A quiet waiting room outside a child and family investigator’s office

Colorado CFIs and PREs: a parent’s guide.

In a contested custody case the court often appoints a neutral: a Child and Family Investigator, or in complex matters a Parental Responsibilities Evaluator. Scope, depth, cost and the weight of the report all differ. The appointment happens early, and how it is framed is one of the most consequential moves in the case.

01Three things that decide these cases
02Work with me early
03Make the record usable, not overwhelming
04Domestic violence may be a pattern, not a…
05A focused preparation checklist
06Legal sources and further reading
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Two different tools for difficult parenting disputes.

Colorado courts may appoint a neutral professional when disputed parenting issues need investigation or evaluation. A Child and Family Investigator (CFI) and a Parental Responsibility Evaluator (PRE) both help the court with parenting time and decision-making, but their qualifications, scope, methods, cost, and depth are different — and choosing the right one for your case is a strategic decision, not a formality.

Start with the order. The appointment order defines the assignment. Read it carefully. The professional is not your therapist and not your lawyer, and what you say may appear in a written report or in testimony.

A Child and Family Investigator (C.R.S. § 14-10-116.5) conducts a focused investigation into the issues the court identifies, then reports and makes independent recommendations about the children’s best interests. Depending on the order, the CFI may interview the parents, the children, teachers, therapists, physicians, and other collateral sources; review selected records; submit a written report; and testify. A CFI may be an attorney, a mental-health professional, or another person with appropriate training and an independent perspective acceptable to the court. The process is designed to be brief, non-intrusive, and cost-effective — not a full evaluation — and a CFI generally does not conduct psychological testing. The fee for a privately paid CFI is capped by the Colorado Supreme Court under Chief Justice Directive 04-08: $3,309 for the investigation and report and $500 for testimony, absent extraordinary circumstances the court finds in writing.

A Parental Responsibility Evaluator (C.R.S. § 14-10-127) performs a more comprehensive evaluation and files a written report on the disputed parental-responsibility issues. A PRE must be a qualified mental-health professional. Many are psychologists, particularly when psychological testing is appropriate, but a PRE is not required to be a psychologist in every case. A PRE may use broader clinical methods, more extensive interviews and records review, and — when relevant and within the evaluator’s competence — psychological testing. Because the work is more extensive, a PRE takes longer and costs substantially more than a CFI investigation; there is no fee cap. The child’s safety is paramount, and the evaluation should address the disputed issues the court has specified.

My own rule: a CFI is the right tool for most contested cases, because its speed and cost serve the family and the report arrives while it can still shape a settlement. I recommend a PRE when substance use, mental health, or relocation is genuinely at issue and the case needs a clinician’s depth. Either way, judges follow these reports far more often than not — so the work is preparing you for the process and, if the report is wrong, cross-examining the evaluator.

When a parenting case is genuinely contested, the court often appoints a neutral to investigate or evaluate the family and report back. A Child and Family Investigator (C.R.S. § 14-10-116.5) conducts a focused investigation of the issues in the appointment order, interviews the parents, the children and the collateral sources, and files a written recommendation; the fee is capped at $3,309 for the report and $500 for testimony under Chief Justice Directive 04-08. A Parental Responsibility Evaluator (§ 14-10-127) is a mental-health professional who performs a fuller evaluation, sometimes with psychological testing; it takes longer and there is no fee cap.

A child and family investigator with a notebook at a kitchen table with a mother, while her son colors at the end of the table, the mountains in the window — The report becomes the center of gravity

	CFI	PRE
Scope	Focused investigation of the issues in the order	Comprehensive evaluation
Who	Attorney, mental-health professional, or another qualified person	Qualified mental-health professional
Time and expense	Usually less — often two to three months, fee capped	Usually more — often three to six months, no cap
Testing	No formal psychological testing as a general rule	Testing may be used when appropriate and within competence

Three things that decide these cases.

The right tool.

A CFI is the right tool for most contested cases, because its speed and cost serve the family and the report arrives while it can still shape a settlement. A PRE is for the case where substance use, mental health or relocation is genuinely at issue and needs a clinician’s depth.

Usable, not overwhelming.

Evaluators face limited time and large volumes. A master chronology, exhibits grouped by the issues in the appointment order, a short index, and full message threads exported with dates instead of cropped screenshots make the important facts easy to verify.

Accuracy is credibility.

Be candid about unfavorable facts, prior orders and your own mistakes. Describe observable behavior and its effect, not labels. Do not coach children, alter records, or ask a child to gather evidence. Judges follow these reports far more often than not.

