In re Marriage of DePalma
Colorado Court of Appeals
176 P.3d 829 (Colo. Ct. App. 2007)
Jon DePalma (plaintiff) and Melissa DePalma (defendant) divorced with shared custody of their two children under an agreed parenting-time schedule. Jon remarried and, as a member of the Air Force Reserve, was occasionally deployed overseas. He asked the court to confirm the existing schedule would continue during deployment, with his new wife (the children's stepmother) caring for them during his parenting time. Melissa opposed, arguing Jon was really trying to create parenting rights for his new wife. The trial court ruled for Jon.
Whether a parent who remarries after a divorce may leave a child from the first marriage in the care of the parent's new spouse, the child's stepparent, during the parent's own scheduled parenting time.