HB26-1309 | Abuse in Cases of Separation

Position: Strongly Oppose

HB26-1309 is being presented as a bill to protect survivors of abuse during separation and custody disputes. In reality, it lowers an already nonexistent evidentiary threshold for life-altering findings, expands vague categories of abuse, and creates a system that can be weaponized in family court. This bill raises serious concerns about due process, parental rights, and the best interests of the child.

What the bill does

  • Requires the court to determine before considering the usual best-interests factors whether a party has committed domestic violence.
  • Creates a presumption against awarding parental responsibilities to a parent if the court finds domestic violence by a preponderance of the evidence. As we know, family court commonly makes findings on opinions and bias instead of facts or evidence.
  • Expands the definition of domestic violence beyond physical abuse to include broad categories such as:
    • coercive control
    • technological abuse
    • health-related abuse
    • economic abuse
  • Requires specific written findings and conditions if the court still awards parental responsibilities to a parent found to have committed domestic violence.
  • Imposes burdensome requirements, including a 52-week domestic violence intervention program and individual therapy.

Why we strongly oppose it

  • It invites false or exaggerated allegations. In high-conflict custody cases, vague and subjective claims are often used as leverage.
  • Even the bill’s stated standard is too low. A “preponderance of the evidence” standard means a parent can lose major rights based on the lowest civil burden of proof.
  • In real family court practice, the problem is often worse. Findings are too often driven by opinions, assumptions, credibility judgments, and bias rather than hard evidence or verified facts.
  • This bill will empower that broken reality. Instead of requiring stronger proof before a parent’s rights are restricted, it gives more legal force to a system where accusations can carry more weight than evidence.
  • It shifts the burden onto the accused parent. Once labeled abusive, a parent must fight uphill to preserve parenting time and decision-making authority.
  • It expands “abuse” too broadly. Terms like coercive control, economic abuse, and technological abuse can be interpreted inconsistently and easily misused.
  • It puts fit parents at risk. A loving parent can lose meaningful access to a child based on allegations that were never proven in any rigorous way.
  • It undermines the best interests of the child. Children need decisions based on facts, fairness, and real evidence — not vague claims, professional bias, or one-sided narratives.
  • It limits judicial discretion in the wrong way. Instead of encouraging careful, evidence-based review, it pushes courts toward presumptions that can sever healthy parent-child relationships.

Bottom line

HB26-1309 takes an already flawed family court environment and makes it worse. In a system where allegations are too often treated as fact, this bill gives even more power to weak evidence, subjective judgments, and biased decision-making.

Vote NO on HB26-1309.

Email each Democratic House Judiciary Member

Use some form of one of these email templates to ask for a quick meeting to discuss SB26-018 and if a meeting is not available, encourage them to vote NO!

Subject: 10-15 min meeting request -  HB26-1039 and vote NO

Dear Representative [Last Name],

I am writing to respectfully urge you to vote NO on HB26-1309, Abuse in Cases of Separation.

This bill raises serious concerns about due process, parental rights, and the best interests of the child. HB26-1309 expands the definition of domestic violence to include broad and subjective categories that may be weaponized in high-conflict custody disputes.

The bill also creates a presumption against awarding parental responsibilities based on a finding by a preponderance of the evidence, rather than a criminal conviction. That means a parent could lose substantial rights based on allegations that may never be fully substantiated.

Colorado courts already have authority to protect children and real victims of abuse. This bill goes too far by lowering the evidentiary threshold, shifting the burden onto the accused parent, and increasing the risk that false or exaggerated allegations will be used to damage parent-child relationships.

Family court decisions should be based on clear evidence, fairness, and the true best interests of the child — not vague definitions and presumptions that weaken due process.

Please vote NO on HB26-1309.

Thank you for your time and service.

Sincerely,
[Your Name]

or 

Dear Representative [Last Name],

Please vote NO on HB26-1309.

This bill would make an already broken family court system worse. It expands vague definitions of domestic violence and gives courts even more power to restrict a parent’s rights based on weak and subjective claims.

The bill refers to a preponderance-of-the-evidence standard, but in real family court practice, findings are often made on the basis of opinions, assumptions, and bias rather than hard evidence or verified facts. That reality should alarm every lawmaker. Parents can already lose meaningful relationships with their children based on allegations that were never rigorously proven. HB26-1309 would give even more force to that injustice.

This is not a narrow bill aimed at protecting real victims. It is a bill that can be weaponized in custody disputes, used to legitimize false or exaggerated allegations, and used to strip fit parents of parenting time and decision-making authority.

Children deserve decisions based on truth, evidence, and fairness. Colorado families do not need a law that empowers bias and weakens due process.

Please vote NO on HB26-1309.

Sincerely,
[Your Name]