Work with me early.

A father reading a picture book beside the crib at bedtime, a night light on, the toddler looking up at him — Overnights before three: the relationship first

Preparing for a CFI or PRE is collaborative. Reviewing the exhibits together lets me identify what genuinely supports your position, separate relevant evidence from repetition, and understand the weaknesses before the evaluator or the other side raises them. It also means I know the timeline and the documents before mediation, hearings or trial, and I prepare every client for the evaluator’s interview personally.

Where domestic violence, coercive control or litigation abuse is part of the picture, the 2024 amendments (HB24-1350) sharpened the court’s duty to look for it; the evidence is specific conduct, dates, sources and effect, presented as a pattern. If disclosure could increase danger, talk with me or a domestic-violence advocate before changing anything.

Make the record usable, not overwhelming.

The goal is not to send everything. The goal is to make important facts easy to verify. Evaluators face limited time and large volumes of information, and a concise, indexed submission tied to the appointment issues is far more useful than a data dump.

The screenshot problem. Hundreds of isolated screenshots omit dates, participants, surrounding context, and the thread of a conversation. They are hard to authenticate, review, cite, and use later. Preserve the original source and build a readable, chronological presentation from it.

A practical exhibit system.

Create a master chronology: date, event, source, people involved, and why the event matters.
Group exhibits by the issues in the appointment order — exchanges, medical decisions, school attendance, communication, substance concerns, safety.
Use a short exhibit index: exhibit number, date range, source, neutral description, and the issue it supports.
Remove exact duplicates. Flag gaps, missing context, and material that may cut both ways.
Preserve native files, exports, full message threads, and metadata. Never crop or edit an original in a way that changes its meaning.

Organizing OurFamilyWizard communications. A full export is valuable, but volume alone does not create clarity. Work from the complete export, then organize the relevant communications by issue. For each issue, write a short, factual summary: the date range, the recurring pattern or discrete event, representative messages, and the connection to the court’s assignment.

A useful summary format. Issue: medical decision-making · Date range: January–April 2026 · What the records show: a neutral two-to-four-sentence summary · Representative entries: message dates and exhibit page numbers · Why it matters: the connection to the appointment order · Context or limitation: contrary messages, a missing response, an unresolved fact.

Keep summaries descriptive rather than inflammatory. Do not cherry-pick. Include enough surrounding communication to show meaning, and let me decide what is submitted, reserved, or excluded.

Work with me early. Preparing for a CFI or PRE is collaborative. Reviewing the exhibits together lets me identify what genuinely supports your position, separate relevant evidence from repetition and distraction, and understand the weaknesses before the evaluator or the other side raises them. It also means I know the timeline and the documents before mediation, hearings, or trial — which produces more focused advice, a realistic settlement analysis, stronger witness preparation, and better use of the exhibits in court.

Domestic violence may be a pattern, not a single incident.

A boy with a rolling backpack on the front lawn, his father’s hand on his shoulder, his mother waiting at the open car door — Two front doors, one child

Colorado parenting cases require careful attention to domestic violence, child abuse, and coercive control, and the 2024 amendments (HB24-1350) sharpened the court’s duty to look for them. Coercive control can involve a pattern of threatening, humiliating, intimidating, isolating, monitoring, or controlling conduct used to harm, punish, or frighten another person. Evidence should focus on specific conduct, dates, sources, the impact on the parent or child, and the relationship to safety and parenting.

Patterns that may require careful documentation.

Threats, intimidation, stalking, surveillance, isolation, or control over transportation and communications.
Financial or economic abuse — withholding access to money, interfering with employment, creating coerced debt, or using resources to control basic needs.
Using the children, parenting exchanges, medical or school decisions, or access to information as leverage.
Litigation abuse — repetitive or bad-faith filings, unnecessary discovery, strategic delay, escalating costs, or using legal process to harass or maintain control. Document the pattern objectively; not every hard-fought motion is abusive.

Safety first. If disclosure or evidence-gathering could increase danger, talk with me or a qualified domestic-violence advocate before changing communication patterns or confronting the other parent. In an emergency, call 911. Colorado’s Domestic Violence Program lists statewide crisis resources at cdhs.colorado.gov/dvp.

Presenting pattern evidence. Avoid relying on labels — “narcissist,” “alienator,” “abuser.” Describe observable behavior and its effect. A pattern chart identifies the conduct, the date, the corroborating record, the immediate response, the effect on the child or household, and any court or professional involvement. Include contrary facts, and distinguish firsthand knowledge from what someone else reported.

