JDF 1420: Answer the Modify Motion
JDF 1420 is Colorado's response when the other side has already filed a motion to modify. Your job is to address their requested changes with readable agree-or-disagree positions and proof that matches dates. It is not the moment to file a parallel "whole new case" story like an opening JDF 1413 narrative unless procedure actually calls for it. Reaction discipline beats volume.
| Response posture | Wrong posture |
|---|---|
| Paragraph-by-paragraph position on their relief | Generic "they are awful" without tying to requested orders |
| Exhibits indexed to specific dates and claims | Haystack folders that bury your best facts |
Reaction strip
- 1Highlight every change they want; mark agree, disagree, or partial.
- 2Pull the order language they rely on; note gaps or misreads.
- 3Build a short dated timeline only for disputed facts.
- 4Confirm deadline, service method, and county formatting.
Relevant Colorado law
The statutes and appellate decisions below are the ones Colorado courts actually apply here. Educational orientation only — not legal advice. Read the source before you rely on it.
Statutes
- C.R.S. § 14-10-124 — Best Interests of the Child
Sets the best-interests-of-the-child standard governing allocation of parental responsibilities, directing courts to weigh the statutory best-interest factors when establishing parenting arrangements.
- C.R.S. § 14-10-131 — Modification of Custody or Decision-Making Responsibility
Governs modification of decision-making responsibility: bars a successive motion within two years absent endangerment, and otherwise requires a change in circumstances plus a finding that modification is necessary to serve the child’s best interests.
Key cases
- In re Marriage of Aldrich, 945 P.2d 1370 (Colo. 1997)
A parent seeking to modify child support must prove a substantial and continuing change in circumstances producing at least a ten-percent change; a claimed income drop can be rejected where bank deposits and lifestyle contradict it, and the court need not raise modification theories the moving parent did not.
- In re Marriage of Chalat, 112 P.3d 47 (Colo. 2005)
A child-support obligation incorporated into the divorce decree — including an agreed obligation to pay postsecondary (college) expenses — may be modified only on a showing of substantial and continuing changed circumstances; the court keeps continuing jurisdiction, and the child-support guidelines do not by themselves reopen the order.
Related guides
More Colorado forms
State guides (overview)
General support (not Colorado-specific)
Official source
JDF 1420 (PDF): https://www.coloradojudicial.gov/sites/default/files/2023-07/JDF1420.pdf
JDF 1420 questions
What is JDF 1420 actually asking me to do?
Answer the other party's motion to modify with your position on each requested change, tied to dated facts and a small exhibit set. You are in a reaction lane with deadlines, not rewriting the case from zero.
What should I read before I type a single paragraph?
The motion line by line, the current orders they cite, service deadlines, and local rules. Skim-reading the relief requested is how parents accidentally concede half the motion.
How is this different from JDF 1413?
JDF 1413 is an opening allocation petition posture. JDF 1420 responds after someone else already asked the court to change existing orders. Different caption, different reader expectation.
MyCustodyCoach is not a law firm. Court rules, fees, and form versions change by county; confirm what applies to your case with official court resources or counsel you hire.