Colorado · Verified 2026-08-04

Change vs restrict parenting time in Colorado: one form, two different cases

JDF 1406 is a single form with two checkboxes at the top, and which box is checked changes the deadline, the standard, and the speed. Most confusion about Colorado parenting-time motions comes from not noticing which one is in front of you.

What the court’s own documents say

JDF 1406 is one form covering both requests, selected by a checkbox at the top: Change or Restrict.
Motion and Affidavit to ☐ Change ☐ Restrict Parenting Time
Colorado Judicial Branch — JDF 1406, Motion and Affidavit to Change/Restrict Parenting Time (rev. April 11, 2023)
A change request is decided on the best interest of the child; a restriction request asserts imminent or immediate danger.
I believe the parenting time changes are in the best interest of the child(ren).
Colorado Judicial Branch — JDF 1406, Motion and Affidavit to Change/Restrict Parenting Time (rev. April 11, 2023)
The response clocks differ: 21 days for a change, versus on-or-before an emergency hearing held within 14 days for a restriction.
For a Motion to Change Parenting Time, you have 21 days to file a written response.
Colorado Judicial Branch — JDF 1406, Motion and Affidavit to Change/Restrict Parenting Time (rev. April 11, 2023)

Read the top of page one

Before anything else, look at which box is checked. Everything downstream — how long you have, what the judge is deciding, how fast a hearing arrives — follows from that single mark.

Why people get this wrong

Generic advice online treats “modify custody” as one thing. In Colorado these are two tracks on one piece of paper, and preparing for the wrong one wastes the only time you have.

If you have a hearing coming up

The free walkthrough of a hearing day — what happens box by box, and the exact words that get a document into evidence — is on this site and asks nothing of you.

Related

Sources

General information about Colorado court procedure, not legal advice, and not about your specific case. Court rules and forms change — open the linked source and confirm it still says this before you rely on it. For advice about your situation, talk to a licensed Colorado family-law attorney. CourtDocs is not a law firm and no attorney-client relationship is created by reading this page.