Credibility is built through accuracy. Be candid about unfavorable facts, prior orders, your own mistakes, and reasonable explanations. Do not coach children, secretly alter records, or ask a child to gather evidence. Follow court orders and my advice about recording laws, privacy, discovery obligations, and communications with the evaluator.

A focused preparation checklist.

Bring structure, not a suitcase of paper. Together we decide what belongs in an evaluator submission and what stays in the case file.

Read the appointment order. Highlight the disputed issues, deadlines, fee provisions, authorized contacts, records access, and any limits on communication or submissions.
Preserve the source. Save native messages, full OurFamilyWizard exports, emails with headers, photographs in their original form, and complete records. Keep a clean copy separate from working notes.
Build the map. Draft a neutral chronology and an issue-based exhibit index. Note favorable facts, unfavorable facts, missing context, and what each item can actually prove.
Identify safety needs. Tell me promptly about domestic violence, coercive control, financial abuse, litigation abuse, child-safety concerns, protective orders, or risks created by disclosure.
Set the strategy together. Ask which materials to submit, how to comply with the evaluator’s instructions, which weaknesses need context, and how today’s preparation supports mediation and trial.

Legal sources and further reading.

Two parents watching a youth soccer game, foothills behind — Who actually shows up

Colorado Judicial Branch, Chief Justice Directive 04-08 (CFI appointments, standards, and fees), amended effective August 7, 2024 · Colorado Judicial Branch, Child and Family Investigators and Parental Responsibility Evaluators program pages; see also CJD 21-02 and C.R.S. § 14-10-127 · Colorado General Assembly, HB24-1350 (effective August 7, 2024), addressing child safety, coercive control, training, and reporting in parental-responsibility proceedings. General educational information as of September 2026; it is not a substitute for advice about your facts, your order, your deadlines, or local practice.

What I tell every parent before the evaluation.

Five things, before the first interview.

A child and family investigator interviewing a parent

Shape the appointment.
CFI or PRE, which questions, what deadline. The order that appoints the neutral decides what the report can say.
Prepare with the record, not a script.
Your calendar, the school emails, the messages. Evaluators are trained to spot coaching; they respect organization.
The home visit is the home as it runs.
Not staged, not chaotic. The child’s room, the routine, the other adults who are actually there.
Never run down the other parent.
The evaluator is measuring which parent will foster the child’s relationship with the other. Criticism reads as the opposite.
Read the report the day it lands.
Accept it, answer it, or move to have parts of it excluded. The window to respond is short and the report becomes the center of gravity.

A CFI or PRE has been appointed in your case? The report is followed far more often than not. Prepare for it like the trial.

Start with a confidential conversation: tell me what is at stake →

The short answers.

Is a CFI always a therapist?

No. A Colorado CFI may be an attorney, a mental-health professional, or another appropriately qualified person acceptable to the court. Check the professional’s background and the appointment order.

Is a PRE always a psychologist?

No. A PRE must be a qualified mental-health professional. Many are psychologists, but Colorado’s permitted categories are broader. Psychological testing, if used, must be appropriate and within the evaluator’s competence.

Which process is better?

Neither is universally better. The right fit depends on the disputed issues, safety concerns, the need for clinical assessment or testing, the time and resources available, and the scope the court is willing to order.

Should I send every message and screenshot?

Usually not without a plan. Preserve the complete source, then work with me to identify the relevant material and present it with chronology, context, and a clear index. Follow any submission rules or page limits the evaluator or the court imposes.

Can my attorney communicate with the evaluator?

Communications are governed by the appointment order, the applicable directives, professional standards, and any instructions from the evaluator. Coordinate through me, and assume substantive communications may be disclosed.

Will the judge follow the recommendation?

The report is influential, but the court makes the final decision. The evaluator can be questioned, and the parties may present other admissible evidence. In my experience the report is followed far more often than not — which is why the preparation matters so much.

How should I prepare for the interview?

Know the appointment issues, answer honestly and directly, focus on the children’s needs, bring only the requested materials, and avoid rehearsed attacks on the other parent. Ask me what the process permits and what to expect; I prepare every client for these interviews personally.

Keep reading

Where to go next.

The next page in this chapter, the pages that belong with it, and the blog posts on the same question.

Next in Chapter II · The Children

False AllegationsDefending against abuse claimsRead it next →

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The evaluator’s report becomes the center of gravity. Let’s prepare for it before the first interview.

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