to disproportionately plunder earned military pensions, ignoring the years of service completed prior to the marriage.

·         The Suicide Crisis: The financial devastation of uncapped legal bills, combined with the extreme trauma of parental alienation and weaponized PTSD stigmas, is a primary, documented trigger for the tragic veteran suicide epidemic.

This Act protects military readiness by ensuring that those who defend our nation's constitutional rights do not have their own rights trampled in state courts while deployed.

 
IV. CONCLUSION & CALL TO ACTION
The Colorado family court system is operating as a state-sanctioned monopoly that extracts generational wealth, inflicts childhood trauma, and violates basic constitutional due process. True justice must be blind, predictable, and protected from predatory exploitation.

Therefore, we, the citizens of the State of Colorado, respectfully request that the House and Senate Judiciary Committees:

1.      Introduce and Sponsor the three-bill suite comprising the Family & Marriage Protection Act.

2.      Schedule Immediate Hearings during the upcoming legislative session to review the devastating economic and social impacts of current C.R.S. Title 14 provisions.

3.      Advance this Initiative to restore objective mathematical parity, defend fundamental parental rights, protect active-duty military personnel, and end wealth-based justice in our state.